Pittsburgh Public Schools have joined the Wilkinsburg School District in agreeing to a six-year partnership that will send some of the smaller community’s students to a big city school.
While the boards of both now have approved a letter of intent that outlines 18 terms of agreement in the partnership, the path to approval in each district played out differently.
On Tuesday, the Wilkinsburg board unanimously approved the letter of intent.
In Pittsburgh, board directors debated for more than an hour Wednesday night over various terms within the agreement, including the tuition rate and Wilkinsburg student access to magnet programs during the first year of the agreement.
The board finally approved the letter in a 7-2 vote. Members Sherry Hazuda and Cynthia Falls dissented, citing concerns over the tuition rate and cost of attendance for Wilkinsburg students who will go to Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12.
“While I sympathize with the challenges being faced by the Wilkinsburg School District, I have a responsibility to the taxpayers and families of the city of Pittsburgh,” Ms. Hazuda said after Wednesday’s meeting.
Board member Mark Brentley Sr. compared the lack of access Wilkinsburg students would have to Pittsburgh magnet schools in the first year of the agreement to a “quarantine.” Wilkinsburg students should be eligible to apply to Pittsburgh magnets with the same requirements and consideration as resident students immediately, he said.
Mr. Brentley made a motion during Wednesday’s meeting for students to have full access to Pittsburgh magnets for the upcoming school year, which would be the first year of the agreement. The motion failed.
“It’s like we want to make sure they don’t get an even chance to compete, that if we leave them there, maybe they’ll forget about the other opportunities available to them and just get comfortable at Westinghouse,” he said before Wednesday’s meeting. “Time is of the essence for these kids. They’re coming from a failing school district into another struggling school, and then we’re going to tell them we’re putting them in a holding pattern for a full year while we sort things out. That’s precious time wasted.”
Pittsburgh superintendent Linda Lane said having the Wilkinsburg students in a central location for the first year of the agreement is an important part of their transition.
“We are trying to build something at Westinghouse and we are opening up our doors to embrace someone else’s child,” board director Regina Holley added.
The agreement would close Wilkinsburg middle and high school at the end of this school year, sending more than 200 Wilkinsburg students in grades 7-12 to Westinghouse in Homewood on a tuition basis.
Under the agreed terms, Wilkinsburg students would not gain access to Pittsburgh magnet schools until the 2017-18 school year. Also, Wilkinsburg students’ standardized test scores would be attributed to the city and provided to Wilkinsburg for informational purposes.
Wilkinsburg would be responsible for providing transportation for their students to Pittsburgh.
A question frequently asked in public debates on the partnership was whether Wilkinsburg students would be eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program.
Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Promise, made it clear Tuesday that city residency and enrollment in Pittsburgh Public Schools is a non-negotiable term of the Promise’s charter. If a student is now attending Pittsburgh Public Schools but doesn’t live in the city, that student is not eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise, he said.
“There’s an easy solution for that, and I propose the Pittsburgh Promise is the dowry to incentivize the marriage of the municipalities ... by actually merging the municipalities and having Wilkinsburg become the Wilkinsburg neighborhood of Pittsburgh,” Mr. Ghubril said.
Staff writer Molly Born contributed. Clarece Polke: cpolke@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1889 or on Twitter @clarepolke.
First Published: October 29, 2015, 1:03 a.m.
Updated: October 29, 2015, 3:29 a.m.
