PHILADELPHIA – Mayor Kenney today requested that the Educational Nominating Panel recommend at least 18 additional nominees for the new Philadelphia Board of Education.

The Nominating Panel provided an initial list of 27 names to the Mayor on February 26, and now has 10 days to make more recommendations. Mayor Kenney may consider names from both rounds of nominations when making his final appointments to the nine-member Board.

“I am impressed by the nominees the Panel has recommended so far, and would like to consider more names to ensure that I appoint the strongest Board possible,” said Mayor Kenney. “I have requested a second list that includes more nominees who are parents or have experience as educators, and increases the diversity of the nominee pool overall. When making Board appointments, I will consider the candidates as individuals and the diverse qualifications and perspectives of the new Board as a whole. I thank the Panel for its hard work and am confident that this process will serve our city’s vision of building quality schools in every neighborhood.”

The full text of the Mayor’s letter to the Panel is available here.

The Panel will hold a public meeting by March 18 to finalize its second round of recommendations. Once the Panel submits the additional names to Mayor Kenney, he will have 20 days to make appointments to the Board of Education.