Board members of the Pittsburgh Public Schools will again consider a controversial plan that would close nine school buildings and reconfigure many others.
The board is expected to vote on the Future-Ready Facilities Plan at a 6:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday. A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.
If approved, the plan calls for closing seven school buildings — the Student Achievement Center, Friendship PreK-5 (Montessori), Schiller 6-8, Manchester PreK-8, Fulton PreK-5, Miller PreK-5 and Woolslair PreK-5 — at the end of next school year.
Once renovations to Northview PreK-5 is complete, the district would close Spring Hill PreK-5 and Morrow at the end of the 2028-29 school year. Additionally, several schools would shift to different buildings and nearly all elementary-level magnet programs would be phased out.
The school board voted against the plan in November but decided in January to reconsider it. Last month, PPS administration re-pitched the plan to the board and the public.
Proponents of the plan say it addresses uneven enrollment and underutilized buildings, and provides more equitable and academic access across the district.
Over two decades, district enrollment has decreased 51%. Just more than 37,400 students were enrolled districtwide in the 2001-2002 academic year; that number has dropped to just more than 19,211 this year, PPS reports.
There’s been much public pushback, however. Opponents say there’s been poor communication, engagement and clarity for those impacted by the plan, in turn leading to mistrust with PPS. Other concerns range from transportation to school community services, and that students from underserved communities were not prioritized in the plan.
“We’ve had some conversations, we’ve had some decisions, but the plan that we’re voting on next week looks very much like the same plan we voted on in November,” said school board member Devon Taliaferro, who voted against the plan in November. “That still sits as a concern with me. Added information is helpful, but I don’t know if that honestly is enough for me and for the people who I serve.”
Five of the nine buildings slated to close are in Taliaferro’s district. Should the vote pass, she wants to make sure there is a process and plan for future use of those facilities. Vacant buildings with no plans can build mistrust between PPS and the community, she said. Taliaferro also feared that a lack of planning could see a charter school buy a former city schools building. The district would then be on the hook for paying students’ tuition there.
School board members indicated this week that, regardless of the outcome, the district needs to do a better job with building trust and transparency in the community.
Board members asked for the administration to provide updates as the plan is being implemented. Superintendent Wayne Walters agreed to that request.
School board member Eva Diodati emphasized that the board and administration should make an effort to be more visible in the community so that people are comfortable voicing feedback to them.
“Whatever happens moving forward, we are going to need the community’s support,” Diodati said. “We could change a million things, we could close a million schools, we could redo 1,000 different plans and if we don’t have buy-in from the community and the business owners and ourselves, it will fail.”
Diodati and school board members Tawana Cook Purnell and Erikka Grayson were not on the board when the plan was vetoed in November.
School Board President Gene Walker has been generally supportive of Walters’ efforts to close underused school buildings and realign others. In November Walker was among the six votes against the plan, but for procedural reasons, he said. During the voting, he saw that a majority of the board was going to reject it. By casting a no vote, Walker was eligible to “to bring this action back to the floor at a later date,” he said at the time. “My final vote was necessitated by our process and rules.”
On Wednesday, Walker expressed his support for the Future-Ready Facilities Plan. “We’re at that point, at least in my opinion, where we’ve done everything that we can to provide a solid plan,” he said.
The Tuesday public hearing, like the Wednesday school board meeting, will be held at the school district’s building in Oakland, 341 S. Bellefield Ave.