Boards

The Wissahickon school board approved an elementary redistricting plan Monday night, realigning boundaries to deal with declining enrollment. The vote came and went with no comment from the board, ending several months of vitriol and a long series of public-input sessions. The debate peaked in January, when the board voted to close Ambler's Mattison Avenue Elementary, the district's smallest campus and the only one serving kindergarten through fourth grade. Parents pleaded to save the school, which is within walking distance for most families and has had moderate success serving a large population of English-language learners.

Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates, the nonprofit arm of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, has elected Wayne R. Trotman to its board. He is president of the Mid-Atlantic Market at JP Morgan Chase.   Michael J. Savona has been appointed the first general counsel to the Pennsylvania State Tax Collector's Association . He is an attorney at Eastburn and Gray P.C., Blue Bell and Doylestown.   Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. associate Ade B.Galloway has been elected to the board of the SeniorLAW Center, a nonproflegal group.

A decade ago, M.H. Stanton Elementary School was the toast of national education circles - celebrated for its success in helping low-income students reach their full potential, the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary. Four months ago, Stanton was tapped to house students from a nearby Philadelphia public school slated to shut in June. But on Thursday night, the School Reform Commission will vote on a recommendation to close Stanton, at 16th and Cumberland Streets. Why?

Parents at the flagship school of Dorothy June Brown's charter network in Philadelphia are fighting for the school's survival, and say the greatest obstacle may be the school's own board. More than 30 parents from the Laboratory Charter School packed a trustees meeting Monday night to question a recent decision to increase the defense fund for the school's chief executive, Michael Slade. Slade was suspended with pay in July after a federal indictment charged him, Brown, and three other administrators with defrauding the charters of more than $6.5 million.

As the Camden Board of Education prepares to transition into its new advisory role, it will also be introducing some new faces. Mayor Dana L. Redd appointed two new members Monday and reappointed President Kathryn Blackshear to the nine-member board. No applications were taken. Redd reached out to those she thought would be best for the board: Dorothy Burley, former city clerk, and Jennifer Martinez, owner of JEM Foods, a food-distribution company in Camden. In a Type 1 school district, board members are appointed, not elected.

As the Camden Board of Education prepares to transition into its new advisory role, it will also be introducing some new faces. Mayor Dana L. Redd appointed two new members Monday and reappointed President Kathryn Blackshear to the nine-member board. No applications were taken. Redd reached out to those she thought would be best for the board: Dorothy Burley, former city clerk, and Jennifer Martinez, owner of JEM Foods, a food-distribution company in Camden. In a Type 1 school district, board members are appointed, not elected.

Camden's Hotel Plaza, long a vacant shell of its previous life as a bustling inn on Cooper Street, has been approved for demolition. After many arguments for and against razing the hotel, the Camden Planning Board voted, 3-2, Thursday to allow the owner of the hotel, Cooper Plaza Associates of New York City, to tear it down. "It became clear that the building is so far beyond repair and no one would invest to bring the building back," Board Chairman Rod Sadler said Friday morning.