Pittsburgh will hold public hearings on possible school closings

The Pittsburgh school board has voted to hold public hearings on the possible closure of nine school buildings.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the hearings will gather public input about the potential closure of Baxter, which houses the Student Achievement Center; Friendship, which houses Montessori PreK-5; Fulton PreK-5; McKelvey, which houses Miller PreK-5; Morrow PreK-8; Schiller 6-8; Spring Hill PreK-5; Woolslair PreK-5; and Manchester PreK-8.

The vote was the next step in a school closure plan the board has been working on since January 2024. Board members are trying to decide how to deal with declining enrollments — its campuses have capacity for 40,000 students but only 18,380 are enrolled.

State law requires districts to give notice of hearings at least 15 days prior to the meeting date. And the hearings must be held at least three months prior to a final decision being made regarding the closing of a school.

Following a public comment period, the district administration will present final closing recommendations to the board later this year.