Pittsburgh Public Schools Feasibility Report Update

May 2025

Make sure your voice is heard!

We are collecting unanswered questions and concerns from students, families, educators, staff, and community members regarding the May 2025 Updated Feasibility Report. This report proposes school closures, consolidations, and reconfigurations as part of the Facilities Utilization Plan (the Plan).

This document will be updated regularly and shared with Superintendent Dr. Wayne N. Walters and the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education at the public hearing scheduled for June 23, 2025.

If you would like to add your voice, please submit your question or concern using this form: https://forms.gle/58nZcXSokSqdfUX46

Sign up to speak at the June 23, 2025 Public Hearing, 6 PM, virtual and in-person (sign up begins on June 16th): https://www.pghschools.org/about/board-of-directors/public-hearing-procedures

Click Here to Sign Up to Speak at The Next PPS Public Hearing

Click Here to Add Your Questions for PPS

Community Questions and Concerns, Organized by Category

How do you plan on keeping families that are considering leaving due to loss of magnet schools?
Why isn’t pps attending public events that charters are set up at to increase enrollment?

Community Engagement & Process

Why was only the Northside given the opportunity for a community engagement process led by an outside organization? All regions deserve meaningful, community-led engagement.
The Plan was released just 5 days before the public hearing and over Memorial Day weekend—there hasn’t been enough time for families and staff to review the 100+ pages.
This feels like a top-down, rushed approach with decisions being forced on families. It undermines public trust.
Has this Plan been translated?
Why are major changes happening all at once, instead of phased over 3 years? Implementing all changes in one year (2026–27) will cause massive disruptions and is not feasible. It’s a massive undertaking and rushing this process increases the risk of failure and harm to students.

Transparency & Missing Information

Families are still asking basic questions: Where will my child go to school? How will they get there? Who will teach them? What will class sizes be?
There is no finalized staffing plan. Are there enough certified teachers, especially in World Language and specialty subjects, to meet the goals of this plan?
Class size impacts are not shared—will classes be overcrowded?
Attendance zones are still not finalized. Families in the East End didn’t see their proposed feeder pattern until May 21. How will their feedback be collected?
There is no transportation plan. How many students who are currently walkers will now require buses?
There is no long-term planning. Why wasn’t a demographer hired to help project future enrollment and support enrollment growth?
How will the Board monitor the implementation of the Plan.
What is going to happen to the school buildings that close? How will they be maintained after closing? How will you ensure blight and vandalism do not occur? Will the community groups have a say in what happens to the abandoned buildings?
Why has the reason for closing schools changed over the past year?
Many families do not trust PPS or its administration for varying reasons, whether it’s their child being pushed out of a magnet school, bullying, needs not being met, denial of education or lack of communication from the school. How will this new plan increase trust between PPS and families who feel that they and their children have not been treated right when many questions have not been answered regarding the plan? How can they trust you when we haven’t had your data source shared with us and the reasons why this needs to happen keep changing?
Are you able to explain how the proposed redevelopment of Manchester that was voted on by the board and the closure of Manchester elementary school are not Inherently tied together?
Why isn’t Allegheny PreK-5 on the school closure or school facility closure list? The plan is to move it to the King facility.
Why is Early Childhood Education overlooked in this Plan?
Why have you chosen not to disclose the new projected enrollment numbers, by school? Is it because the enrollment numbers will show that some schools will be small, and by your own definition, not able to provide equitable course offerings and supports?
Seven of the nine PPS Community Schools will be directly impacted by this plan. These schools provide vital services and supports. What is the plan to ensure continuity of these supports for students who currently rely on their Community Schools? If Community Schools are truly a district priority, where is the plan to protect and continue those services?
Arlington PreK-8 would become 6-8
Arsenal PreK-5 would close
Arsenal 6-8 would become Arsenal IB 6-8 Neighborhood Middle School
Faison K-5 (new attendance zone)
King PreK-8 would close and become Allegheny K-5 at King
Langley PreK-8 would become K-5
Lincoln PreK-5 (new attendance zone)
Milliones 6-12 would close and become Sci Tech 6-8 Neighborhood Magnet
Westinghouse 6-12 would become 9-12

