City School Board Rejects Expanding Suspension Ban In Early Grades wesa.fm - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wesa.fm Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AP
Three years after the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board banned suspending K-2 students for nonviolent offenses, members wanted data that would tell them if they should expand that ban through fifth grade.
An analysis of the ban made public Tuesday night showed that racial disparities in discipline persist even with the ban. But board directors Kevin Carter and Pam Harbin said that because the report couldn t explain why, the exercise had been a waste of time.
The report was compiled by a North Carolina-based education consultant, Prismark, and it showed that Black students are disproportionately suspended for violent and non-violent offenses. And while suspensions drastically decreased in K-2, the report found, schools were still suspending students for nonviolent offenses even after the ban was put in place.
Sarah Schneider / 90.5 WESA
One day after the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ administration recommended the district close six schools over two years, the board tabled the conversation.
The board voted 7-1 in favor of tabling during a special meeting Tuesday, with board president Sylvia Wilson abstaining.
Several board members said their constituents had asked them to vote against the closure plan, though the board was voting not on the plan itself but on initiating a public-comment process to discuss it. Board member Sala Udin said the community should have had a chance to weigh in before the plan was presented.
“Even though we are just requesting authorization to request a public hearing, that’s not how [the community is] receiving the information,” Udin said. “Many people think we’re going to vote on this tonight and that is not the case. I think we need to go back to the drawing board and take into consideration the best knowledge and thinking we have to best
Pittsburgh Public Schools has delayed the return to in-school instruction another two months, until April 6.
The district targeted the return to classroom instruction at the end of February.
One after the other, several board members spoke at their meeting Wednesday in support of continuing to teach classes online, though nearly all of them noted that it was a difficult decision and an imperfect solution.
“I want kids to come back to school, I want them back,” said Board President Sylvia Wilson. But without the staff, it’s not possible, she said. “The reality is people are concerned about their health. … We are concerned about the student’s health. We are concerned about the health of their families.”
Sarah Schneider / 90.5 WESA
The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors on Wednesday approved a $668.9 million 2021 budget. But the board declined to raise taxes on district residents in an effort to fill a widening budget deficit.
The board greenlit the spending plan after a lengthy discussion about how the district will cut costs in the coming year.
PPS is now operating with a $39.5 million deficit which will have to be covered with its dwindling fund balance. Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said his administration will propose cuts in January and February.
Hamlet’s request for a tax increase was rejected. Board members Pam Harbin, Devon Taliaferro and Sylvia Wilson voted for the increase. Terry Kennedy abstained while Kevin Carter, Cindy Falls, Sala Udin, Bill Gallagher and Veronica Edwards voted against the increase.