PITTSBURGH — Less than two months after Pittsburgh Public Schools approved a plan to close 12 schools across nine buildings, the district is now facing a new civil rights complaint.
Advancement Project, 412 Justice and the Education Rights Network filed the complaint Tuesday with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on behalf of five Pittsburgh Public Schools students.
Advancement Project is a national civil rights organization.
They argue the district’s school closure plan disproportionately harms Black students.
“For decades, the district has under-resourced schools that mostly Black students go to and as that has happened over the years, you see these enrollment declines,” said Adaku Onyeka-Crawford with the Advancement Project.
The complaint argues the closures would have a disproportionate impact on Black students by forcing many to travel farther to school, placing them in more crowded classrooms and disrupting access to educational opportunities like African-centered curriculum and STEAM.
Naomi Chambers, whose two children attend Miller PreK-5 — one of the schools slated to close — worries students will lose more than just their school building.
“The school that they go to answers some of those socioeconomic things that we as a community face that other neighborhoods don’t,” Chambers said.
According to the complaint, Black students make up 62% of the students who would lose their schools under the closure plan, despite making up 49% of the district’s overall student population.
The filing also alleges the district declined to conduct an equity audit or explain how it would provide additional support to students most affected by the closures.
For some advocates, the lawsuit echoes concerns they’ve raised for decades.
Wanda Henderson was among a group that filed a discrimination complaint against Pittsburgh Public Schools in 1992. She says the latest complaint reflects many of the same issues.
“Unfortunately, this is like déjà vu for Black parents in Pittsburgh Public Schools,” Henderson said.
Henderson believes school closures are not the answer.
“We understand that the district has some financial problems but there needs to be another way to address the issue,” she said.
In a statement, Pittsburgh Public Schools said, “We will not comment on pending litigation, and we have not received the complaint.”
Those students represented in the complaint attend Manchester Pre K-8 on the North Side, Woolslair Pre K-5 in Bloomfield and Miller Pre K-5 in the Hill District.
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