In a 7-2 vote, the board of the Penn Hills School District on Tuesday approved furloughing 43 teachers at the end of the school year.
What was bound to be an already tense meeting was made worse when Penn Hills police turned away several people -- including three special education teachers -- at the door over capacity concerns.
More than 175 people crammed into the Linton Middle School music room, and nearly 20 listened outside through cracked windows for the first 20 minutes before they were allowed in.
Parents, students, alumni and others addressed the board in a sometimes-emotional public comment period on the plan, which also will cut more than 20 classes. Of the 43 teachers to be furloughed, 23 are in the district's special education department.
The changes follow a series of financial struggles at the district. Leaders had to borrow $20 million last year and expect a nearly $9 million cumulative deficit by the end of this school year.
"How are you making it greater? Because all I'm seeing is what you're taking away and not what you're improving for us," said Katarina Shields, a 16-year-old junior, whose remarks were met with applause. "I just want to ask you, please improve our school. Don’t make it worse. ... If we fail, oh well. We tried and went down kicking and screaming."
"It's ridiculous," said Shana Crouch, one of the special ed teachers who had been outside listening through the window. "They gutted our department."
"Right now, my family has one foot out the door," said David Nosko, whose son attends a charter school.
He scolded the board for its lack of communication with citizens and for board president Denise Graham-Shealey's calling for a woman to be removed for interrupting Superintendent Nancy Hines' opening remarks.
"You can blame the media all you want. You're trying to throw people out of meetings like Donald Trump?" Mr. Nosko said.
The woman was explaining that people had been denied entry, and Ms. Graham-Shealey publicly apologized.
Later, Ms. Graham-Shealey told the audience about her own daughter, who has an individualized education program at Linton Middle, and how discussions about changes to the district's special education models hit home for her.
"This was personal for me. But I can't make decisions based on my one child,” she said.
"I'll be honest with you, I don't know if it's going to work. ... I just have to believe these changes are going to be better for our kids."
The district said in a "comprehensive programming reform" document on its website that it "has serious concerns that our current model is not providing the level of intervention necessary to support students with disabilities."
"A revised model will allow more time for teachers to consult with students and families, to be more integrally involved in the implementation of positive behavior support plans, and to facilitate small group instruction," it reads.
School board members Erin Vecchio and Pauline Calabrese voted against the furlough plan. Ms. Vecchio, in an interview Monday, called the changes "wrong" and questioned why no administrative cuts were planned.
Ms. Calabrese said after the meeting: "I think the taxpayers, the families and the employees need us to sit at the table with the union, the auditor and the [Pennsylvania Department of Education] because change can't happen just in this room."
The state education department reviewed and signed off on the 2016-17 program changes on March 21, although its approval was not required, a department spokeswoman has said.
The Penn Hills Education Association maintains that the plan violates an agreement with the district that union president Bob Hoffmann says prohibits furloughs. The union has filed 15 grievances against the district.
That memorandum-of-understanding also says the district may “recommend for elimination any teaching positions that become vacant” because of state education department-approved program changes.
A list of the classes to be cut at the end of the school year is on the district website. The robotics classes were spared.
Molly Born: mborn@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1944 or on Twitter @molly_born.
First Published: March 30, 2016, 1:51 a.m.
Updated: March 30, 2016, 2:54 a.m.
