Pittsburgh Public Schools uncertain about fall classes, continues tech purchases

Pittsburgh Public Schools officials on Thursday said they remain uncertain as to whether in-person learning will begin in the fall.

“Based on our timeline right now, I would say there is an expectation, but we just don’t know,” said Superintendent Anthony Hamlet. “I’d say the greatest challenge right now is just not knowing what the guidelines will be as far as social distancing and how that will look.”

In a virtual news conference with reporters Thursday, district leaders laid out plans to distribute laptops to the remaining students in need, initiate new summer programs and potentially return to face-to-face instruction.

School board members voted to purchase 7,000 more laptops for elementary school students during a special legislative meeting this week. It was an investment of about $1.3 million. The newest purchase order will bring the district closer to its ultimate goal of providing technology to all 26,000 students, Hamlet said. About 5,800 more laptops are still needed.

“While we do not know the full impact that covid-19 will have on our state and federal budgets, we still want to support the transition to remote learning,” Hamlet said.

Before the latest purchase, the district had invested more than $1.6 million to acquire around 5,600 new devices.

Theodore Dwyer, chief of data, research and assessment, said it is difficult to predict when every student will have access to a district device. Until the district acquires enough technology for everyone, they will continue distributing based on need, to students who don’t already have laptops or tablets at home.

Without a one-to-one student to technology ratio, however, Dwyer said it’s impossible to gauge how many students are participating in daily lessons, as some are still relying on instructional packets. The discrepancy led to the district’s earlier decision to administer passing grades to all students for the fourth quarter.

Greater access to technology will be necessary moving forward with summer and fall plans, district leaders said. All summer programming will be conducted virtually. During the news conference, Chief of School Performance David May-Stein outlined plans for the Summer Dreamers Academy, the extended school year program and credit recovery for juniors and seniors preparing for graduation.

For students in 10th and 11th grade, the district is offering new summer courses in math and literature. The courses, while not credit-bearing, are designed to make up for classroom time that was lost this school year.

“We are very concerned and aware of the potential learning loss that our students are going to have,” May-Stein said.

Pittsburgh Public Schools will also offer a virtual rendition of its annual Learn and Earn Summer Youth Employment program, which is offered to students who have completed eighth grade or are over the age of 14. The district will not be able to provide financial compensation for participants this year, May-Stein said, but is looking into other incentives.

Given the toll the pandemic has taken on students’ coursework in the fourth quarter, May-Stein hopes summer programs enrollment will be higher than previous years. Errika Jones, Hamlet’s chief of staff, said the district has doubled its capacity to teach students over the summer. 2,400 students are able to participate, she said.

Beyond the summer, Chief Operations Officer Pam Capretta said the district is considering a variety of factors to prepare for the 2020-21 school year. The staff is reviewing ventilation systems in school buildings to ensure they’re ready to support large gatherings. They are proactively identifying schools that may present social distancing issues – those that are over capacity or may have overcrowded classrooms.

The district is also approaching the dilemma of transportation, Capretta said. There have been discussions of limiting each school bus to one student per seat; as a result, there may be a need for more drivers.

All preparations are being made while the district copes with huge potential losses in revenue. During Thursday’s press briefing, Chief Financial Officer Ronald Joseph said Pittsburgh Public Schools could potentially see an $82 million decline in local revenue, increasing its deficit astronomically and completely exhausting its fund balance in the next year. The district is slated to receive about $11.1 million in federal emergency funding, but has yet to determine how that money will be used.

At this point, Hamlet said the district is expecting to return to school buildings in the fall, but must prepare for a variety of scenarios. With the acquisition of more laptops, he hopes to at least provide students with a “full synchronous environment,” where students can watch lectures and engage with teachers in real time.

“There’s a multitude of issues that we need to look into and prepare for,” Hamlet said. “Right now, we don’t know.”