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BLACK PITTSBURGH MATTERS Commentary by Councilmen Burgess and Lavelle Page B3
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 111 No. 31 Two Sections
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JULY 29-AUGUST 4, 2020
Could PPS students begin school year with nine weeks of learning...from home? School board to vote on proposed resolution on July 31 by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
Professional baseball is back! The Pittsburgh Pirates are finally back on the field, but none of their pitchers could throw the
KEVIN CARTER, the PPS School Board member who introduced the resolution for all students to learn at home for the first nine weeks of the school year. type of curveball that Kevin Carter tossed. He’s the outspoken Pittsburgh Public Schools board member who, during a July 22 online legislative session, proposed a resolution to keep all 23,000 students in the district away from their physical school locations for the first nine weeks of the school year, which begins in late August. Only a few days before
Carter’s proposal, the district had composed a highly-detailed Health and Safety Plan, which, as it pertained to the reopening of schools, featured a blended learning model where some students would have in-school instruction on Monday and Tuesday, and in-home learning on the other weekdays. Other students would have in-school instruction on Thursday and Friday, and in-home learning on the other weekdays. The plan was also packed with how the district would sanitize its schools and buses, and how schools would practice social distancing in classrooms. The district, in its plan, had an option for students to have full-time in-home, or remote, learning. The district reported more than 4,100 students had been enrolled in this option as of July 22. Which means nearly 19,000 students would have been returning to a physical school next month in some form...but now, it may not happen. The debate has raged on cable news outlets and nightly news programs for the past two weeks— should students return to
STUDENTS ENJOY THE PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ Back-to-School celebration at Pittsburgh Faison in this August 2018 photo. While there will be a Back-to-School celebration this year on Aug. 21 near Heinz Field, it’s unclear if the school year will begin with inschool and remote learning, or just remote learning. (Photo by Gail Manker) a physical school location or learn from home, due to this highly contagious coronavirus which has tried its best to bring this country to a halt. “We cannot indefinitely stop 50 million American children from going to school, harming their mental, physical and emotional development,” President Donald Trump said to reporters recently. “Reopening our schools is also criti-
New principals named at Westinghouse, Milliones, Perry by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
In this time of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, what is certain is who will be leading Westinghouse, Perry and Milliones high schools for 2020-21. Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Board of Directors removed the interim tag from Stephan Sereda—he is now the principal for Westinghouse. Eric Graf, former assistant principal of Woodland Hills High School, is now the principal at Pittsburgh Milliones (University Prep). And Dr. Robert Frioni is installed as the new principal at Perry Traditional Academy. “It is important to fill these key vacancies at the school level, but it’s more important to make sure the right people are filling those roles,” said Anthony Hamlet, Ed.D., superintendent of schools, in a release provided to the New Pittsburgh Courier. “The Homewood community has embraced Mr. Sereda with open arms, and he has established a healthy
cal to ensuring that parents can go to work and provide for their families.” President Trump, who has very little support from African Americans nationwide, continues to reiterate that children’s immune systems seem to fight off the virus better than adults. But that doesn’t stop many parents and teachers across the country from thinking that inschool learning should be
delayed. Polls released this month by entities like the Associated Press and Quinnipiac University showed that the majority of those polled don’t believe schools should reopen in the fall. In Los Angeles and San Diego, the decision has already been made to delay in-school instruction at the beginning of the school year, until further notice. More districts across the country will do the same.
But Pittsburgh most likely wasn’t going to be on that list, until Carter’s proposal, even though the district maintained it always had the option to choose remote learning for all students if COVID-19 conditions worsened. “Whereas the board...recognizes and understands the very real and serious threat COVID-19 poses SEE PPS A6
FIGHTING BACK Cynthia Baldwin claims ‘bias and vindictiveness’ against Pa. Supreme Court Chief Justice over alleged comments by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
STEPHAN SEREDA, the new Westinghouse High School principal, hands a Westinghouse student her diploma. teaching and learning environment for students and staff.” Pertaining to Graf and Dr. Frioni, Dr. Hamlet remarked: “Summer is a time of transition, and we are excited as three longtime educators shift into leader-
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ship roles. With this global pandemic, it is imperative that we have dedicated professionals, such as Mr. Graf, Dr. Frioni, and Mr. (Nathan) Berkowitz, heading schools in the wake of online learning.” Berkowitz was named to lead Pittsburgh King PreK8. Sereda joined the district in May 2018 as Coordinator of Instructional EffectiveSEE PRINCIPALS A7
There’s an old saying that goes, “What’s done in the dark will come to the light.” But for Pennsylvania’s chief justice of the state Supreme Court, what was “said” in the dark has come to the light, according to a Pa. judge who then signed an affidavit with the alleged comments. McKeesport resident Cynthia Baldwin, a former state Supreme Court justice, the second Black woman ever appointed to such a position in Pa., made public the affidavit, signed in 2019 by Judge Barry Feudale. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported last week, July 23, that in the affidavit, Judge Feudale spoke with now-Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor at a judicial conference in 2012 in Hershey, Pa., while Saylor was an associate justice of the state Supreme Court. Justice Saylor complimented Judge Feudale “on his oversight of the grand jury investigating” former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Justice Saylor,
CYNTHIA BALDWIN, a former state Supreme Court justice, and the first Black woman elected to the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas. according to the Inquirer, then told Judge Feudale “a disciplinary complaint would be brought against Baldwin in connection with the case.” Next, Justice Saylor, according to the affidavit, said of Baldwin: “She caused us a lot of trouble when she was on the Supreme Court because of her minority agenda.” Judge Feudale said he was “stunned,” according to the Inquirer. He also
reminded Justice Saylor that “disclosure of grand jury material was forbidden,” according to the Inquirer. Baldwin, a Democrat, served on the state’s highest court in 2006 and 2007, an appointee of then-Governor Ed Rendell. She later became chief counsel for Penn State University during the Sandusky scandal, an orSEE BALDWIN A7