Hearing on Fairless Elementary Closing Brings Parent Protests
A hearing Tuesday night gave the school board feedback on the plan to close the North Braddock School and turn it into a 'Family Centre.'
Woodland Hills School Board heard the concerns of parents and North Braddock residents who don’t want to see the students have to be bussed out of the area to attend other schools.
The district held a public meeting on its plan to close the school at the end of the school year. KDKA-TV reports that some parents were concerned about transportation issues should their children get sick at school. Currently, Fairless serves only pupils from North Braddock.
Last week, the district introduced a plan that calls for the school to be turned into a "Family Services Centre." The center would be a one-stop shop for young families, providing them with connections to help them with heating bills, food, screenings, speech/language services, immunizations, nutrition, child development issues, suitable living and jobs.
Substitute Superintendent Alan Johnson said Fairless would be a good location because it is geographically centered in the area where parents are most in need of help. The school building is accessible by walking from lower Swissvale, Rankin, Braddock, North Braddock and East Pittsburgh.
The long-range plan also calls for the district to close Shaffer Elementary in Churchill and Dickson Elementary in Swissvale at the end of the 2013-14 school year. Students would be redistributed to Wilkins and Edgewood elementary schools, Woodland Hills Junior High in Swissvale and Woodland Hills Academy in Turtle Creek.
To find out more about what parents and community members had to say, click here for KDKA's report.
In This article
-
-
-
Dickson Elementary
7301 Schoyer Ave, Pittsburgh, PA -
Edgewood Primary School
241 Maple Ave, Pittsburgh, PA -
Woodland Hills Junior High School
7600 Evans St, Pittsburgh, PA
Mary
1:13 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
This is a hard one. There just aren't enough students that attend district schools to keep all the buildings open. I really wanted to go to the meeting but couldn't attend. Did they say how using Fairless as a birth to pre-K type building would not cost more? Just curious on the financials. Most parents prefer neighborhood schools but the district can't afford to have a school in each neighborhood so the biggest buildings will stay open to fit the most kids in. I'm glad they are looking at a bigger vision for the district. It's a big district there shoiuld be a big, comprehensive plan for running it. I may not agree with all the school board decisions but they do have a tough job with the budget. It has to balance by law and there are programs that are mandated that can't be cut. It's a complex issue. The kids deserve a safe learning enviornment where they can reach their full potential.
TwoFists
11:12 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013
How's that great merger plan working out for ya? We have so decimated the school districts that are involved that we can't even fill the schools anymore. How about you leave this school open and have it be like the old days with 1 principal and with local kids going there from k-12 or k-8 at least. Whatever the capacity is.