PPS postpones next phase in school closure process after parents call for more data

Pittsburgh Public Schools opted Wednesday to postpone a highly anticipated vote that, if it had been approved, would have begun the next steps to permanently close 10 school buildings.

Administrators’ decision followed concerns from parents, teachers, and even Pittsburgh City Council, about a lack of data on the repercussions of the school closures.

A feasibility study district leaders presented last month included limited data on the financial implications of school closures, and did not outline future feeder patterns in the Hill District and East End.

“Since presenting the study, we've heard clearly from our board that more information is needed,” PPS superintendent Wayne Walters said during Wednesday’s board meeting.

Walters said the district will soon release an updated feasibility report containing much of the information the board and community members have asked for: a financial analysis, preliminary transportation plan and review of capital investment needs.

Meanwhile, the district is hiring a local demographer to provide street-level guidance that can inform future school attendance zones, although that work is expected to take up to 90 days to complete.

Walters said all information will be shared with board members and the public in the coming weeks, and that the district remains open to further changes based on board and community input.

The superintendent also acknowledged the “erosion of trust” that has resulted from the school closure process. Several speakers at Monday’s monthly public hearing criticized Walters for calling some residents “self-centered and selfish” during discussions of school closures last year.

“And while this erosion has a long history, I fully accept the responsibility of helping to repair it,” he said Wednesday.

School board president Gene Walker, who has consistently spoken in favor of moving the closure process forward, similarly emphasized the importance of responding to the community’s concerns.

“And so the better we can do of making sure that they feel good about what's happening with the future of their kids, the better off we'll be long term,” he told WESA.

Walker said he expected the updated feasibility study from administrators in April, with discussions continuing into May.

“It's a process that we thought was going to be over seven months ago, and we're still here,” Walker added. “So hopefully it's not another seven months, but we'll see.”

Parents call for more consideration

School board members had planned to vote on whether to open the public hearing process on school closures required under state law. Hearings must be considered at least three months before a decision is made and publicized at least 15 days in advance.

A timeline published by the district in February estimated that the board would complete the public hearing process and cast final votes on school closures by August. The decision to delay Wednesday’s vote pushes back that timeline by at least a month.

Recent discussions of school closures were first initiated in October 2023, when district business officials told board members declining enrollment, excess capacity and increasing charter tuition payments had driven up district expenses.

But district leaders have stressed throughout the process their concern goes beyond financial constraints: schools across the district face disparate access to resources like adequate staffing and specialized courses, especially in under-enrolled schools.

Walters told board members 16 schools serve fewer than 249 students, and five schools enroll under 149 kids.

“Right now, the grave reality is that course offerings, the quality of facilities, and school-based support systems vary greatly among our schools,” the superintendent wrote in a letter shared shortly after Wednesday’s meeting.

But at the district’s monthly public hearing earlier this week — separate from the forthcoming school closure hearings — dozens of families and stakeholders said additional data was needed before any next steps are taken to address these equity issues through closures.

“If the goal is for every student to have access to the same level of excellence, why is there no clear path to get there?” asked Woolslair parent Jazlynn Worthy at Monday’s public hearing.

Worthy and other parents criticized Walters for emphasizing feedback from high school students over their elementary and middle school peers. Eight of the 10 schools proposed to close serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“As I am speaking, are you listening?” asked Jaliyah Haden, sixth grader at CAPA, whose brothers attend Woolslair. “I’d like to believe you all have our best interests at heart.

“But it is hard to see it when you don’t want to invest the time and effort it’s going to take to ensure our losses are for the betterment of our future.”

Woolslair PreK-5 in Bloomfield, Conroy Education Center in Manchester and the Student Achievement Center (SAC) in Homewood all saw strong showings of parents, students and teachers on Monday.

Woolslair hosts a partial magnet program focused on STEAM education, while Conroy and SAC serve student groups with unique needs: Conroy serves students on the autism spectrum, while SAC students are often at risk of dropping out and attending to recover course credits.

Dennis Boyce, who has worked in alternative education at the district for more than 30 years, said SAC helps the district reduce its dropout rate by acting as a safety net for students.

“When they talked about the closing of the Student Achievement Center, they said the plan was to leave it up to the home schools. The home schools are depending on us,” Boyce said.

“When those students have fallen behind, they send them over to us to try to get them on track academically, to get caught up so that they can graduate on time.”

Urgency of closures debated

Pittsburgh City Council echoed those sentiments in a resolution unanimously approved Tuesday, urging school board members to hold off on the school closure hearings.

Councilors noted particular concern about the lack of information on staffing, timelines, feeder patterns and transportation, leaving “families across the City of Pittsburgh unsure of which schools their children will attend, how they will get their children to school, and unable to plan for their futures.”

Councilwoman Deb Gross said many of her constituents are concerned about the potential of at least three school closures in her district: Fulton in Highland Park, Montessori in Friendship and Woolslair in Bloomfield.

“Those are all K-5 [schools], and so those would be kindergartners who would not have a school in their neighborhood,” Gross told WESA.

But some community members say the board should approach closures more urgently.

Allyce Pinchback-Johnson is a former district administrator and chairs Black Women for a Better Education’s political action committee.

“Is the perennial position of predominantly Black schools in the bottom of both the district and the state for performance not enough to necessitate change?” Pinchback-Johnson asked.

“I worked for PPS for 5 years and I’ll be the first to say that the district struggles with implementation, but I would argue that a contributing factor is fear,” she continued.

“Fear of upsetting the status quo, fear of making white people uncomfortable, and fear of actually prioritizing Black students and families even though we are the largest demographic in this district.”

Board member Sala Udin told administrators he wouldn’t vote in favor of any closure plan until it provides clear plans for closing racialized gaps in academic achievement.

“Our greatest obligation is to provide a high-quality education, and to remove any discrepancies among student groups relative to academic achievement,” Udin said.

90.5 WESA's Julia Maruca contributed to this report.