The June Vote

On June 25, 2025, the Board is expected to vote on a “A RESOLUTION… SCHEDULING HEARINGS UNDER SECTION 7-780 OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE TO CONSIDER THE PERMANENT CLOSING OF CERTAIN PITTSBURGH SCHOOLS.” The Resolution will include a list of school buildings slated for permanent closure. The 9 school buildings in the Plan are: Baxter (Student Achievement Center), Friendship (Montessori), Fulton, McKelvey (Miller), Morrow Primary, Schiller, Spring Hill, Woolslair, & Manchester.
The Feasibility Report says the vote opens a public comment period. Dr. Walters is describing it as a “green light” to begin implementation. Both are misleading.
The June Resolution matches the one pulled in March. It is a vote to schedule a legally required public hearing for each building before a vote on permanent school building closures (3 months later)—not a vote to approve or begin implementation of the full Plan
We deserve to have clarity on what a YES vote will mean. It seems that a YES vote will authorize Dr. Walters to begin implementation of the Plan before families have answers about attendance zones, staffing, transportation, and the cost to implement the Plan. If Dr. Walters wants Board approval to begin implementing the Plan, that should be transparent and clearly stated in the Resolution.
Can board members please each explain what they believe this vote is for, and have the solicitor correct that? We have heard that delaying would ‘hurt children’ and they do ‘not want to hurt children’ but that is not an answer to a process question.

Staffing & Instruction

Will teachers and support staff be furloughed or reassigned?
Will staff move with students to new schools?
Will October staff ‘Leveling’ still happen?
How will the District recruit enough certified World Language teachers to meet the new staffing model (World Language in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9-12th) given the new graduation requirement of 2 World Language credits?
What classes and programs are currently offered at each school, and what will be added?
Is intervention time being eliminated?
The Plan outlines elementary and middle school schedules, but nothing for high school. Why is there no high school instructional plan?
What is the plan for students attending the Student Achievement Center? How will progress be monitored and reported once they are returned to their feeder schools?
Is the board really willing to vote Yes to move forward with a plan that seems to be oriented toward improving the middle school experience (if anything) despite being unprepared to indicate how they will meet high school graduation needs in the transition year and possibly years following? Admin stopped at planning for the same offerings at K-5 and mostly similar middle years experiences, but the risk to drop out, drop off of academic or career pathways, or missing graduation requirements should be considered and discussed.
How will the district guarantee that they will enable students to meet graduation requirements in every high school in the transition year especially?
What will each high school offer at minimum?
Will all students in sequenced courses (language math etc) be able to continue sequenced without interruption during the transition?
How does consolidation and closure impact staffing? If we’re only one year away, when would staff know they are moving? When will options open for teachers in the newly configured buildings? When will students and families find out which teachers are moving?
What happens to the teachers who have worked hard at King for the last 15 years when King closes and Allegheny comes over? Are they displaced?
What is the school board doing to improve equity in academic choices for advanced students, particularly in high schools where current offerings are incredibly different between schools?
What are the plans for supporting students entering Sci Tech and Obama who will be thrown into a specialized curriculum?
How do we merge two different building communities? Will there be extra time and planning dedicated to this merger?
