PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools will not be reissuing summary citations to students. In an 8-1 vote Wednesday evening, school board members decided to table the agenda item and extend the moratorium on the disciplinary practice.
>> PPS to vote on reissuing citations after revised policy on student conduct
“I think more work needs to be done on policy 212, so I move to table the vote on policy revisions,” said school board member Yael Silk.
The district placed a temporary pause on the citations in July and later extended it twice. This will be the third time the policy will be extended.
PPS parent Stacey Kovacs wanted to see the disciplinary practice brought back.
“There has to be some sort of punishment and it’s not fair when you have these terrible physical assaults occurring in high school that are going completely uncited,” Kovacs said.
The citations are meant for students accused of serious offenses on school grounds that don’t necessarily rise to the level of criminal charges.
Some board members argue the practice has been misused over the years and unfairly targets Black students. Some believe even with a revised policy, that bias on who is issued a ticket will continue.
“Black and brown and disabled children are getting issued citations at higher rates than white students and students of other races; that’s problematic for me,” said Pittsburgh Public School Board First Vice President Devon Taliaferro. “Unfortunately, the numbers don’t say that that’s how we’ve used it in the past, and I’m not so confident that that’s how we’ll use it in the future.”
Board President Gene Walker disagrees.
“It’s how we implement these policies that create equity,” Walker said. “Words on a paper aren’t going to stop people from their implicit biases.”
Walker was the only one who voted to move forward with the policy to have as a tool, saying that doesn’t mean it needs to be used.
“We want to get it as right as possible and for some, that means taking more time,” he said. “For me, I felt like we were in a place where we could move forward and still make changes down the road.”
Several board members want to continue ironing out the details and want to see support services and restorative practices in place to address certain behaviors.
“It does us a disservice if we don’t have the right discussions in this district,” Taliaferro said.
There is no word yet on how long the moratorium will be extended.
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