Pittsburgh School District (Roosevelt) (Progress, Taylor: real estate, house, neighborhoods)

[pman]

who's right here? are the closings good for the district? where can one find unbiased opinions and stats on the district's performance (not that a couple years is enough to change a district)

It's time "to move our organizing to another level," Mr. Brentley told about 50 people at a Shadyside meeting that he convened with fellow board member Randall Taylor...Both continue to oppose Mr. Roosevelt's 2006 round of school closings, saying it shuttered schools that were making progress and made needless disruptions to disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Both also disagreed with the board's vote last year to close the Schenley High School building. Mr. Brentley said Mr. Roosevelt's argument for closing Schenley -- costly maintenance problems, including asbestos -- was a "hoax."
Attending the meeting were representatives of the NAACP and Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform. The NAACP has criticized the district's racial achievement gap and the lack of student interest in the district's new African-American history course. PURE Reform has questioned Schenley's closing, the district's approach to parent engagement, the opening of schools configured for grades 6 through 12 and other initiatives.
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Read more: City residents urged to watch school board
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[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

They are a sneaky bunch (the school board). I do believe the Schenley closing was a hoax. Roosevelt is all about BUSINESS. After the current 11th graders graduate in 2011, there is no more Schenley High School. It will be called that International Bacceleurate (sp?) Program, where all the 'smart' kids will go. Peabody's building will more than likely house the program, uprooting students in Peabody's surrounding neighborhoods and placing them at Westinghouse in Homewood-Brushton. It was a very well-designed sneaky plan and of course the disadvantaged children are ALWAYS the ones affected. I am so glad this is my daughter's senior year, in this district, and she will be out of there....

[scrapp]

Originally Posted by pman

who's right here? are the closings good for the district? where can one find unbiased opinions and stats on the district's performance (not that a couple years is enough to change a district)

Here's my take:

The district has to close schools because of enrollment declines. Keeping partially used buildings open, or spending large sums on major capital repairs to buildings doesn't make sense. If you dig around on the district web site, there are powerpoint slide decks around there from financial presentations given to the school board that outline the financial issues and pressures that the district has to face. It is not an easy problem to address.

I don't think the district really wanted to pick a fight with the Schenley High School folks. There is no advanatage to them in starting that fight. But the engineering report on the abestos made it pretty clear that they were looking at a very costly construction project to fix that building. And with abestos you cannot fool around because there are a lot of rules and legal pitfalls regarding improper cleanup. A public entity like a school district cannot do an abestos cleanup on the cheap or they are going to get sued big time.

The thing is, if you have an emotional attachment to the school building then it hard to think rationally about the costs of the environmental engineering issues involved.

I do think the district and board are functioning better now than they did at the end of the John Thompson era.

[pman]

although the specific curriculum and other changes are independent of school closings, if saved money is used to buy books, pay teachers, and improve existing schools then it should eventually have an impact. sounds like mixed results so far but the article doesn't go into much detail
City schools: Progress toward some goals, declines in some

[pman]

[LEFT]The Pittsburgh Public Schools last night proposed a 2010 budget that would hold the line on real estate taxes for the ninth year in a row.
The preliminary budget totals $523.8 million, about $800,000 less than this year's spending plan.
Because expenses would exceed revenues by about $9.3 million, the district again would have to dip into its reserve fund to balance the budget. That would leave about $54.5 million in the fund.
The district said it has succeeded in reducing annual deficits from $72 million in 2005 to the $9.3 million forecast for 2010....
[LEFT]On Nov. 2, a consultant recommended closing 15 school buildings to save money amid falling enrollment. Superintendent Mark Roosevelt has said that plan will be a starting point for his own consolidation initiatives.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09329/1016269-298.stm#ixzz0XtG1A0PV...

ceterus paribus, the school closings seem pretty encessary and it would seem more should be on the waym sentimentality aside.
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