What does the emotional consideration look like for staff, students and families at both schools ?
How will the UPrep CTE Programs be continued? The two at UPrep, Early Childhood and Entertainment Technology. How will those be integrated into SciTech? Will this serve as a concentration choice? The specialization of those courses and SciTech courses would both need to be prioritized. How would that happen?
What does “magnet” now mean? If the focus at SciTech has always been students being interested in STEM, what if students don’t like STEM and SciTech is their new feeder? Is the MS a standalone magnet or will it be a magnet program within a comprehensive MS?
What happens to the teachers that teach both MS and HS classes now?
Will you need more teachers who are CHS-certified, AP-certified?
More students at Sci Tech means more teachers. What would the onboarding of additional specialized concentration teachers look like? Would time be given to design – (the original 4 concentrations had over 3 years to design)?
Will building spaces be remodeled (additional science labs, Mac labs, concentration rooms, etc.) if Sci Tech high school population increases?
Will teachers have to re-apply for their positions?
There is a lack of Library services until middle school doing ”research”
How many certified teachers for Tech Ed do you have?
What in the world is WIN? Who is teaching this as well?
Do we have enough World Language teachers to support all of our high school students to take 2 full credits of a world language AND provide world language at any other grade level?
Do we have enough Fine Art Teachers to support all of our high school students to take 2 full credits of fine art courses in high school AND also staff all the other grade levels?
Do we have enough teachers certified in 4-8 and 7-12 to cover the new reconfiguration into K-5, 6-8, 9-12?
Will high school students need to move to a new high school as 10th, 11th, or 12th graders? How do you anticipate that impacting graduation rates?
If high school students who participate in sports are forced to move mid career to a school without that sport offering, how will that be handled?
Will all of our high schools offer the same sports and extracurriclulars (like band and spring musical) and if not, will there be plans to allow students to participate at other locations like we have now for students at Sci-Tech to participate in extracurriculars at their home school?
How will students who are currently at Dice, but forced to move to Obama or Sci-Tech mid HS career expected to catch up on specialized curriculum and content?
What is a STEM emphasis?
Is a STEM emphasis similar to Sci Tech? Where Carmalt becomes a neighborhood middle school with a magnet attached? Especially for students who have been in the Carmalt magnet since Kindergarten and are projected to be pushed out?
How will Principals be reassigned?
Why are we following the model of a small, non-public school? I have heard Ron Clark speak-his plan is not our answer. Why not look to community models such as Anaheim, California? You have some of the best teachers in the country in your own buildings-why not use them as your resource?
Where is the plan to shift your thinking on teacher morale? You overwork and overtrain them, then fail to support them time and again.
Why are you leaning so hard into technology when other districts nationwide are pulling back from an over reliance on technology?
Will people lose their jobs?
How do you expect to blend all these schools and have a productive year, will you hire more social workers, paraprofessionals and more special ed staff?
What is the plan for continuity of learning when teachers attend the proposed Teaching Center? I believe “bank of substitutes” has been mentioned, but that does not seem realistic. We currently have a huge shortage of substitutes within the district.
Have you begun the hiring process for language teachers? There are currently not enough within the district and it seems that this will not be easy to hire many at the same time. Do we often have an overabundance of applicants for these positions that we can draw from?

