Families and staff react to scaled down Pittsburgh Public School closure plan: "It's a generational opportunity to do what's right."
Pittsburgh Public Schools leadership is now looking to close 12 schools instead of 14 as part of a revised proposal for the future of the district. It's giving some families some relief learning they their schools may no longer be on the chopping block.
Last July, Mary Leroy moved with her grandson from Georgia to Carrick. She said he's autistic and that Roosevelt K-5 has a great special needs program.
"He loves it here. He's doing really well," Leroy said.
When she learned the school may close, Leroy was concerned.
"Not knowing where he would go, how I would get him there, not knowing the different programs that the schools have," Leroy said.
The same goes for Will Irvin, whose son and niece go to Roosevelt.
"It would have been a big change for all of us, kids and parents alone," Irvin said.
Now, they may not have to worry.
Pittsburgh Public Schools presents updated plan
On Wednesday night, Pittsburgh Public Schools leaders presented an updated feasibility report on the future of the district. Under the new proposal, Roosevelt and Schiller would remain open, but Schiller would relocate to the Allegheny building.
The Manchester building, which was originally going to be converted for another school, will now close along with the school. Special needs training at the Conroy Education Center would stay open. Also, Allegheny would move, saving the King building.
Overall, the district would close nine facilities instead of 10.
Besides the school and facility changes, Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters also provided additional information on the financial impact, transportation, and feeder patterns, as requested by the board and the public, postponing a vote in late March.
"It is a generational opportunity to do what is right," Walters said.
In the new report, the district claims the plan would save it more than $100 million in the coming years. The majority of the changes would start after school ends in spring 2026, with the final transitions to take place in 2028.
"These conversations about implementation are not something that we are exclusively waiting for a board decision, but we do need a smoke signal for us to kind of put things in gear," Walters said.
The process goes back more than a year as the district looks to save money and make better use of resources with declining enrollment.
At this point, Walters said they're ready for the green light, as Leroy crosses her fingers for Roosevelt's future.
"They're going to stay open. We're going to send it upstairs and keep it open," Leroy said.
Sources told me that while some board members haven't liked how this process has been handled, they believe they'll have enough votes to move forward with the public comment period. The board will take up that vote next month.
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