Though the Pittsburgh Public Schools tried to put a rosy face on its “State of the District” press presentation by having it at its highest achieving school, CAPA, and showing off several talented students, the bottom line could not be avoided: without substantial changes the district will be bankrupt in two years.
Superintendent of Schools Linda Lane told the packed Black Box Theater audience that she and her staff would recommend changes that could save between $17-44 million by 2016, which would almost meet the projected 2016 deficit of $50 million.
“We are always starting a lot of stuff, but we never seem to finish it before moving on to the next ‘big idea,”’ she said. “So a lot of what you’ll hear in our new vision plan isn’t really new–but that doesn’t mean it still shouldn’t be done.”
Lane said the district’s fundamental challenges were, again, improving student outcomes and fixing the budget deficit. Brad Smith, the district’s executive director for strategic planning, gave the presentation on the budget, noting that contractual obligations or state law make 60 percent of district spending untouchable, but within the $202-million portion the district can adjust, there are six areas which savings could be realized by:
•eliminating positions and non-personnel spending in the Central Office;
•increasing class sizes, splitting class, and reducing library service, and cutting the number of high school periods from nine to eight;
•delaying technology purchases and reducing student athletic programs;
•moving some special education services from regional classrooms to home schools;
•changing maintenance and transportation scheduling and security assignments, and
•closing, consolidating or reconfiguring 5 to 10 schools by the 2015-2016 school year.
Smith also noted that the district and several public education advocacy groups are lobbying Harrisburg to have money returned to the district that was diverted to the City of Pittsburgh when it declared bankruptcy.
He also said that when looking at possible additional revenue from selling food services or professional development to other districts and from a tax increase, both “would have a limited impact on our finances.”
Per Lane’s recommendation, the previous school board voted to close Woolslair Elementary in Bloomfield, which has only 110 students enrolled. A public hearing on the closing is scheduled for Dec. 15 along with the school board’s regular public hearing, and three separate hearing on charter school applications.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