Equity & Community Impact

Why wasn’t an Equity Audit conducted as part of this planning process? The school closure planning process and Feasibility Study should have included an Equity Audit to examine the historical impact of school closures in PPS over the last 25 years and the planned reallocation of resources and students to avoid perpetuating current inequities.
There’s no discussion of racial or socioeconomic impacts of the Plan, despite clear equity concerns.
How is the District ensuring this plan does not repeat the disproportionate impact school closures have historically had on Black students, students with disabilities, and low-income communities?
How does this plan increase equity at CAPA? Students zoned to Sci Tech for middle will not have the music and art in middle school to prepare to audition for CAPA high school.
Summer learning loss widens inequities. Is there a plan to bring back BOOST/ summer learning programming?
Why are you not expanding the Montessori model to retain and attract more students? Instead there are Montessori charters circling the building you are closing. Example, Manchester
Why is CAPA merit based when the school district doesn’t have a focus on the arts for elementary schools? This means children with more privilege are being accepted.
How many students do you think this plan will lose to charters?

Feeder Patterns & Attendance Zones

Do students have to move immediately if their feeder pattern changes?
Will students be able to stay in their current school through 5th grade if their magnet program is eliminated?
What happens if a student is zoned to Obama or SciTech but doesn’t want IB or a science-focused program?
What does it mean that PCA (Pittsburgh Classical Academy) is listed as a neighborhood magnet?
Why are some elementary schools (Sunnyside, Lincoln, Minadeo) split up after 5th grade into two different feeder patterns?
How will Northside students be assigned during the gap year before Northview reopens?
Why is the Hazelwood neighborhood split into 3 different feeder patterns?
How will the District gather meaningful feedback from families and communities in the East whose feeder patterns were unknown until May 21? These communities are just now seeing the proposed changes for the first time.
There is nothing in the plan about the magnet program at Sterrett. Is it ending?
Has the district discussed the future of Wilkinsburg’s contract with PPS? It does not suit this MS model to join in 7th and then a new school in 9th.
How will the district prepare peers for continuous new peer groups (Ex: student at Minadeo split away from peers in 5th to attend Sterrett and Wilkinsburg added in 7th)?
Why was the East region grey boxes until the last presentation, given so little thought to a historically complex area including those impacted by prior closures (and proof of charter-ization after closure, like Hazelwood)?
Why do the Northview kids continue to suffer? They will be sent back up to Northview with no where to go. No walking fieldtrips. No park, no library, the list goes on and on.
The report says multiple times: “NOTE: This map does not represent the final PPS attendance zones as the District Team continues to finalize individual school enrollment.” How are parents and the board supposed to understand and move forward a plan that isn’t final? Why is this being rushed?
What happens to students who are in partial magnets, like Allderdice? Will they be kicked out of those schools? Why is there so little info about high school and the plan? Why are you rushing to push through a plan that has so little info about high school?
In earlier versions of the plan, students in some east end neighborhoods would be able to choose between the 2 new neighborhood magnets (SciTech or Obama). Now it looks like SciTech is just the feeder school for the Hill, the Strip District, and Downtown. So what if a student does not want to do rigorous science and math?
In the first proposal, kids who live in the zones for Obama and scitech could choose from the two programs. This was not in the revised proposal. Will this still be a possibility? We made a decision for MS based upon previous information.
Are you considering allowing kids in magnet programs to remain in that program if it still continues after the consolidation period and they live in a different neighborhood?
Why are no neighborhood magnets offered in the south or north? Talk about inequity-if a kid in Elliot or Brighton Heights is not a CAPA bound kid, they have next to no chance at attending a magnet while they live in one the poorest performing feeder patterns.
Originally in the first plan students who were currently enrolled at magnets that were to become neighborhood schools had the option to stay at that school, but now they can’t. Why? Children need stability and so do families, why can’t those kids stay with what they know until it’s time to transition to middle school?
Hazelwood neighborhood is split between 3 elementary schools – has the district reached out to ask what does the community want and need?
Revised Attendance Zone maps were quietly posted on the PPS website on Friday, June 13, with no list of changes provided. Families were expected to compare the new maps to the old versions on their own — with no guidance or explanation.
One major change affects the Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood. Students were originally slated to attend:
Lincoln → Arsenal IB Middle → Obama IB High School
Now, under the revised map, students from this neighborhood would attend:
Lincoln → Arsenal IB Middle → Westinghouse High School
Where is the equity in this decision? Why are only Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar students being denied IB continuity from grades 6–12, while students from other neighborhoods retain it?

Neighborhood Magnets

What is a “neighborhood magnet,” and how is it different from partial magnets?
When will proposed changes to the District’s Magnet Policy be released?
If a student is zoned to Sci-Tech but does not want to participate in an intensive science path, where do they go to school?

Transportation & Logistics

How many students who currently walk to school will require bus transportation under the new plan?
What is the net cost of transportation (cost – savings)?
What is the transition plan for students and families affected by school closures?
Have you looked at current transportation options to Milliones? Without a clear transportation plan, I worry the school will remain under-enrolled.
What would change with sports teams?
How does PPS plan on addressing the issue of transportation for students in neighborhoods like Greenfield that are losing their PRT bus lines?
How is it advisable or even feasible to close 9 school buildings and change the makeup of many different schools and move teachers around and prepare these buildings for the new grade bands that they will hold all in one summer?
How can we trust PPS to do a good job at these transitions when the paint is still peeling, there has been a leak in the roof for over a year and the front fence still is not repainted after we were told over a year ago that there is lead paint on it. Why would we think that they could make all these changes quickly and do it well?
Does this all need to happen all at once? Is there some way to slowly make changes over time starting with incoming K students? It all feels like whiplash with so many changes for so many students, which will have the biggest impact on the most vulnerable.
How is the school district working with the city to address transportation access and safety (specifically public bussing in the newly proposed/massive reductions in service)?
How are you taking into account dangerous bussing and walking areas?
Middle school students, starting in 6th grade, will have to travel far to get to school. Will there be a maximum PRT travel time?

