Fewer closings, regional schools and choices featured in parent-crafted alternative to PPS consolidation plan

Sarah Zangle presents a Community-Driven Proposal for Changing the PPS Portfolio at an Oct. 22, 2024 press conference at the Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown. The proposal is a response to the Pittsburgh Public Schools Facilities Utilization Plan. (Photo by Cameron Croston/PublicSource)

Around 120 parents and community members provided input for the alternative proposal for Pittsburgh Public Schools, which would shutter 10 schools versus 14 in a plan proposed by the district’s consultants.

“PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.”

by Lajja Mistry, PublicSource

As Pittsburgh Public Schools weighs potential closures and consolidations, some parents have presented their own community-driven proposal in response.

The community proposal, presented Tuesday night at a press event on Smithfield Street, Downtown, is based on regional schools with an element of choice. With that, it recommends closing 10 schools: Banksville K-5, Fulton PreK-5, Grandview K-5, Liberty K-5, Manchester PreK-8, Roosevelt PreK-5, Schiller 6-8, Spring Hill K-5, West Liberty PreK-5 and Woolslair PreK-5. 

Five of these schools — Grandview, Manchester, West Liberty, Fulton and Liberty — would become community hubs. The hubs would serve as teacher training centers and spaces for community partners to host in-school or after-school activities. A new K-5 would be established in the retired Northview Heights building.

Sarah Zangle, a Woolslair parent spearheading the community proposal, started a grassroots movement and gathered input from about 120 parents and community members to inform the plan. The proposal, which had been in the works for about a month, aims to bring more equity while considering the district’s strategic plan. 

“We are trying to drive equity so we’re trying to bring resources to areas that are historically marginalized or have been left out in previous decisions and also trying to make sure that we don’t create school deserts,” said Zangle, a registered nurse. 

Consultants from Education Resource Strategies [ERS] presented their final recommendations for the district-led Facilities Utilization Plan to the board last week. ERS proposed 14 school closures, changing grade configurations and phasing out of most magnet programs. As the next step, the PPS board has directed Superintendent Wayne Walters to create a feasibility report in the coming weeks, after which they will finalize a date to vote on the proposal.

ERS spent six months studying the district, gathering input and trying to address community questions. The consultant’s initial plan presented in August was met with immediate backlash from parents and community members. The district and consultants organized multiple regional input sessions to gather community feedback on that plan. 

While the proposed changes are not final, some parents feel that the entire process was rushed and did not gather meaningful community input. 

Zangle’s team of parents gathered community input from local organizations, teachers and students to create the plan. However, she acknowledged the need for more feedback and time required to fully develop it. 

“There’s definitely a group of people that are historically marginalized, that are hard to reach,” Zangle said. “It’s been really hard to really get into that community and get authentic community feedback for many reasons.”

Splitting schools regionally

The proposal retains some aspects of the consultants’ plan, such as moving to the traditional K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 grade configurations. According to the proposal, the district would be split into regions at different grade levels. 

Elementary schools would be split into five regions: east, west, central, north and south. K-8 Schools like Arlington, Mifflin, Greenfield, King, Morrow would be reconfigured into K-5 schools. 

Each elementary school would have a guaranteed base curriculum and retain a specialized focus. Parents could choose to send their kids to a school of their choice within their region. 

A two-region model would be implemented for middle schools. Parents living in the north and east regions could choose to send their kids to any school in those regions. South- and west-residing parents could choose to send their kids to any school in those regions. Parents living in the central region could send their kids to any middle school in the city.

All high schools would be under one region and parents could choose any high school for their children. 

Middle schools would focus on a pathway such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM] and high schools would expand Career and Technical Education [CTE] offerings and increase the availability of Advanced Placement courses. 

Minadeo K-5, Allegheny K-5, Colfax K-8 and Miller K-5 would become 6-8 middle schools. South Hills would become a CTE adult learning site. All 6-12 schools — Obama, CAPA, Sci-Tech, Westinghouse and Milliones UPrep — would become 9-12 high schools. A CAPA middle school magnet would be established in the Arsenal Middle School building. A Sci-Tech program would be established at Miller Middle School. 

The community proposal did not prioritize finances because reducing expenses wasn’t a stated goal of the Facilities Utilization Plan. However, if the board considers moving forward with it, a volunteer team is working to provide an estimate of the plan’s expenses, Zangle said. 

Magnet programs in elementary schools would be phased out to bridge the equity gaps created by magnet application processes. 

Magnet-like processes

Much like the district’s current magnet application process, parents would be required to rank the schools of their choice in their region. Enrollment applications would be weighted on factors such as sibling attendance or school proximity. Families living in historically marginalized areas would be given higher preference. 

“By keeping themed schools and schools with an emphasis, but just creating the ranking system and getting rid of the magnet application, you really preserve choice and preserve thematic learning and drive equity at the same time,” Zangle said. 

Ten English Language Development centers would be established across elementary and middle schools to accommodate the district’s growing English Language Learners population. Those centers would concentrate resources for students with language needs in that region. The proposal also recommends creating a 6-12 Newcomer Academy to provide extended English language services for students with the highest needs. The academy would aim to serve students who speak little to no English and provide intensive language development for students so they could be integrated with general education students. 

The plan also recommends strengthening classroom support for students with an Individualized Education Plan [IEP] by creating a fixed paraprofessional-to-student ratio in general education classes. It recommends universal testing for all students to be part of the district’s gifted program. 

Could school choice drive gentrification?

Some community members said they worry that this school choice-based model in the community proposal would exacerbate gentrification in certain areas. 

“In theory, that’s a great idea because those communities haven’t had those opportunities but the problem comes when you have people with money able to buy a house in said areas,” said Sam Schaffner, an Uptown resident. “They can live there and get their child the first or second choice.” 

During Tuesday’s presentation, Zangle acknowledged this limitation saying the proposal’s authors hoped that it would not lead “people to move to an underserved part of the city just to get school choice. But I guess that is a potential and we do have to look after that.” She added that the community plan is open to any ideas that could prevent gentrification. 

“There’s a disconnect between what they’re seeing as community input, we see as community reaction,” Zangle said. “We’re really hoping that this sparks some really good discussion on the board and the district level and that we can really collaborate and move forward together using some of these innovative ideas.”

Board president: some merit

At an Oct. 15 board meeting at which ERS detailed its revised proposal, board President Gene Walker indicated that the board would review the alternative, but suggested that the work of the Boston-based consultants might have priority.

“We hired a consultant for a reason, and they did their job. For other folks who wanted to do a proposal, there was an RFP process that they could have participated in,” Walker said then.

After the presentation, Walker said many of the community proposal’s ideas had merit including the regionally split model but added that it wasn’t a perfect plan. He said Superintendent Walters could consider the plan while creating the feasibility report and decide if there are any aspects of the plan worth incorporating. 

“I’m not convinced that we would move fully away from what we’ve worked on for the last six months, but that’s really up to him,” Walker said. “And then we can add our input as a board as it comes up and make decisions based off of those ideas.”

Under the ERS proposal presented to the board, the following schools are listed for proposed closures:

Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at PublicSource. She can be reached at [email protected]. 

This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

About Post Author

PublicSource

See author's posts