PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools students at 39 facilities will learn remotely on Tuesday and Wednesday because of high temperatures in the forecast.
The announcement has many parents feeling like they’re left scrambling.
“How do I get coverage for work? How do we support home? You just find yourself scrambling at the last minute,” questioned parent Karen Sloan.
“I empathize with families around the shifts that need to be made but I also empathize with our students and their experience in school and I want that to be a place of joy and comfort for them,” said Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters.
According to Walters, the shift to live, remote instruction is part of the district’s “extreme heat protocol”.
It impacts aging school buildings that do not have air conditioning.
“Our buildings are approximately 89 years old, on average, and so when they were built, those were not the considerations, but how it is. It takes time. It’s an expensive venture. We try to do a little at a time because we don’t have the budget to full scale air condition all of our schools,” Walters said.
Teachers will give live lessons on Microsoft Teams.
Some parents are concerned their kids are not getting adequate instruction when not in the classroom.
“We know this from the pandemic, it is kidding ourselves that actual learning is occurring in this kind of scenario,” Sloan said.
But students, like Pavel Marin, an Allderdice Senior, say the buildings are just too hot.
“I invite anyone to come in to our schools when it’s 90, when it feels like 95 degrees, and to sit and try to engage. It gets difficult,” Marin said.
The following schools will learn remotely:
Allderdice, Arsenal (PreK-5 and 6-8), Banksville, Beechwood, Brookline, Carrick, Chartiers, Clayton, Colfax, Concord, Crescent, Dilworth, Fulton, Grandview, Greenfield, Liberty, Lincoln, Linden, Manchester, Mifflin, Miller, Montessori, Morrow (Intermediate and Primary buildings), Northview Heights Early Childhood Center, Perry (including OCA Satellite Site), Phillips, Roosevelt Primary, Schiller, Science and Technology, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, Sterrett, Student Achievement Center, Weil, Westinghouse, Westwood, Whittler, Woolslair.
Grab-and-go meal services will be available from 7 to 9 a.m. at the following locations:
West: Pittsburgh Chartiers, Pittsburgh Westwood
North: Pittsburgh Morrow Intermediate Campus, Pittsburgh Perry, Northview Heights Early Childhood Center
East: Pittsburgh Arsenal, Pittsburgh Colfax, Pittsburgh Fulton, Pittsburgh Greenfield, Pittsburgh Student Achievement Center
Hill District: Pittsburgh Miller
South: Pittsburgh Brookline, Pittsburgh Concord, Pittsburgh Grandview, Pittsburgh Phillips, and Pittsburgh Roosevelt Primary Campus
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