State proposal: Dissolve Duquesne High School

Students would be sent to other districts under proposal from education secretary
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Duquesne High School would be dissolved and students would be sent to other public high schools on a tuition basis under a plan proposed by state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak.

Bill Wade, Post-Gazette
Montel Staples, head boys basketball coach and athletic director at Duquesne High School, asks at last night's meeting about the safety of moving Duquesne students to other schools.

Dr. Zahorchak presented the details of his plan last night during a community meeting in the auditorium of the Duquesne Education Center. He asked the state board of control to vote at its June 5 meeting to end the district's high school program.

The district would continue to provide classes for grades K-8.

If that action is taken, Dr. Zahorchak said he will then ask the state Legislature to grant him the power to assign Duquesne students to other high schools in the area. There will be about 250 high school students in Duquesne next year.

Last night, Dr. Zahorchak refused to identify which districts could expect to get Duquesne students other than to say there would be "multiple" school districts.

The refusal to name the other districts was a point of frustration for parents.

"You are asking our board to close down the high school when you don't say what other schools our kids will go to," said PTA President Sonya Chambers. "It's like telling me we are going to move you out of your house but we don't know where we are going to put you."

Dr. Zahorchak said the school districts have not yet been chosen -- a statement that audience members said they had a hard time believing.

"I think it's a sad day in Duquesne when our kids have to be funneled out to different districts," said high school basketball coach Montel Staples. "Who is gonna be the voice for our kids in other districts? My heart is real, real sad."

Dr. Zahorchak emphasized that his plan was not a merger of school districts. Any district receiving Duquesne high school students would receive tuition payments for them, and the Duquesne City School District would continue to exist and to operate its K-8 program.

In addition, he said, educators would work hard to provide better preschool opportunities for children in Duquesne.

He showed a timetable for the process that showed the board of control voting to curtail the high school program on June 5. The secretary would then ask the Legislature to empower him to carry out the plan.

Then letters will be sent to parents and students detailing the process through which they would choose a new high school to attend.

He said a system would be enacted that would likely provide a specific number of slots at each of the high schools selected and a lottery process that would be used if there were more students interested in a particular school than slots available.

The secretary said in addition to high schools from other public school districts, Duquesne students also would have the opportunity to attend any of the "dozens of career and technical centers" in the area.

The letters to families would be followed up with sessions for parents and students on how to apply for a spot at their preferred school district.

In August, the secretary said there will be a final community meeting to review all of the procedures and there will be a schedule of services announced to ensure that Duquesne students have successful transitions to their new high schools.

Dr. Zahorchak said the transfer of Duquesne high school students to other districts will provide them with what they are currently lacking -- a full component of language and advanced placement and honors courses in addition to a full slate of extracurricular activities.

Dr. Zahorchak encouraged residents to work with his department on the changes. "We are going to need to hold hands and work heart to heart," he said.

In response to residents' questions, Dr. Zahorchak said dialogue has started with officials in some of the communities and school districts where he is considering sending the Duquesne students and that those conversations will continue.

He said the criteria that he will choose in selecting the districts are: proximity, capacity and academic performance. He also said that if the Legislature gives him the power he is requesting, local districts he designates would not be able to refuse admittance to Duquesne students.

Parents in the audience asked that students not be divided up among numerous districts but by no more than two. Last month, when the secretary told Duquesne residents the district couldn't continue its high school program because it didn't provide appropriate courses or extracurricular activities, residents said they wanted their children sent to the West Mifflin Area School District.

Tychelle Stephens, a Duquesne student who will be a high school junior next year, asked the secretary to also consider security when choosing other districts. Tychelle asked that the number of districts be small so that large groups of students would be sent to the same school.

"Do you think it would be safe to send four or five students to a school that has 500 students," she asked. "And it would be ludicrous to send Duquesne students to Clairton or Wilkinsburg. You are just asking for something to pop off."
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