Gifted & Talented & Advanced Courses

If gifted services are provided through AP courses and those courses aren’t available in the new school, how will gifted services be delivered?
District leadership and consultants stated that this reconfiguration is meant to ensure equitable access across schools—so there are no “haves” and “have nots.” However, the Plan includes no details about expanding AP or advanced coursework at high schools that currently lack these offerings. How will the District address this gap to deliver on its promise of equity at the high school level?
Why is the district planning to use a test for gifted education screening that in their own pilot excluded all or nearly all low income, ELL, and IEP students and children of color?
Some middle school students are involved in advanced programs and/or courses, how would that work if the buildings were separated?
Some elementary school students are taking middle school courses, how would
How will Gifted in home schools address bullying? When students are bullied for being gifted, they may not want to participate in the program. The Gifted Center removed that issue for them.
How will gifted be implemented?
Have you considered the reality of changing the gifted program? I realize at face value it looks inequitable, but the reality in closing it for kids at schools where there are few identified as gifted, they are going to lose out big time.

Students with Disabilities

What is “supplemental programming,” and how will it be implemented?
Will there be regional classrooms at Obama/Arsenal and SciTech (grades 6–12) for students with disabilities?
How will students with IEPs be reassigned and supported during transition?
How will students in Regional Classrooms be assigned to schools?
What is the plan for Pioneer students when South Brook closes?
What is the plan for Oliver satellite students?
We have special ed teachers teaching classes, like High School ELA, Math, Science, who are not certified in those content areas. Their Special Ed certification allows them to teach a class in any content areas as long as all the students in the class have an IEP. Special Ed teachers may not teach a class of general ed students though in any content area. With the reorganization, is there a plan to use co-teaching or some other method to make sure students with IEPs have a teacher certified in the content area?
Given the many changes in this plan (locations, course schedules, offerings), thousands of students who receive itinerant, supplemental, or full-time special education service will require a review of their Individualized Education Program with their IEP Team to determine if specially designed instruction and services in the IEP need to be updated. Is the district prepared to hold IEP team meetings for students who also receive ELD services, students moved to new school locations, students in new school designation (i.e., magnet school to neighborhood school), and students in schools that make changes to their school-wide programming?

English Language Development (ELD)

How are proposed ELD centers different from current ELD programs?
How will students be assigned to ELD centers?

Budget & Capital Investment

What year will upgrades happen? The report lists 2025–2031.
The $102.9 million in “avoided costs” is misleading—these are projected capital expenses through 2031. Avoiding future costs isn’t the same as saving money today.
The $103.3 million reinvestment figure lacks detail. Only $34.4 million in upgrades are explained, and only 17 schools are listed. Where is the rest of the funding going?
The plan says $5 million will be saved on magnet transportation—but doesn’t account for the cost to transport students who currently walk to school and will require transportation after reconfiguration.
What is the full cost of implementing this plan? For example, the Wilkinsburg transition was state-funded—how much will this transition cost?
Where is the evidence for the assertion that closing buildings will save the district money? There are certainly ample instances of this in PPS history; why were they not cited? In fact, what about the overwhelming evidence that closing schools winds up costing the district money when charters move into those locations and people leave the district?
How much will transportation cost increase given the new attendance zones, fewer walkers in the east end and the changes to PRT routes?
How does the district plan to have library services at all of the schools? How will that be funded? Right now, Greenfield School uses their Title 1 funding to pay the salary of our part time librarian and there is NO budget for new books for the library. The library at Greenfield only receives new books when the PTO/ parents donate them through various book fairs or if the librarian pays for them with her own money.
What will happen to Spring Hill Elementary, a building the community uses for voting, community meetings, and kids use as a play ground. Please don’t say “we could do this or that”, we need to know what the plan is that will prevent the building from falling into disrepair and remain the hub of our community?
How are you saving money by closing schools?
Can you please close central administrative office building and save 1 school?
How can the district be taken seriously when the superintendent makes more money than the mayor and continues to make more each year even as schools are proposed to close?

Questions for Pittsburgh Public Schools Reckless Closure Plan