School Director - PPS DISTRICT 5
Watch our student-led PPS School Director Forum to learn more!School Directors are elected on behalf of the community to oversee the education of students in their jurisdiction. They serve as agents of the state legislature. They are responsible for curriculum and instruction management; all finances including development of annual budgets and levying of taxes and issuance of debt obligations when necessary; personnel; legal matters; management of facilities; and transportation of students as appropriate. Schools may include pre-K and career and technical schools.
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Tracey Reed
(Dem)
As school director how would you support middle and high school students who rely on public transportation to get to and from school in light of the cuts in service recently proposed by Pittsburgh Regional Transit?
How would you address anticipated shortfalls in school funding over the next few years? Please be specific.
The Pittsburgh Public Schools Utilization Plan outlines changes to school boundaries and the repurposing of certain school buildings to optimize resources to address enrollment trends. How would you balance the need for efficient resource management while ensuring that all students have access to high-quality educational opportunities?
Occupation
Program Officer
Qualifications for office
My professional life has been in service to children. I have been a high school English teacher, a faculty member in a college of education, and I'm currently a program officer at a family foundation that focuses on education.
Education
B.A. Secondary Education - English; M.A. Public Administration; Ph.D. Education Policy
Facebook
Tracey4PPS
Our region's public transportation challenges are significant. PRT is projecting a $100+ million shortfall and proposing cuts to 41 routes throughout Allegheny County. I will continue to advocate for increased state support for PRT. PRT's challenges will inform the district's reconfiguration plans. It is imperative that the district work to ensure that Pittsburgh families have high-quality educational opportunities close to their homes. The district's transportation office will continue to analyze routes and, at times, may need to provide middle and high school students with district-provided transportation.
As the district faces the realities of funding shortfalls and the uncertainty of federal funding, we must reduce the number of school buildings for which the district is responsible, decreasing the maintenance costs of old, under-utilized buildings. We must be smart about transportation costs and create high-quality educational opportunities close to families' homes (including eliminating the gifted center). We must also consider long-term solutions that save money (albeit nominally) and are environmentally responsible, like reducing the use of paper and food waste and eliminating the use of toxic cleaning solutions.
I will continue to insist that the central purpose of reconfiguring our district is to improve educational opportunities for all of our students. High-quality educational opportunities, supported and highly-trained educators, and well-appointed, beautiful learning spaces are the goals of reconfiguration. Ironically, maintaining an inefficient, inequitable, and ineffective school district is more costly in time, energy, money, and human capital.
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