Local learning center set up for kids to do their school work is hardly functioning and dangerous, parents say

PITTSBURGH — A large group of parents who signed up their children at a local learning center were shocked by what they saw Tuesday morning.

The center is funded through the National Learning Alliance.

The place was set up for children to do their school work, but parents said the building was dangerous and not fully functional.

Is there an issue at your child’s school that you’d like us to investigate? Contact our investigators by emailing 11investigates@wpxi.com or calling (412) 237-4963.

“It was not safe at all for our children to be here,” said parent Melanie Tedesco. “The bathroom doesn’t even have working facilities There’s no toilet paper, no paper towels. There’s no soap. There’s no refrigeration or cooler center for the food to be kept in. The food is sitting on the steps, there are ripped up floors with nails sticking out of the floor. It’s just completely rundown."

We reached out to Stephen MacIsaac, the executive director of the Neighborhood Learning Alliance, to find out why the conditions were like this.

He told Channel 11 part of the building is still being renovated, but that’s not the part where students would be learning. He sent us the following statement:

"We are disappointed and saddened that parents had a bad experience this morning.  With all best intentions, we are trying to bring school day programming to the Hilltop because of concern for the families and children.

As was mentioned by the parent, we are working toward building up to serving 50 elementary students at the 500 Brownsville Road location. We started this morning with just the downstairs space which is safe and functional for 25 students with appropriate social distancing. The spaces she raised concerns about are the stairs and the upstairs space that are under construction and not available for programming at the moment. These spaces should not be accessible for parents or students. The landlords are in the process of renovating the stairs and the upstairs space so we can serve the additional children.

More students and families arrived than expected this morning, causing our staff to turn some families away and escalating an already challenging first morning.  The elementary coordinator was on the way to the site this morning.  He was then intending to head back out to pick up and bring any additional materials to the site.  Given the ensuing confusion he opted to stay at the site to engage with the concerned parents.

The site is ready to go but will remain closed tomorrow to address technology issues. Staff is in the process of communicating with all the registered families to give them updates. When the renovations to the upstairs space are complete, we will be able to extend services additional families."

Some parents like Tedesco are now looking for alternative options.

“I guess the next step is that we all find an alternative for our children, and you know, we have no where to take our kids now,” Tedeso said.

Laptops still being handed out to Pittsburgh students on first day of online classes

Cox Media Group