Pittsburgh Public Schools Realignment Plan Vote Possible in November

Pittsburgh Public School Board is considering a vote in November on a recomendation by school officials to create one new school and close seven schools and seven facilities for the 2012-13 school year.

None of the affected schools serve the Brookline neighborhood, although Brashear High School might see new students because of the proposal.

The District Realignment Plan, announced on Aug. 4, aims to address the district’s underutilized classrooms that result in unnecessary costs to taxpayers. As a part of the plan, the board reviewed proposed feeder patterns at the board education committee meeting earlier this month.

Although Pittsburgh Public School Superintendent Linda S. Lane did not commit to making any changes to the plan, she is still encouraging public input.

“I remain open to making adjustments to the plan and will carefully weigh the board’s feedback with what I’m hearing from the community," Lane said. “I realize that any changes to the plan may ignite additional community feedback and fully recognize the importance of announcing any changes in a timely manner so that the board is still able to vote on the plan as early as the Nov. 22 legislative meeting.

Lane said that realigning the district in a way that efficiently uses taxpayers dollars will be a five step process. The first two steps—closing schools and feeder pattern changes—help reduce the physical size of the district, Lane said.

"Our work doesn’t stop here," she said. "If we are to effectively address the district’s underutilized classrooms, additional steps will need to include course reductions, class size adjustments and staff reductions."

New Feeder Patterns

Families who choose to attend the Pittsburgh Public Schools have many different offerings and options, from feeder pattern schools, which are assigned based on a child’s address, to Career and Technical Programs and Magnet options that allow students to pursue their passions.

The proposed feeder patterns readjust the district in a way that makes it easy for families to know their child’s feeder school for grades K-12. For example, currently students assigned to Pittsburgh Phillips K-5 may, based on their address, attend Pittsburgh South Hills 6-8 or Pittsburgh Arlington PreK-8 for middle school.

These same students are then either assigned to Pittsburgh Brashear or Pittsburgh Carrick for high school. Under the District’s proposed plan, Pittsburgh Phillips students will now attend Pittsburgh South Hills 6-8 and then the Pittsburgh Brashear High School. 

Changes in the feeder patterns would start for the 2012-13 school year.

If the Board approves the proposed feeder patterns presented this evening the changes would begin at the start of the 2012-13 school year. (The chart above details K-12 feeder patterns for all students.)

To see maps detailing the District proposed feeder patterns by region please visit the District’s website at www.pps.k12.pa.us/CitySchoolsFiscalChallenges or www.pps.k12.pa.us and click the City Schools Fiscal Challenges slide on the home page.  

The plan additionally proposes the expansion of Pittsburgh Morrow from a PreK-5 school to a PreK-8 school, with grades PreK-4 in the Morrow building and grades 5-8 in the Rooney facility. 

Also proposed in the Plan is the reconfiguration of Pittsburgh Westwood from a K-8 school to a K-5 school, and the closure of Pittsburgh Schaeffer K-8 and Pittsburgh Stevens K-8 at the end of the 2011-12 school year.

Contingent on the closure of Pittsburgh Langley High School that same year, the plan proposes the opening of a new PreK-8 school in the Langley facility.  Students from Pittsburgh Schaeffer K-8 and designated feeder patterns from Pittsburgh Stevens K-8 will move into a new school in the Langley building. The Early Childhood Center at Chartiers would also be relocated into the Langley building. 

Students who attend Pittsburgh Oliver High School would be assigned to Pittsburgh Perry, and Pittsburgh McCleary Early Childhood Center program would be relocated into Pittsburgh Arsenal PreK-5. For details about the district’s proposed realignment plan for the 2012-13 school year, visit the district website at www.pps.k12.pa.us/CitySchoolsFiscalChallenges. 

Community Feedback Sparks Further Exploration by District Realignment Team

Lane has shared three considerations currently being explored as a result of community feedback gathered at two public hearings and three regional community meetings.

Consideration 1 proposed leaving Pittsburgh Stevens open as a K-5 and converting Langley to a 6-12 school, moving Schaeffer K-5 students to Westwood and Stevens. Although the district recognizes the plan would keep a high school on the West End, staff expressed concerns regarding the size of the school’s 9-12 portion projected at 300 students, far below the district desired size for a comprehensive high school.

Consideration 2 proposed maintaining the Early Childhood Education program at Chartiers. The district noted that all eight classrooms are full in the center that serves a student population in which 50 percent is eligible for Head Start. 

District staff is currently exploring the options of a K-8 school vs. a PreK-8 school in the Langley building contingent on the Langley school closing. As part of this work the staff will conduct a cost analysis around leaving the Chartiers facility open to serve Pre-Kindergarten students.    

Consideration 3 proposed moving the Perry program into the larger Oliver facility and maintaining the early childhood classroom at Oliver. The Oliver facility has significantly more square footage (282,000 vs. 222,000), classrooms (63 vs. 36) and student capacity (1796 vs. 864) than the Perry facility. 

Additional amenities found at the Oliver facility include athletic space, parking and a larger auditorium. Use of the Oliver facility also would allow students to stay at one location to participate in Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes and the district’s JROTC program. 

The Oliver facility additionally houses a childcare program that serves 12 students with young children. Under the district’s current plan, students would travel from Perry to the Oliver facility to take advantage of CTE and JROTC programs. The childcare program would be closed under the current plan. 

The District is currently exploring the potential to have both the Pittsburgh Oliver and Pittsburgh Perry schools close and open a New 9-12 North Side High School in the Oliver building. Should the District recommend the creation of a new high school in the Oliver facility, Pittsburgh McNaugher and the special education offices from Overbrook would move into the Perry facility. 

Board members have raised an additional consideration regarding the relocation of the Pittsburgh Montessori PreK-8 magnet program into the Fort Pitt facility, which is in better physical condition.

Community Input Process

The earliest the board could vote on the proposed District Realignment Plan is at its Nov. 22 legislative meeting at the Board Office Administration Building, 341 S. Bellefield Ave., Oakland.

The community can still provide feedback on the plan via email to cityschoolsfiscalchallenges@pghboe.net or by attending the board's public hearing on Nov. 21.

The district expects to release its preliminary budget for 2012 by Nov. 16.