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As of April 22, Pennsylvania’s auditor general will no longer investigate the state’s public school districts, cyber or charter schools.
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Students will wear masks for at least another month. The public school board voted Wednesday to keep its mandate as a precaution against another uptick in cases after students return from spring break. It did, though, approve making them optional for arts students while performing. The board also approved spending $50,000 on a search firm as the district looks for a permanent superintendent.
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The board is set to consider making an adjustment for performing arts during Wednesday’s voting meeting. But, according to an informal vote taken during a meeting to review Wednesday’s agenda, board members said that they won’t consider lifting masking requirements in schools. Some members said that they wanted more time before lifting the mandate.
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Some board members say too many students are spending time in quarantine for close contacts and it could worsen without masking.
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Pittsburgh Public Schools is the only district out of the region’s 20 largest to still require masks within school buildings. Nine other districts dropped their mask requirement after Friday, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance that masks could be removed in areas at low risk from COVID-19.
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As of this month there were 45% fewer violent or serious incidents than in the same time period in 2018-2019 in Pittsburgh Public Schools. In March of 2020 students moved to remote learning in response to COVID-19. They didn’t return to buildings for 18 months.
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Pittsburgh Public Schools has started the search for a permanent leader. Former Superintendent Anthony Hamlet left at the beginning of the school year after a state investigation cited him for violating the state’s ethics law. Longtime educator Wayne Walters has stepped in temporarily.
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Two of the Port Authority’s most-used routes relied on the bridge.
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A report commissioned by a leading proponent of annexing Wilkinsburg into Pittsburgh found that the city school district would expect to net about $600,000 a year if it were to take on the Wilkinsburg school district.
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A new scholarship fund overseen by the Pittsburgh Promise aims to train 35 teachers of color who will eventually return to the city school district to teach.