Wilmerding residents, parents and officials urged the East Allegheny school board Monday to allow a performing arts high school to open in the former Westinghouse Elementary School in Wilmerding.
The school board is expected to vote Feb. 13 on the proposal to create the Westinghouse Charter School for the Arts in the former school to offer performing arts courses for grades 9-12.
Opponents of the plan include the East Allegheny teachers union and some district officials, who fear the charter school would draw students away from district schools.
Proponents say the charter school wouldn’t take away that many students and would bring new life to the former school building and the community.
At a Dec. 12 public hearing on the proposed charter school, developer Mark Masterson of RPA Holding Company LLC said he would renovate the art deco school building and lease it to Westinghouse Charter School for the Arts for five years.
During that time, he would pay real estate taxes on the building, he said, and make it handicapped-accessible.
Linda Kirk, an elementary teacher for 36 years and a member of Wilmerding council, said at Monday's meeting that she understands teachers’ concerns about losing jobs, “but I understand what Wilmerding needs, too.”
She suggested administrators work with the new performing arts school in the same way they do with Forbes Road Career and Technology Center.
Jim Filia, who has a business in Wilmerding, said the performing arts school is likely to draw only 10 to 15 students away from the East Allegheny schools.
If the board denies the performing arts school permission to operate in the building, it may some day be occupied by a Propel charter school, which would draw more students from East Allegheny, one speaker said.
Wilmerding resident Bill Pricener, who is a member of Wilmerding’s Community Improvement Advisory Committee, also spoke in favor of the charter school.
He wondered if a performing arts school would prompt some parents to buy a home in the district. He said one of his three children is an arts enthusiast, and he wouldn't want to drive a long distance to take his child to an arts school.
Tom Barnishin of the charter school group said about 20 people moved into Pitcairn so that their children could attend a Propel school there after the Gateway School District closed an elementary school.
After the meeting, he said the Westinghouse Charter School for the Arts, according to a person with the school district, might end up paying the school district $150,000 per year for cafeteria services.
In addition, the charter school group wants to contract with the district for special education, a school nurse and maintenance services. Mr. Barnishin said the district would also receive money from the sale of the school.
He also said after the meeting that revenues for East Allegheny, including real estate taxes during the first five years, could reach $300,000 per year.
Robin Highlands, president of the East Allegheny Education Association, the district teachers’ union, spoke against the charter school at Monday’s meeting.
She said she believes the district could offer in-house “a majority” of what the charter school would offer. She also said she is concerned about East Allegheny teachers losing their jobs.
Wilmerding Councilwoman Karen Peterson said she has watched the deterioration of the former elementary school. If things continue as they are, the building will eventually have to be torn down at great cost, she said. She said the performing arts school would be “a complete benefit” to the community and the school district.
Kelly Maxwell, also of Wilmerding, said the former elementary building is “horrible to look at” in the summer, and the district doesn’t clear snow from the property in winter. She said she recently saw an elderly woman fall in the school’s parking lot.
Former East Allegheny school director Fred Miller said the district pays $50,000 to $70,000 per year for utilities and to maintain the former Westinghouse school.
At the end of Monday’s meeting, board president Gerri McCullough said she plans to vote for the charter school. School directors Michael Paradine and John Savinda said they plan to vote against it. The majority of school directors did not reveal how they would vote, some saying they needed more information.
Anne Cloonan, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: January 13, 2017, 5:00 a.m.