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New records, released by the district under the Right-to-Know Law, show that the three elementary schools with the most growth over the past year were:
–Peebles (+15 students)
–Hosack (+20 students)
–McKnight (+25 students)
The net growth at Hosack, Peebles, and McKnight was 60 students—which is higher than the 52 student net growth across all 7 elementary schools.
The community group “Save NA Schools” says the most recent enrollment numbers, obtained under the “right to know” law, confirm what it campaigned more than a year for; closing an elementary school in the North Allegheny School District would lead to larger class sizes.
To read more, click here.
The North Allegheny School Board will not close Peebles Elementary in the next few years. Instead, the district will work on redistricting to alleviate overcrowding at Franklin Elementary School.
Board President Maureen Grosheider made the announcement during the board’s meeting Wednesday.
To read more, click here.
North Allegheny School Board President: Peebles Elementary Staying Open
At the beginning of Wednesday’s North Allegheny School Board meeting, board President Maureen Grosheider announced that Peebles Elementary School, once slated for closure, would remain open.
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.
Residents of North Allegheny School District’s largest municipality continued to plead with the school board April 17 to keep all elementary schools open and to reduce class sizes.
The board is scheduled to vote in May on a proposal to close Peebles Elementary School in McCandless because of excess capacity in the elementary buildings. If the closing is approved, district administrators have said they are willing to delay the move until 2014-15.
But McCandless parents say excess capacity exists only because class sizes have increased this year after some retiring teachers were not replaced.
The North Allegheny School Board Wednesday approved wiring upgrades and security measures for its buildings.
Eight board members voted to finance $4 million in technology improvements through a low-interest loan from PNC Bank. Projects include replacing the network infrastructure equipment and upgraded data wiring for all seven elementary schools and installing wireless coverage in each district building.
The North Allegheny School District administration presented a revised proposal regarding the closing of Peebles Elementary School at the March 20 school board meeting.
Its revised proposal consisted of:
• Delay closing Peebles Elementary until 2014-2015, which the administration believes will save $850,000 per year.
• Begin work immediately on creating five extra classrooms at McKnight Elementary, which the administration believes will cost $525,000.
However, the revised proposal still does not address the community’s biggest concern — class size.
Based on the district’s records, elementary enrollment has increased over the last several years. Based on information from real estate agents, new housing developments are projected to add more than 850 homes to the district.
On March 20, the administration said it would need to add 10-14 elementary sections next year to keep class size below district guidelines. And, officials said there will only be 14 spare classrooms if the district expands McKnight and closes Peebles.
Thus, all 14 spare classrooms that remain after closing Peebles and expanding McKnight would need to be utilized in order to maintain class sizes below district guidelines. This would leave no spare classrooms for fluctuations in enrollment.
It is time for the administration to stop using man-hours trying to find ways to support its misguided recommendation to close a school.
Keeping all seven elementary schools open is the only solution that ensures a quality education for the children of our community.
FRANK CORONA
McCandless
Richard Cook, North Allegheny Patch
“The Pine-Richland School board voted unanimously Monday night to appoint Dr. Brian R. Miller to a four-year contract as superintendent of schools.
Miller, who currently is assistant superintendent of K-12 education at neighboring North Allegheny School District, begins at Pine-Richland July 1. He will be paid a salary of $153,500.”
Click here to link to the complete article.
Richard Cook, North Allegheny Patch
“The group Save NA Schools , which has been fighting for months against the proposed closing of any North Allegheny Elementary School, said the most recent recommendations by Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gualtieri won’t do enough to alleviate large class sizes if Peebles Elementary is closed.”
Click here to link to the complete article.
The administration has recommended that the board take a vote on May 22nd regarding the closure of Peebles Elementary.
Based on the information presented at the March 20th board meeting, if class sizes are capped at 29 students for intermediate grades and 24 students for primary grades, the district will NOT have enough spare classrooms if Peebles is closed. This means the district will be wed to higher class sizes both now and in the future.
To read more, please click here.
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SaveNASchools has ordered yard signs that will be available this week for distribution. If you preordered a yard sign, you will be contacted this week with further details. If you did not pre-order a yard sign, you can email savenaschools@gmail.com to purchase one from the remaining stock.
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