Parents and staff urge Pittsburgh school board to delay closure vote, demand demographer and fiscal data

Summary

At a March 24 public hearing, hundreds of parents, teachers and students urged the Pittsburgh Public Schools board to postpone a vote to begin the process of closing 10 school buildings, saying the district lacks demographic, transportation and cost analyses and asking that a demographer be hired before decisions proceed.

Hundreds of parents, teachers, students and community members urged the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors on March 24 to delay beginning the formal process to close 10 school buildings, saying the district lacks critical demographic, transportation and financial data.

Speakers told the board they support the goals of improving equity and efficiency but said the consultant report from Education Resource Strategies (ERS) is incomplete and that a demographer must be hired to determine feeder patterns, attendance zones and accurate classroom counts before the board advances a closure resolution (referred to in public testimony as “Resolution 17-03”).

The hearing was repeatedly framed as premature. Pam Harbin, who testified that "Dr. Walters has said his staff won't work on filling in the missing details of the plan until he knows the board is…

Parents and staff urge Pittsburgh school board to delay closure vote, demand demographer and fiscal data

Summary

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