Pittsburgh school board to consider school closure resolution

(The Center Square) – Pittsburgh Public Schools has confirmed that it will be considering a resolution to close ten of the city’s schools following a facilities proposal last year from consulting firm, Education Resource Strategies.

The proposal has received criticism from parents, community members, and legislators who say the new plan lacks the evidence supporting claims that it will improve “equity, excellence, and efficiency.”

“The proposal to close 10 schools, including Fulton PreK-5 and Conroy Special Education Center, without a clear plan on what happens next will hurt students, educators, and our entire region for generations to come,” said Senator Lindsey Williams following this week’s board meeting. “I am opposed to closing these 10 schools and I urge School Board members to vote no.”

“I want to make it, I think, clear that none of us want to be here. None of us want to have to be doing this, but our circumstances and the environment that we live in and the condition that we have in our city have forced us into this mode,” said Gene Walker, PPS board director, District 9.

Those conditions include a 53% utilization rate of current facilities, many of which need significant repairs. Simultaneously, the district faces declining enrollment despite supporting a population of over 20,000 students.

The new plan’s proposed closures are part of a broader reconfiguration that ultimately suggest the district’s massive 2012 overhaul was a failed experiment. The new configuration would revert the district back to traditional grade distributions of pre-K-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th in addition to shutting down existing magnet programs in favor of combined neighborhood magnets.

The plan would open three new schools. Advocates for the plan have emphasized that the closures represent facilities, not school programming, which would be redistributed in the new configuration.

On Feb. 25th, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters presented a feasibility study to the school board. He called the proposal “a visionary call to action” and a “unique opportunity to respond to the potential for a renaissance within our educational system to ensure that every student in our district has access to a high quality, equitable education.”

If the resolution passes, the school board will convene additional hearings to consider closure of each of the facilities individually, and no closures will occur during the 2025-2026 school year. This will give community members the opportunity to voice their concerns publicly after what opponents say has been a lack of transparency and collaboration.

For his part, Walters said the year of work leading up to the proposal was “rich with community insight and participation.” He maintained that the missing details community members are looking for would be identified only after the board makes a decision to move forward and more intensive planning is underway.

“Parents and caregivers deserve answers to basic questions,” said Williams. “Such as: Which school would my child attend after our school is closed? How will they get there? Will they still have access to the same supports and services in their IEP? How much will all these changes cost and when will they go into effect?”

After witnessing major changes in the past, parents are wary of changes they say will disproportionately impact already underserved communities. In addition to transportation, staffing, and crowding concerns, community organization 412 Justice says that with no plan for the empty buildings, their neighborhoods could soon see gentrification.

The group says that Black students are overrepresented within the closed schools, making up 63% relative to their district-wide 50%. Meanwhile white students make up only 22% relative to their 30% district share. Seventy-one percent of students at the proposed schools are low-income versus the district’s 64%. Students with IEPs make up 29% in the proposed schools versus 23% district-wide.

“I’m especially concerned about the closure of Conroy, which would disrupt the education of students with the most complex needs at the very moment the Federal government is effectively ending enforcement of their rights,” said Williams.

The ten schools in question include the Pittsburgh Student Achievement Center, an alternative 6th-12th school; Pittsburgh Conroy; Pittsburgh Friendship, a pre-K-5th Montessori magnet school; Pittsburgh Fulton, pre-K-5th; Pittsburgh King, pre-K-8th; Pittsburgh McKelvey Miller, pre-K-5th; Pittsburgh Morrow, pre-K-8th; Pittsburgh Chiller, 6th-8th; Pittsburgh Spring Hill, Pre-K-5th; and Pittsburgh Woolslair, pre-K-5th.