Special meeting set for plan to close, realign Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools leaders are set to share the district’s latest plans about which school buildings will be closed, what role those remaining open will have and which educators will work in them when it has a special meeting next week.
Until then, district officials haven’t commented about what’s in the proposed plan Superintendent Wayne Walters delivered to the board Monday.
District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh issued a statement Tuesday announcing the special meeting, which will be at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 at the district’s administration building, 341 S. Bellefield Ave. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the district’s home page and social media accounts.
Pugh didn’t respond to messages seeking comment about the plan, nor did several board members representing sections of the district where buildings are set to close.
In June, the board began the mandated public hearing process to potentially close these buildings: Student Achievement Center (Baxter School), Friendship (which houses Montessori PreK-5), Fulton, McKelvey (which houses Miller PreK-5), Morrow, Schiller, Spring Hill, Woolslair and Manchester.
The plan will realign grade levels in different buildings and changes are supposed to be phased in over the next several years, according to earlier drafts of the plan.
In August, school board members asked the district’s leadership to focus on updating the plan with staffing projections, putting together a timeline that will show benefits of the moves, projected financial impacts with multi-year projections and several other items.
Students, parents and other community members have made pleas to the board to keep more of the school buildings open, and some have spoken in favor of the present configuration of the district in recent meetings.
The board meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in a voting meeting.
The focus of next week’s special meeting will be on the facilities plan.
Related:
• Pittsburgh Public Schools implements temporary hiring freeze
• Which Pittsburgh Public Schools should close?
• Pittsburgh Public Schools takes 1st step of proposed school closure plan
Tom Davidson is a TribLive news editor. He has been a journalist in Western Pennsylvania for more than 25 years. He can be reached at tdavidson@triblive.com.
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