New Pittsburgh Public Schools board taking up controversial plan to close 7 schools
The new Pittsburgh Public Schools board is once again taking up a controversial plan to close seven schools.
At Pittsburgh Manchester K-8, one of the schools that could close, the hallways are mostly empty, and the building is full of classrooms that are seldom or never used. There are only nine kids in the entire second grade, seven students in the sixth grade and 13 in the eighth. The building has a capacity for 541 students but is home to only 129.
"That is a textbook example of an underutilized building, and we have about 15 schools currently that are below 200," said Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters.
Manchester is one of seven schools and a total of nine underused buildings that would be closed under the district's Future-Ready Facilities Plan. On the North Side, the plan calls for closing both Manchester and Schiller 6-8, consolidating those students at Martin Luther King and the Allegheny Traditional Academy.
Walters says the plan will save the district about $8 million a year on staff salaries, utilities and maintenance costs — money which would provide more resources and better educational opportunities in these merged schools.
"We have limited resources right now. We have a deficit, but certainly making this move will provide some savings, some savings for us to really implement the quality programming we need in this Future-Ready Facilities Plan," Walters said.
After nearly two years of study, the board voted the plan down last November, delaying its implementation, which was planned for the 2026-27 school year. Even if the new board approves it now, it won't go into effect until the 2027-28 school year.
But in kicking the can down the road, the old board bent to parents and community groups like 412 Justice, who said the plan disproportionally impacted Black neighborhood schools. They've called for further study.
"It's about the plan. It's not about keeping buildings open. It's just that we're not confident in the district's ability to move 6,000 students with all these unanswered questions," said Angel Gober with 412 Justice.
But school board president Gene Walker says time has run out. Walker was unsuccessful in convincing the old board, but says the new members are keenly aware of the costs of overcapacity. Enrollment has dropped from 32,000 to 18,000 students over the past two decades, and the board can't justify spending a significant chunk of its $731 million budget on half-empty schools.
"I think we're going to be able to get it through this time," Walker said.
Walters said if the plan doesn't go through, the district could be in trouble.
"I think we're going to be forced to answer some really challenging questions about our future as a district," Walters said.
The board will discuss the plan on Wednesday night in anticipation of a final approval vote next week. The board president believes the board will do what the district says is the right thing.
