Superintendent's Call to Delay Closing of Peebles Elementary Draws Mixed Reaction From Board, Parents

While being questioned by board members Wednesday about his recommendation to delay the closing of Peebles Elementary School, North Allegheny Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gualtieri admitted his remarks and recommendations were "hot off the presses." And several board members admitted they were surprised at what they heard. 

The 30-minute presentation suggested the following:

• The administration still believes closing Peebles will help the district "maximize operational efficiencies in order to preserve and enhance educational programs in the future."
• After hearing parent's concerns about the number of spare classrooms if Peebles is closed, Gualtieri recommended five additional classrooms to McKnight Elementary School. The space, located at the east end of the school, is currently under roof, but not built out.  
• In order to complete the work at McKnight Elementary, Gualtieri recommended the closing of Peebles be delayed by one year.
• Gualtieri recommended the formation of community focus groups from each of the remaining elementary schools, to provide input on student redistricting plans.
• Gualtieri recommended the district make an investment in additional technology to advance the Five-Year Technology Plan  and enhance security systems District-wide.

Click here to see the PowerPoint that supported Gualtierei's report.

Afterwards, board members universally thanked Gualtieri for his hard work, but also had a variety of questions and comments.

Board member Thomas Schwartzmier said he was very happy with the delay in the Peebles closing.

"I’m glad that we reconsidered that, it’s something that I would have brought up at the vote had we not talked about it in advance,” he said.  “I think this will give everyone more time to react appropriately as we move forward.”

Board member Christopher Jacobs wondered about the sudden recommendation to add classrooms at McKnight Elementary.

"I felt the administration did their homework and was very confident in their recommendation," he said. "Why wasn’t that (adding classrooms to McKnight) part of the initial recommendation? Are we less confident now than we were before?”

“I don't know that we’re less confident but we heard over and over again from parents that parents were not confident with that," Gualtieri responded. "The administration was confident that the 12 or so spare classrooms was enough, but we heard that over and over again from 330 people as we went through the various elementary schools and we tried to address that concern."

Alison Fujito, a parent, told the board she couldn't buy that argument.

“There’s just too much contradiction here for me to have a whole lot of confidence in your current recommendations," she said. "I’m kinda shocked that these concerns that we’ve raised, 300 of us have raised, you keep calling them parental concerns, why aren't they your concerns?"

Board member Ralph Pagone reiterated his opposition to closing Peebles at all.

“The last thing any district should do is close a school," he said. "I still feel there are stones we haven’t unturned yet and I would ask that we continue to do that. “The thing that’s glaringly missing from this power point presentation to me is the $10-14-million dollars in cost that Bradford Woods elementary is going to need. I’d like to see that addressed. The building is going to continue to deteriorate."

Board President Maureen Grosheider said, she too, wanted to make sure all options were explored when it comes to operating the district efficiently. 

"I want to make sure we’ve done our job and our homework to make sure that we are as lean as we can be in as many appropriate places that we can be," she said. "I would like to see money in the classroom, that’s where I think it belongs."

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