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Students in all seven elementary and three middle schools in the North Allegheny School District will be affected by a proposed redistricting plan.
Roger Botti, supervisor of transportation and operations, told school board members Wednesday that two plans are being considered, and each would move approximately 400 students.
To read more, click here.
Redistricting Scenarios: Balancing Enrollment Versus Closing Peebles (Posted: March 15, 2013)
SaveNASchools has endorsed four school board candidates running in the November 5th general election. To read their bios and learn more about their platform, please go to www.movenaforward.com.
The North Allegheny School District will seek input from parent focus groups before redistricting elementary and middle school students.
The redistricting, the third in 20 years, will take effect for the 2014-15 school year.
Administrators provided a timeline and parameters to school board members at their Sept. 25 board meeting.
Based on the district’s records, obtained under the Right-to-Know Law, increased enrollment at the elementary level resulted in 10 additional elementary sections this year.
In 2012, the district started the school year with 145 elementary sections. This year, the district started the school year with 155 elementary sections.
This verifies what hundreds of residents across the district have stated—
Propelled by their unified opposition to closing any of North Allegheny’s elementary schools, newcomers Scott Russell and Tara Fisher, along with incumbent Ralph Pagone swept both parties’ primaries for North Allegheny school director Tuesday.
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The results for North Allegheny school board show “there is a strong sentiment to move the district forward with new ideas and initiatives,” said Tara Fisher, who won nominations for the Republican and Democratic ballots in November, according to unofficial results from the Allegheny County Elections Division.
To read more, click here.
North Allegheny School Board President Maureen Grosheider made the announcement Wednesday evening.
Suggesting that the proposed closure of Peebles Elementary School had become a distraction to the board and the community, North Allegheny School Board President Maureen Grosheider announced at Wednesday’s meeting that a vote on the issue would be delayed indefinitely.
To read more, click here.
The North Allegheny School Board will not vote next week on an administration proposal to close Peebles Elementary School for the 2014-15 school year.
School board president Maureen Grosheider said Wednesday that board members would like to wait until there is new enrollment data, and they won’t have that until late August.
To read more, click here.
The recommendation to close a building is based on a projected decline in elementary enrollment. However, based on the district’s records, the administration’s 5-year enrollment projections have understated actual enrollment by several hundred students.
The large discrepancy in projected enrollment v. actual enrollment for the last 3 years is a clear reason why no building in the district should be closed.
This information was obtained under the Right-to-Know Law:
SaveNASchools encourages residents to attend the school board meeting this Wednesday, May 15th at 7pm. The meeting will be held in the Central Administrative Office Board Room.
This is the last board meeting before the May 22nd proposed vote to close Peebles. It is also the last board meeting before the May 21st primary election.
Residents interested in registering to speak can do so by contacting School Board Secretary Rose Mary Ryan at rryan@northallegheny.org or 412-369-5437.
A realtor with Howard Hanna recently submitted information to the school board that outlines 850+ proposed new homes located in the North Allegheny School District.
One of those developments is Ridge Forest, which is located off Nicholson Road, in Franklin Park.
From the Ryan Homes website:
“Ridge Forest is located in desirable Franklin Park, a growing community located northwest of Pittsburgh in the highly sought after North Allegheny School District. With quick access to I-79, I-279 and more, Franklin Park is within easy reach of the region’s retail centers, world-class universities, hospitals, Downtown Pittsburgh and cultural and recreational destinations like Blueberry Hill Park.”
To read more, click here.
Ridge Forest was also discussed at the the August 17, 2011 school board meeting. Board President Maureen Grosheider, who continues to push forward the agenda for closing a building, noted that these homes will be sold to families with kids.
Over the last 12 years, the district has adhered to an education model that kept elementary class sizes below the district’s guidelines (with only a few exceptions). This year, the district abandoned its successful education model by hiring fewer teachers and allowing class sizes to increase. As a result, there are currently 13 elementary sections operating above the district’s class size guidelines.
To correct class size, the administration said it would need to add 10-14 elementary sections. However, the administration only expects to have 14 spare classrooms after closing Peebles and expanding McKnight. If a building is closed, the district will not have enough classrooms to keep elementary class sizes below the district’s guidelines. The only way the district has enough capacity to close a building is if it accepts higher class sizes for our current elementary school students than what has been provided to the district’s elementary school students over the last 12 years.
Thus, if a building is closed, the model in place for the past 12 years, which kept elementary class sizes below the district’s guidelines, will no longer be adhered to with respect to our current elementary school students.
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