The troubled Duquesne district, long without a high school, now has a “potential partner” just across the Monongahela River.
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The state Department of Education is leaning toward the Duquesne City School District’s merger with the McKeesport Area School District.
According to a letter to families issued by the Duquesne district, a state-led feasibility study, initiated in March, will now focus on an in-depth analysis to evaluate governance, finance, school facilities, safety, school climate and educational programs at McKeesport as a “potential consolidation partner.” State officials will work with district leaders to form advisory committees to ensure communication and transparency during this study.
The study will be completed by March 1.
“The underlying structural deficits in the [Duquesne] district are long term, and it is necessary to determine potential solutions to this issue,” the letter said.
Duquesne has been a financially distressed school district since 2000. The high school closed in 2007, with students going to West Mifflin Area School District. The shuttering of the high school was met with immense criticism from residents.
Five years later, the state seized control of Duquesne’s finances and the district cut its seventh and eighth grades. The district was placed under receivership in 2013. While the seventh and eighth grades were brought back in 2021, the state refused to reinstate the high school.
John Hansen, the district’s chief recovery officer, cited a shrunken local tax base and poor test scores as the primary reasons for the merger.
Some community members have expressed concerns about a lack of communication during this process. Some parents feel merging Duquesne with another district will increase transportation challenges and make it difficult for parents to participate in their children’s education.
Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.
This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
