Pittsburgh Public Schools

A coalition of advocacy groups is calling on the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors to remove police officers from school buildings.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board members Devon Taliaferro and Pam Harbin say it’s time for the district to be police-free.

Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Colfax K-8 Principal Tamara Sanders-Woods spoke to a crowd gathered on the front steps of her school Monday morning, asking for white accountability.

As the city’s public school district serving 23,000 students launches a planning group to reopen schools in the fall, a newly-formed local collective wants the school board to find another leader. They say the district’s response to the statewide closure of schools was ineffective and students weren’t learning for weeks.  

Most Pittsburgh Public School students with district-issued computers cannot video conference with their teachers when they’re asking questions or completing assignments.

Pittsburgh Public Schools anticipates budget shortfalls ranging from $17 to $82 million, as the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to district revenue collections.

Chief Financial Officer Ron Joseph presented four scenarios to the school board Tuesday during a business and finance committee meeting. The scenarios assume lost property, earned income and realty transfer tax revenues. Joseph’s projections anticipate a $55 million loss in earned income tax revenue compared to 2019.

Two Pittsburgh Public Schools board members told administrators Wednesday that the way the school district has transitioned to remote learning is unsatisfactory.

Pittsburgh Public Schools said an employee will be under self-quarantine for the next two weeks, though the district is not concerned the woman has exposed students or staff.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools district is working with the Allegheny County Health Department to develop an action plan in the event that a case of coronavirus is confirmed in the county.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board members approved a resolution Wednesday that calls for the state’s General Assembly to significantly reform the way it funds charter schools.

A program meant to diversify the ranks of teachers at the Pittsburgh Public Schools could soon be re-launched. The program was postponed in October after issues surfaced with the partner university selected by the district.

The Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program will employ what it calls “Promise Coaches” next fall in three Pittsburgh Public high schools in an effort to increase the number of students who are eligible for and take advantage of the post-secondary funding program.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board will have to meet later this month to determine how it will fund a budget it approved Wednesday night.

During a more than two-hour meeting, the board approved a $665.6 million budget, in a 5-4 vote. That budget included funding from a proposed 2.3 percent property tax increase. But in a separate vote, the property tax increase failed 4-4.

For the first time in five years, the Pittsburgh Public Schools administration has recommended the board increase its property tax rate as the district faces an operating deficit of $27.3 million.

Michelle Figlar with the Heinz Endowments says she wants schools to serve multiple purposes. She envisions them as community centers to help families before their kids even enter kindergarten.

At a city budget address Tuesday Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he thinks the state should take over the city school district’s finances. 

Academic achievement gaps are persistent in Pittsburgh Public Schools, according to an annual report released Monday by education advocacy group A+ Schools.

Pittsburgh Public School officials say it’s clear that student zip codes often define the type of education they receive.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools district postponed a program that was intended to train current employees of color to be teachers after rescinding the collaboration with the university that was going to instruct those educators.

Under Superintendent Anthony Hamlet, district travel has increased by 179 percent, or an average of $24,250 a month, according to findings from the Pennsylvania Auditor General.

Pittsburgh Public Schools will introduce a new student assessment tool this year, which officials say will cut down on the total time children spend taking standardized tests. The Measure of Academic Progress, or MAP Growth tool, from the Northwest Evaluation Association, is an adaptive test: every student starts out with an average difficulty question.

Shortly after the sun rose on Tuesday morning, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Anthony Hamlet boarded a school bus on the South Side.