Dear Superintendent Walters and School Board,

We are writing to express our concern regarding the recent decision to start school one hour later on Wednesdays at all Pittsburgh Public Schools for the 2023-24 school year. While we understand that the intent is to provide teachers with professional development, we believe that this change will have several negative consequences for working parents, and students, and did not take their needs into consideration nor were they asked for input.

Starting school an hour later will create a major inconvenience for working parents who rely on the current school schedule to coordinate their work and family responsibilities. Many parents will have to adjust their schedules, either by taking time off work or rearranging their daily routine, which can be a significant financial burden and source of stress for families. This plan was created seemingly without any of the logistics arranged, such as childcare, PRT schedules, Greenway/gifted Wednesday schedules, etc.

Moreover, the new schedule would disrupt students' daily routines, and may lead to tardiness or absences as students struggle with new PRT schedules, traveling during rush hour, and other logistical changes one day a week.

There is a lack of clarity as to why other options weren't considered or families included. For instance:

• Could professional development be conducted for one full day, every 6-8 weeks? Potentially with the option for asynchronous work?
• Could professional development be done on a weekend and pay teachers and staff for attending?
• Could professional development be done at the end of the day so students are let out 1 hour earlier and parents are better able to add that hour to after school care time?
• Why were families not consulted or asked to provide feedback on which option would be the least disruptive, particularly for young children or students with disabilities who rely on an adult to get them to school?

In light of these concerns and lack of clarity on logistics, we respectfully request that you reconsider the decision to start school one hour later on Wednesdays and conduct a parent/guardian and teacher survey to determine which schedule for professional development would work best for teachers and families in the district.

Sincerely,

The undersigned parents/guardians, staff, teachers, and community members