Parents push back against city schools’ delayed start at protest
Parents gathered outside the headquarters for the Pittsburgh Public Schools Administration Building to protest a recent announcement that the start of school may be delayed by two weeks due to transportation issues.
About 70 people. students and parents alike, convened outside the school board’s headquarters on South Bellefield Avenue in Oakland around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“We just want our kids back in school,” said Aaron Pugliese, who has two children enrolled at Pittsburgh Colfax School. “They’ve suffered so much in the last year and a half, and I think the best place for them is in school.”
District officials Tuesday said they wanted to delay the start of the year due to a shortage of about 6,000 bus seats for students entering the 2021-22 school year. In order to add enough bus drivers to close the gap, the first day of school is set to be pushed back from Aug. 25 to Sept. 8.
The delay still needs to be approved by the school board.
Parents, including protest organizer Abbie Campsie, of Squirrel Hill, are pushing back, saying they fear there is worse to come if the school year starts late.
“I’m very concerned that our kids are not going to go to school,” she said.
Ms. Campsie, who has a daughter at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, said the situation seems reminiscent of last year’s delayed start to the year, which saw several setbacks and false starts as the school adjusted to learning amid the COVID19 pandemic.
“I speak for many who have lost confidence with the superintendent,” she said.
During the protest, Ms. Campsie told the crowd that they “need to keep [them]selves angry.”
“We cannot maintain the status quo,” she added.
Some parents also voiced fears that this would inevitably lead to full-time remote learning.
“They’ll just go virtual,” said David Morris, who has children at both CAPA and at Pittsburgh Dilworth. “They have no plans to go back; they’ll just kick the can down the road.”
Leanne Lisien, another parent from Squirrel Hill who also opposes the proposed delay, is asking the school board to vote against it. Like Ms. Campsie, she has feared that the school would back out of a return to in-person learning as she’s followed discussions around COVID19 and busing problems.
“Hearing the news yesterday was, like, just extremely frustrating and disappointing,” she said. “It really seems like the district is just not even trying to educate our kids.”
The constant snags have been enough to make Ms. Lisien consider leaving the school district after several years, she said.
Ms. Lisien was not alone in that thought.
“I never, ever would have pegged myself as someone who would consider private schools, but I’ve never seen PPS this bad,” said Tamara Dubowitz, who has one daughter at Allderdice and just pulled her two younger children from the district.
“A two-week delay, to me, is going to do nothing but show everyone that if [PPS Superintendent Anthony] Hamlet does not get out of this school district, this district will implode,” she said.
Other parents noted that the issue wasn’t really about when kids went back to school, but the trust and communication between the school board and those attending the schools.
“It’s a huge slap in the face to every Pittsburgher,” said Mary Wall, who has two children at Pittsburgh Phillips K-5. “They have been very clear that they are not listening.”
Ms. Wall said that she and her husband purposely moved to Brookline so that their children would go to a Pittsburgh Public school, but because of recent decisions by the school board, they have now been applying to various charter schools for their children.
“I do not trust them to make any decision that would benefit my kids,” Ms. Wall said. “This isn’t about a two-week delay; this is about trust.”
Mayor Bill Peduto on Twitter said he “completely agreed” with complaints that the delayed start is unacceptable. (The city and school district are separate entities with different governing bodies.)
“Transit management systems are not unique to the city of Pittsburgh,” he wrote. “You cannot blame COVID. It is an administrative function, and we have had more than enough time to prepare for it. PGH School Board, we aren’t the only District that uses [buses]. Act now.”
The school board is holding a public hearing on Monday, where parents can submit testimony. They currently plan to vote on the delayed start at a special legislative meeting on Wednesday.