Pittsburgh schools ‘disappointed’ by not receiving remote learning grant

The state Department of Education in April allocated about $5 million in grants to some of the schools that needed the most help providing remote instruction for their students amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but Pittsburgh’s application was rejected.

Schools could use the state-funded equity grants to purchase devices, software, instruction and administrative supplies, as well as other items the Education Department deemed necessary for learning to continue during the shutdown.

The state awarded grants to 96 local education agencies, including school districts, charter schools and intermediate units. Grants of various sizes were allocated to schools with a wide range of demographics, but the largest amounts were provided to three urban districts — Philadelphia, Reading and Scranton — each of which received $500,000.

Pittsburgh Public Schools applied for a grant but did not receive one, which spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said was “disappointing” for the district.

“It would definitely have helped us,” she said. “We were definitely concerned that we would not get one.”

The transition from brickand-mortar schools to remote education has been an expensive challenge for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The district has spent about $2.6 million on remote instruction since schools closed in March, investing about $1.5 million on laptops for students alone. Printing and preparation of the first two rounds of work packets cost the district about $600,000. Other expenses include Wi-Fi hot spots and personal protective equipment for employees helping to prepare and distribute remote learning tools.

Beyond the expenses for remote instruction, Pittsburgh Public Schools officials this week said the pandemic could significantly harm the district’s finances.

The Department of Education allowed schools to apply for two types of equity grants: Systemic Continuity of Education and Student Group Continuity of Education.

According to the criteria, local education agencies would be eligible for systemic grants if more than 10% of students were unable to participate in continuity of education. Agencies would be eligible for student group grants if more than 5% of students in a specific demographic were unable to participate in continuity of education.

Pittsburgh Public Schools applied for a systemic grant worth $565,000, according to Ms. Pugh. The district asked for the funding to help with several needs, including buying devices, printing packets, software, cost of postage and translation services.

Ms. Pugh said the state told the district that it did not receive a grant because of an issue with the application.

In a statement provided to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Department of Education said “PPS provided both systemic and student grouplevel data that could not be reconciled during the very brief application window.”

The Pittsburgh Public

Schools proposal “demonstrated a significant level of need,” the Education Department said, adding that it was “working aggressively to identify resources that can support the critical work underway in Pittsburgh and elsewhere.”

State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera said local education agencies around the state applied for about $22 million in total.

Mr. Rivera said he would try to use federal funding from the CARES Act to make up some of the difference to schools that did not receive grants.

Pittsburgh Public Schools was slated to receive about $11.1 million from the CARES Act, though it could be less.

Pittsburgh is the secondlargest district in the state with an enrollment of more than 23,000 students.

Of the districts that got the $500,000 grants, Reading, the state’s fourth-largest district, is closest to Pittsburgh in enrollment with about 17,800 students.

The percentage of students in each district that needed to be provided with items to participate in remote learning was unclear.

However, about 48% of Reading students come from families below the poverty level compared with about 32% of Pittsburgh students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Philadelphia is by far the largest district in Pennsylvania with more than 202,000 students, 34% of whom come from families living below the poverty level.

The Scranton School District has around 10,000 students with about 35% coming from families below the poverty level.

The state gave equity grants to more than a dozen school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania, including $94,750 to Big Beaver Falls Area, $76,650 to New Brighton Area, $75,900 to Steel Valley and $74,950 to East Allegheny. Several local charter schools also received grant money, including $24,700 to the Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh in Larimer, $25,272 to Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania in Baldwin Township and $21,762 to Young Scholars of McKeesport.

During a state Senate Education Committee hearing on Monday, Mr. Rivera said the $5 million in grants allocated by the Education Department will help schools serve 35,000 students “who would have otherwise been unable to stay educationally connected during the pandemic.

“These grants, admittedly, addressed only a fraction of existing needs, and we have pledged to continue to explore every opportunity to provide additional resources to students, to families and schools in need,” he said.

“PPS provided both systemic and student group-level data that could not be reconciled during the very brief application window.”

—Department of Education