Two Pittsburgh schools will close in June

By Daveen Rae Kurutz

 Pittsburgh Public Schools Board voted 8-1 Wednesday night to close Vann Elementary in the Hill District and Rooney Accelerated Academy in Brighton Heights.

Mark Brentley Sr. voted against the measure. The schools will close in June.

"It's sad, but a lot of thought has gone into this," said board member Sherry Hazuda. "It's something not anyone anywhere sitting around this table takes lightly. The enrollment just is such that we had to look at where our students can get the best education."

Both schools have declining enrollment.

Students at Rooney don't have any music classes, said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh.

At Vann, administrators were concerned about asbestos in the building. It had been slated to close after each of the past two school years, but the board twice delayed the move because of community concerns.

"I am not sure how an educator can look a parent in the eye after this," said Brentley, who represents the Hill District on the board. "You cannot ever expect a parent, a child, a community to rebound from these changes."

The closings are part of a move by Pittsburgh Public Schools to reconfigure schools in both neighborhoods. Weil Accelerated Learning Academy in the Hill District will no longer educate middle school students. In Northview Heights, Northview Accelerated Learning Academy will begin enrolling sixth- through eighth-graders.

Because of Vann's closing, the geographic boundaries determining where Hill District students attend elementary school will change. However, students attending Miller and Weil elementaries will not be moved.

Rooney's building will remain vacant next year while administrators evaluate how best to use it. Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said students from Morrow Elementary School may move into the building eventually. Its students will attend one of three nearby middle schools.

The district has said the Vann building will no longer be used.