First Buffalo School Closure Meeting Leaves Parents With Lots Of Questions
New York State's second-largest school district has been a hot topic lately. Over the last week, we've learned a lot more about the Buffalo Public School system's plan to close 8 current schools, which would include reconstituting five of them as new schools inside existing buildings that would be repurposed.
When the news broke last week, the idea of that many schools closing caught many parents, teachers, and members of the community by surprise.
To help stakeholders understand the rationale that school administrators had when deciding to close schools, what schools to close, and what to do with the students who would be impacted by the decision, BPS interim superintendent Dr. Ebony E. Prophet-Bullock hosted the first of three public meetings designed to lay out the facts and positions, and give people the chance to ask questions.
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The first meeting, which was held last night via Zoom, had more than 170 questions submitted by people in attendance at the virtual meeting while Dr. Prophet-Bullock went through a presentation giving the state of the school system, along with the thought process she and other district leaders took when coming up with their plans to change and modernize the school system.
The district has lost more than 3,000 students, but much of the system continues to operate as those students are still enrolled. Second, we need more space and support for growing number of preschool education students entering the district. Third, several facility and placement issues require action.
-Dr. Ebony E. Prophet-Bullock, interim Superintendent of the Buffalo City Public Schools
During the meeting, the interim Superintendent noted that the school system has had to use more than $60 million of its long-term savings in order to balance the budget this year due to those factors, and if changes aren't made soon, then the system could be in greater danger of collapse.
This meeting was the first of three meetings that have been scheduled. The next two meetings will be in person: October 15 at Renovation Church and October 20 at Frederick Law Olmsted PS 156.
