Community members, parents hold protest ahead of Pittsburgh Public Schools hearing
More than two dozen concerned community members and parents held a protest ahead of a Pittsburgh Public Schools hearing Monday.
The board is expected to vote on Wednesday night to confirm the hearings needed to close down several schools. State law requires individual and public hearings on each proposed building closure.
The most recent proposal announced last month would close down nine schools and reconfigure others. The district claims the plan would save it more than $100 million in the coming years.
The group 412 Justice held a protest before Monday night's hearing, where more than 60 people signed up to speak in front of the school board.
Some members of 412 Justice said the resolution should not move forward without public understanding.
"We're out here today because this whole plan has started and ended with a lack of community engagement, with a lack of appropriate data. It's really a Swiss cheese plan," said Valerie Allman, parent and member of 412 Justice and Education Rights Network.
Some parents told the board that families are still in the dark with a lot of unanswered questions. Those against the plan are asking the district not to vote to start the closure process until they give them the details they're asking for.
"Where will my child go to school? How will they get there? Who is going to teach them? These are not small details. They are the foundation of trust, and right now that foundation is crumbling. There's no staffing plan, concrete, available. The attendance zones are shifting. What about transportation?" parent Lamar Black said.
"I was so excited because I finally get to stay here until fifth grade, but now you're saying I have to leave before I finish. That makes me feel really sad and confused. I don't understand what my classmates and I did to deserve being removed from our school," student Zyon Ruth said.
