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Pittsburgh Public School directors call for transparency in upcoming budget talks

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Public School directors call for transparency in upcoming budget talks

Pittsburgh Public School directors are calling for more transparency during upcoming work sessions for the 2025 budget.

Feedback from several board members, many of whom touched on the need for additional public input during the budget process, was given to district administration during Monday’s business and finance meeting. It came weeks after the board passed a $719.4 million spending plan for 2024 that included a $29.9 million deficit and that was criticized by several residents who said it lacked sufficient community input.

“In this budget process we should be able to find a way to engage community and get feedback,” school director Devon Taliaferro said. “We love to give them surveys about everything else. This is one of the areas that we don’t and we should. … As much information as we can give the public about what is going into the budget and how our money is being spent I think is really really important.”

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Throughout the 2024 budget process criticism came from both the community and school directors who suggested that workshops occurred too late in the year and that budget narratives and a list of staff by department were not present in the budget book.

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Residents added that it is a “people’s budget” made up of tax dollars that need to be spent equitably. They also questioned the possibility of school closures, a tactic being considered after officials covered the almost $30 million deficit with the district’s depleting fund balance. With the fund balance being used to cover the 2024 deficit, the budget line no longer adheres to the board’s minimum 5% fund balance policy. The possibility of schools closing also comes as the district continues to record declining enrollments. As things currently stand the district’s school buildings have room for 40,000 students. But today the district enrolls around 19,000 students.

Potential plans for consolidation could be presented this year.

The goal now is to create a budget process that provides clarity to both the board and district residents.

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“I think the ideal outcome for me would be one that when we get to the actual budget that people feel like they understand what’s happened, they understand the process, they understand the numbers, they understand where funds are going, they understand the changes that have been made,” school director Tracey Reed said. “I think that for me when I think about the ideal outcome it is one that is sort of heavy on the side of transparency and on learning.”

To help address those concerns, board members are planning to add more public input sessions into the budget timeline. During the 2024 budget the public had one opportunity in December, the month the final budget had to be approved, to give input on the spending plan.

“We work on behalf of the students and families and teachers and everybody in the district and taxpayers most importantly,” Ms. Taliaferro said. “We should be able to find ways to incorporate their voice and what they want to see in the budget and how the district could be better spending their money.”

School director Yael Silk added that the budget should be presented to the public in a way that allows them to understand how the funding relates to teaching and learning taking place in Pittsburgh Public. Those “direct and practical connections,” she said, “would be really powerful.”

School directors also asked district officials to explain how the board can better insert themselves into budget discussions in a way that’s effective.

“I feel like we always get to the end and we say we don’t like this or that and we don’t know throughout the process how to insert ourselves, where specifically to insert ourselves and how to do that,” Ms. Reed said.

District officials are now planning the first workshop for the 2025 budget. A date has not yet been set but during Monday’s meeting directors provided guidance on topics for the workshop such as a recap of the previous budget and any changes or concerns that occurred throughout the process, and explanations of what goes into the budget on the school level.

School director Gene Walker added that he would like to see budget conversations “necessary to get our budget to a place where we can actually sustain a school district long-term. And obviously we’re not in that position right now to be able to sustain the work that we are doing long-term. … I want us to have those really substantive conversations that both lead us toward better educational outcomes but also lead us toward sustainability long-term.”

First Published: January 9, 2024, 12:36 a.m.
Updated: January 9, 2024, 10:47 a.m.

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