Pittsburgh Public Schools discusses changes families can expect ahead of school year

PITTSBURGH — The school year will begin on Monday for an estimated 20,000 students who attend Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), and Channel 11 just got our first look at some of the changes families should expect this fall.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent is taking a firm stance on safety.

“We provide wonderful opportunities and options we provide beautiful experiences, but we do not provide guns,” said Dr. Wayne Walters, the superintendent for PPS.

During the 2022-23 school year, the district experienced several violent incidents: from brawls in the street to the deadly shooting outside of Oliver Citywide Academy. The district is now working to ensure a safer and better learning environment.

A new district plan will move Oliver Citywide Academy to four satellite schools.

Related Coverage >> After violent incidents, Oliver Citywide students will be relocated to other buildings

Outside those changes, the district has altered its reading, language arts, science, and early childhood education curriculums. The district also added a new financial literacy course.

“Through the [finance] course, our students are going to learn about budgeting, banking, credit, taxes, student loans and how to invest. All Pittsburgh public students in grades 6-12 are going to receive this information through a semester-long course. Students will also receive $40 of Nike stock this year,” said Angela Mike, director of CTE.

Also, after receiving an overwhelming amount of family input they’ve made changes to school start times and transportation.

“The district has implemented a new four-tier transportation schedule that will move the schedule from 7:15 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. In addition to changing the start time for high school students, most students also will see a change in their start times,” said Michael McNamara, the Chief Operations Officer.

Finally, the district announced they have made significant progress in closing their employment gap.

“We are excited to have several departments fully staffed at the beginning of the school year,” said Margaret Rudolph, the Chief Human Resources Officer for the district.

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