By Rebecca Maclean, Fulton PTA President, and Nancy Gohring, HPCC Newsletter Editor
The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors recently passed a resolution directing Superintendent Walters to develop a facilities utilization plan and provide recommendations to the Board by March 15th. Many community members and activists view this as a call to action because this plan will likely recommend school closures, and the timing may be fast enough to meet the state’s requirements to close schools for the upcoming school year. This is concerning for the district as a whole, and also for Highland Park, because Pittsburgh Fulton PreK-5 was on a potential school closure list a few years ago. The community, led by the Fulton PTA, worked with District 2 Board member Devon Taliaferro to convince the board to table that hastily put together plan. If Fulton ends up on a new closure list, community members expect to go to bat for Fulton once again.
Closing Fulton would mean the loss of a safe, welcoming community space where all kids can be successful. Students either attend Fulton from their neighborhood feeder pattern or through the citywide French magnet program. For many years, Fulton’s test scores have been some of the highest in the city, including for African American students; PPS has overall struggled with racial equity, with black students overall underperforming all other racial groups across the district, according to a recent audit. In A Plus Schools’ 2023 Report to the Community, 100% of Fulton’s teachers think it’s a good place to work and learn, and it has a 96% student stability rate.
Whether or not you have kids who attend or have attended Fulton, consider how a closure might impact you and your neighborhood. Highland Park becomes a less desirable place to live for families without a school in the heart of the neighborhood.
Plus, the specter of an empty school anywhere and especially a block away from the main business district has potential negative implications. Other empty school buildings in the city quickly fall into disrepair, where they become unsightly and attract vandalism.
Former school buildings have the potential to be turned into apartments or community centers – projects that could bring value to the neighborhood but are in no way guaranteed to happen and that typically take many years to develop, during which time the building could decay and drag down the neighborhood.
Problematic data
Data about school utilization referenced by Board President Gene Walker (and reported on by WESA) is being noted as a primary metric for closures, but it appears to be inaccurate for Fulton and many other schools. A group of education activists have examined some of the data, as released by WESA, and found some discrepancies. For instance, the report apparently showed 665 empty seats at Obama, while the PPS website shows Obama with just one empty seat and a waiting list. The activists have launched a campaign asking PPS to share detailed information about how it determined utilization for each school (you can read more and add your name on their campaign website).
Plus, school utilization should be only one of many factors – which should include impact on the community — in the decision-making process.
While the district may need to make some hard decisions about balancing the budget given declining enrollment and ballooning charter school payments, the district must undertake a thorough, deliberate process that includes meaningful community input.
What you can do to help
Everyone can help! The Fulton PTA is planning ways to make sure the voices supporting Fulton and strong public education in general are heard. Right now, the PTA recommends emailing your board member and Dr. Walters to share your thoughts, speaking at the February 26th public hearing, and spreading the word about how our community and city need to step up and support public schools.
If you live in Highland Park, Devon Taliaferro (dtaliaferro1@pghschools.org) is your board member. You can email Dr. Walters, the Superintendent, at wwalters1@pghschools.org.
The next opportunity for the full board to hear public comment is on Monday, Feb. 26th at 6 p.m. If you are interested in speaking, registration for the public hearing will start on Monday, February 19th and can be accessed on the PPS website. Recent meetings have been a hybrid of zoom and in person speakers, so you should be able to speak at the board meeting in person in Oakland or participate via zoom. Speakers are limited to three minutes (which works out to about 300 words, depending on how fast you speak).
Please also consider attending Fulton’s February PTA meeting on Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. (entrance through the cafeteria on the right hand set of double doors as you face the school from Hampton St). A Plus Schools will be presenting about its Report to the Community, and the school community will be brainstorming about more ways to have their voices heard in the facilities utilization plan process.
If you’re not a Highland Park resident, but want to reach out to your own board member, you can find the maps and lists of neighborhoods each director represents on the PPS website. Note: when you click on the director’s photo, a pop up appears that may just look like a big gray blob. It’s actually the director’s photo that just needs to be resized, so if you scroll down on the pop up, the information about neighborhoods etc. is below the giant photo.
We also recommend cc:ing Devon Taliaferro if you don’t live in her district since she is the primary board rep for Fulton, and feel free to cc: the PTA at pghfultonpto@gmail.com since the PTA is interested to get a sense for how the broader neighborhood is advocating for the school.