Pittsburgh’s city controller is calling on local school board members to work better with each other and their city partners in city government — though there appears to be a communication breakdown among the latter.
The controller’s office — which also serves as a fiscal watchdog for Pittsburgh Public Schools — released a report Tuesday recommending that school board leaders enlist outside help in building “a culture of trust.”
“There's very clearly a communication and data sharing challenge as it relates to effective information sharing,” said city controller Rachael Heisler.
Board members gave themselves failing grades on an evaluation of their own governance in March 2023, according to records obtained by WESA and cited in the controller’s report. The office also noted results of a PPS staff survey earlier this year that indicated what human resources consultants called a “toxic culture” inside district schools.
“Both the board and staff surveys indicate a significant disconnect between district-level goals and implementation,” the controller’s report noted.
The report continued by recommending that the school board improve communication and data-sharing, review and streamline policies, and strengthen the superintendent evaluation process to better align with the district’s goals.
And school board members have already taken some steps to do so ahead of Tuesday’s report. In February, they approved a $100,000 contract for board coaching services from the Council of Great City Schools, a D.C.-based coalition of urban school systems.
With the organization’s help over two years, Pittsburgh school board members intend to analyze and redesign board practices and procedures, develop a new community engagement structure and implement a board self-evaluation process.
Upon passing the two-year implementation plan, school board president Gene Walker expressed his excitement about a process that would “not just improve our governance, but also build a student outcome-focused attention to the work we do.”
Walker said his board was not consulted ahead of the controller’s report. But Heisler said the brief is meant to reinforce the need for change, as well as propose long-term investments to sustain improvements that stem from the school board’s efforts.
Heisler's report suggests the district create a support staff structure for school board members and an Office of Ombudsman to mediate conflicts with neutrality.
“But the district should only pursue them through external financial support or after achieving long-term financial stability,” the report noted.
School officials are forecasting a $23.3 million operating deficit for 2025, barring any programmatic cuts or school closures. Without cuts, tax increases or additional state funding, the district is expected to deplete its reserves by the end of 2026.
Heisler also recommended the district “recommit” to a partnership with city council. The joint board, established through a council resolution in 2022, is intended to help district and city leaders coordinate policies and practices.
“I think it's prudent for the city to have a voice in making sure that the school district is serving all families,” Heisler said.
But the body has never been convened, and Walker said he's not aware of any efforts to do so.
“That was a resolution by former councilperson [Ricky] Burgess, also done without consultation with the district,” Walker said. “To say that we need to recommit to something that we never committed to in the first place seems misguided.”
Walker says any effort to truly establish the partnership must begin with discussions about how the district can recover the earned income taxes diverted to the city annually since 2007.
The practice was intended to help the city avert financial collapse while in the state’s oversight program for financially struggling cities, also known as Act 47. But while the city shed its “financially distressed” status in 2018, millions of dollars have continued to be diverted to the city, including $22.8 million in earned income tax revenue for 2023 alone.
“Until that gets resolved, it's going to make it further greater partnerships just a little bit harder,” Walker said.
