ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Allentown School District may soon consider restoring its relationship with the Ortiz Ark Foundation, an Allentown-based anti-poverty nonprofit with which the ASD school district severed ties over two years ago.
At the Allentown School Board meeting on Thursday, Superintendent Carol Birks said the district’s attorney is developing a proposed policy that will govern how ASD handles its relationships with outside organizations such as the Ortiz Ark Foundation.
In April 2022, the district announced it would not partner with the Ortiz Ark Foundation after a video surfaced online showing one of the organization’s leaders using a racial slur.
The district has prohibited the Ortiz Ark Foundation from using its facilities, distributing ASD information, using the district’s logo, and collaborating with the district on events.
The nonprofit apologized at the time and said the incident did not reflect the organization’s values.
In recent months, Principal Phoebe Harris has called on the district to improve its relationship with the Ortiz Ark Foundation, and Principal Lisa Conover has also expressed her willingness to forgive the organization.
“We need to think about it together and develop rules and guidelines on how we work with organizations because we don’t want to treat people badly.”
Superintendent Carol Birks, Allentown School District
LehighValleyNews.com reached out to the Ortiz Ark Foundation for comment on Friday.
The Ortiz Ark Foundation offers youth leadership and entrepreneurship programs, according to its website. It also provides resources for women, seniors and people being released from incarceration.
“I don’t know all the details of what might have happened, but when we work with organizations, we need to have a firm policy, firm rules and criteria for how we do or do not work with them,” said Birks, who took office as school principal months after the incident in April 2022.
“We need to think together and develop rules and guidelines for how we work with organizations because we don’t want to treat people badly,” she said. “We don’t want people to feel like we’re treating them unfairly and we need to make objective decisions.”
