Pittsburgh School Board postpones discussion of building closures
Pittsburgh Public School Board members voted on Tuesday to table discussions on closing or reconfiguring several district buildings. Officials had proposed major changes to the district’s footprint Monday evening.
District officials said the changes, which consisted of closing seven schools and six buildings, as well as opening two new schools in the North Side, projected the changes would downsize the district’s unutilized space and save Pittsburgh Public Schools millions of dollars while it operates with a $39.4 million deficit this year. Officials said eliminating some buildings and consolidating schools could save the district around $46 million.
The footprint updates, in addition to being a cost-saving measure, are also meant to provide additional programming and supports to students in consolidated buildings. The changes are part of the district’s “Imagine PPS” five-year plan.
But some board members on Tuesday, explaining their decision to postpone the proposal, expressed equity concerns
Board member Pam Harbin said 60% of the students in the affected schools are Black – not including Oliver Citywide Academy. Oliver is proposed to close to make way for a new middle school, but officials do not yet have a plan for where to send Oliver students.
Harbin said the plan would also disrupt students with disabilities, especially those at Manchester PreK-5. She suggested district officials “go back to the drawing board,” fearing the plan would have too many unintended consequences.
“I’m not prepared to vote to even start the conversation with this plan,” Harbin said.
Though officials said the plan was the result of years of data and research, some board members said they weren’t pleased by the lack of options presented for which buildings to close or repurpose.
“They gave us one scenario of options and it did not look at the full embodiment of the district, the schools, the communities, the culture,” said board member Kevin Carter. “These are buildings they have thrown our way, trying to close for years in other administrations and they’ve been rejected.”
Carter noted that the district has been in the process of building a university preparatory school for years, “and we have not fulfilled that promise.”
“I would hope we would begin there first,” he said.
Several board members said they’d received comments from constituents opposed to the plan because of the disruptions it would cause, especially amid a pandemic and remote learning.
“I understand the seriousness behind making this decision, but I wonder if this time is not the right time to have this conversation,” board member Devon Taliaferro said.
Terry Kennedy said her greatest concern over the district’s proposal is the closure of Woolslair within the 2021-22 school year. It is past time, Kennedy said, for Woolslair students and families to be entered into a magnet lottery that would help them prepare for such a change.
Taliaferro pointed out that some of the schools proposed for closure, like Woolslair, Arsenal and Fulton, have had incredible successes bringing opportunities to students despite challenges.
Pittsburgh Public Schools is one of many districts nationwide struggling to fund renovations for aging buildings that are expensive to maintain and update. Meanwhile, some research shows that academic achievement is often linked to building conditions.
All but two board members voted to table the conversation – with William Gallagher voting to move forward and Sylvia Wilson, board president, abstaining.
“If you have a majority of people telling you that the plan is not good, or the plan doesn’t seem to be right or maybe we can be doing this differently, I just wonder if maybe we haven’t done our job…” Taliaferro said. “There’s some work that we need to do before we put families in this city through any more pain and discomfort.”
Tuesday’s vote was not a complete dismissal of the plan, but it’s unclear how the district will move forward addressing school closures or the financial deficit.
“As we keep pushing it down the road, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse,” Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said following the vote.
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