ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown School District may soon consider whether to repair its relationship with The Ortiz Ark Foundation, an Allentown-based, anti-poverty nonprofit organization that ASD cut ties with more than two years ago.
At Thursday’s Allentown School Board meeting, Superintendent Carol Birks said the district’s solicitor is developing a proposed policy for how ASD manages relationships with outside organizations, such as The Ortiz Ark Foundation.
In April 2022, the district said it would not associate with The Ortiz Ark Foundation after a video surfaced online showing one of the organization’s leaders using a racial slur.
The district banned The Ortiz Ark Foundation from using its facilities, distributing ASD information, using the district's logo and partnering with the district for events.
The nonprofit issued an apology at the time and said the incident doesn’t reflect the organization’s values.
In recent months, school Director Phoebe Harris has called on the district to repair its relationship with The Ortiz Ark Foundation. School Director Lisa Conover has also expressed willingness to forgive the organization.
“We have to have collective thinking, rules and policies as to how we engage with organizations because we don’t want to mistreat people.”Superintendent Carol Birks, Allentown School District
LehighValleyNews.com reached out to The Ortiz Ark Foundation for comment Friday.
The Ortiz Ark Foundation offers youth leadership and entrepreneurship programming, according to its website. It also provides resources for women, seniors and people returning home from incarceration.
“I don’t know all the specifics of what may have occurred, but when we engage with organizations, we need to have a set policy, set rules and criteria as to how we engage or not engage with them,” said Birks, who started as chief of schools months after the April 2022 incident.
“We have to have collective thinking, rules and policies as to how we engage with organizations because we don’t want to mistreat people,” she said. “We don’t want people to feel that we’re treating them unfairly, and we have to make objective decisions.”
