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Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors

Community members ask the school board to advocate for more family housing.

Written by Lucas Griffin

While the Future Ready plan was developed as a response to the district’s declining enrollment and ongoing budget issues, several speakers at the June 22nd public hearing argued that PPS cannot stabilize if Pittsburgh doesn’t address why families are leaving the district.

Randall Taylor—a former school board member, who said he had voted during his own tenure to close schools—linked declining enrollment to the loss of family-sized public housing in Pittsburgh. He called on the current board members to use their position to advocate for child-friendly housing policies in the city. “You are a separate governmental body with the power to determine how policy is done,” he said.

Leeretta Payne of the Hill District echoed the call for more family-sized housing, suggesting that declining enrollment can be reversed, but “it must start with retaining our families within the city and seeking the return of black families displaced from this city,” through “building affordable housing, family-sized housing, preserving existing affordable homes.”

The school board doesn’t set housing policy directly, but it is one of three local government bodies, alongside the city and county, with the power to set taxes on real estate.

As InformUp:PGH reports, the city is currently considering a $50 million plan, known as the Downtown Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID), to use future real estate taxes to pay off loans for investments in a special district across Downtown and the Strip District.

Marcia Bandes of Squirrel Hill objected specifically to any PPS real estate tax revenue being directed to the TRID.

“What do Downtown apartments have to do with your mission or your beliefs?” she asked, citing the Smithfield Field Lofts, a new Downtown development where more than half of the units are set to be one-bedroom apartments, which are too small for families with school-aged children.

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Topics:
EducationHousing & Land Use
Governments:
Pittsburgh Public Schools Board of Directors

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