School District may scrap neighborhood school alignment

Get this, parents cheering at a school board meeting. How refreshing.

Montour may scrap neighborhood school alignment during renovation The Montour School District likely will drop its neighborhood school alignment for a year while its high school is renovated.
Under the scenario laid out by acting Superintendent Donald Boyer at a crowded public meeting Tuesday night, grades 8-12 would move into David E. Williams Middle School in the fall, with grades 6-7 into Ingram Elementary School, grades 3-5 into Burkett Elementary and grades K-2 into Forest Grove Elementary.
The plan drew cheers from many in the audience. Many parents have called for moving the high school to David E. Williams so those students could have a full curriculum and a somewhat normal year of high school.

I have been an advocate, and some others agree with me, that the Pittsburgh Public School District should go to an "All Choice" system for all high school students. This would get rid of the "Feeder Pattern" system of locking in certain students to certain high schools based upon where their parents say that the kid resides.

In our high schools, we should give the kid a choice to go to a city-wide magnet such as Perry Traditional, CAPA, Sci-Tech, U-Prep, or the International School (IB at Obama) -- as well as the more traditional schools of Allderdice, Carrick, Brashear, Langley, Oliver, Peabody and Westinghouse.

If everyone had the freedom to go to what school they desire, perhaps fewer would go to the Charter Schools too. Likewise, private and Catholic schools are an option as well.

If the city gets rid of the feeder pattern for high school students, the district would retain more families in the city too.