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On Halloween, Mark Roosevelt, Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, announced that he's attempting again to close Schenley High School and move its students out of Oakland into existing Middle School buildings in East Liberty and the Hill District
 
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11-09-07 Schenley students tout pride, history

 
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:19 am    Post subject: 11-09-07 Schenley students tout pride, history Reply with quote


Schenley students tout pride, history

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 9, 2007


Fred Quinn, 16, a junior at Schenley High School, makes a plea: 'Don't move my school.'
Photo by Justin Merriman/Tribune-Review

Fred Quinn plays volleyball, performs in the school musical and is active in student government at Schenley High School -- and he hopes to graduate from there.

"This is my school, and I love it," he said Thursday evening. "Move the teachers. Move the administration. But don't move my school."

Quinn, 16, of the Hill District, was among nearly 200 students, parents, alumni and friends of Schenley who attended a meeting to try to dissuade Pittsburgh Public Schools officials from closing the Oakland school.

Supporters of Schenley High School will meet from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday in Room 326 of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh to come up with a plan to keep the school open.

"They're asking people who either work at Schenley High School, graduated from Schenley High School or who have family at Schenley High School to come out and support saving the school," Allegheny County Councilman Bill Robinson, a Schenley graduate, said this morning.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt recently revived a plan to close the 91-year-old school, effective at the end of this school year, because of the high cost of correcting an asbestos problem and fixing the mechanical systems. The school has 1,130 students.

The costs range from $55 million for a partial renovation to $85 million to keep the school open and fix it in stages, said Derrick Lopez, head of high school reform. If the district keeps the school open, it would opt for closing the building for two years and spending $64.3 million to renovate it in stages.

But with the district facing an operating deficit of $17.5 million next year, Roosevelt prefers to close the building.

Opponents of the plan like Jet Lafean, 56, of Schenley Farms contend the district is exaggerating the threat of the asbestos.

"Roosevelt, in his office, is sitting in hundreds of pounds of asbestos," he said, the crowd applauding. "Why try to scare parents and students?"

Lopez explained that the lack of ventilation in the building has been causing asbestos-laden plaster to fall from the walls - a statement that Schenley supporters disputed.

"If you open the windows, the building has ventilation," said Nick Cardas, 53, of Oakland. He owns a company that fixes historic buildings.

Another public hearing will be held Nov. 27, and the school board is scheduled to vote on the proposal in February.

Debbie Ellwood, 46, of Mt. Washington said her son, Michael, a junior, prefers to graduate from Schenley rather than Peabody, the East Liberty school to which he would be assigned under Roosevelt's plan. Other Schenley students would go to Reizenstein in East Liberty and Milliones in the Hill District, both of which would be reopened.

"These kids now are going to school with this heavy weight because they're worried about their school closing," Ellwood said.

Kathy Fine, 47, of Highland Park is the mother of a Schenley alumna, Danielle, and a 16-year-old Schenley sophomore, Jacob.

"Schenley has been an institution in the city of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Public Schools for a hundred years," she said. "It's a flagship of Pittsburgh Public Schools."

Bill Zlatos can be reached at [email protected] or 412-320-7828.

Images and text copyright � 2007 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
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