City school board warned to cut budget: "More budget cuts are coming to the Pittsburgh Public Schools, officials warned last night, raising new questions about what the district will do about under-used high schools and capital projects.
The sky is falling.
Clarification needed: What is a "utility cost?"
I'm sending an email to the P-G reporter, Joe S.
Is that the overall cost of the building? Is it the cost of heat, light, water? Is it the cost of capital elements within the budget? Are teachers, administrators, building support people part of this 'utility cost?' Or are just some of those expenses included?
The district in recent years has closed 22 schools and eliminated hundreds of positions, many through attrition. But to put the district on solid financial footing for the long term, Mr. Berdnik proposed a 10 percent spending cut in 2009, another 10 percent cut in 2010 and 3 percent cuts in years after that.
"Part of our challenge continues to be to right-size district staff to enrollment," Mr. Berdnik said, meaning the district still has more employees than needed.
Mr. Berdnik also repeated an earlier warning that capital projects are straining the district coffers.
The latest alert comes as parents lobby for a renovation of Pittsburgh Schenley, which Mr. Roosevelt proposed closing at the end of the school year because he said the district could not afford $64 million in needed renovations to the Oakland building. Mr. Roosevelt said the remarks about capital projects were not directed at Schenley supporters but were intended to urge board members to be "cautious" about spending.
Pgh Public Schools needs to cut staff because so many families are cutting out of the city. The population decline happens because parents are NOT happy with the life in the city, and at the city schools.
The value of the city education while living in a city home is fleeting. Hence, the families with the ability to depart often do.
Cuts are needed because QUALITY has been cut.
The fix is not more cuts. The real fix has to do with doing a better job with the kids and with the families and with the volunteers so people stay in the city, learn, feel safe, have solid expectations that life can be trusted and people can thrive.
Just as the Brimingham Bridge failure was known 20 years ago and nothing was done about it -- same to with this school saga. The inspectors knew that the bridge had troubles. Yet nothing was done. Recently, life came to a crawl -- making a living hell for everyone from miles around when the bridge was closed. Today the bridge is only at one lane in both directions.
They ignore problems.
Staffing isn't the real problem of Pgh Public Schools. The real problem is what happens in and around our schools in the school day and beyond. The problem is the 10,000 students that are NOT there because they departed in recent times.
The closing of Schenley High School is another signal that 500 families are going to depart the city. Schenley's closing is stupid and Mark Roosevelt's fault.
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