The Duquesne City School District on Thursday said it will not reopen its long-shuttered high school in the fall despite earlier plans to do so.
The district said in a statement posted on social media that the state Department of Education denied the school system’s request to open a high school because it would require long-term revenue commitments that the Duquesne City schools do not currently have.
The district said it was “deeply saddened to learn about the rejection” and that it will “continue to seek ways to provide the best possible educational experience for the students and residents of Duquesne City.”
Duquesne City High School closed in 2007 after years of financial and academic problems. Its middle school closed in 2012 under similar circumstances.
After those closures, Duquesne students from seventh to 12th grade were sent to either the West Mifflin Area School District or the East Allegheny School District.
As of the past few years, however, a new group of school administrators has worked to restore the district with increased programming, athletics and other extracurricular opportunities.
The district brought back its eighth graders during the 2022-23 school year and its seventh graders the year before that, becoming the first Pennsylvania school system to reopen its middle school after it had been shuttered.
While plans were in the works for the district to reopen its high school, questions lingered, including the financial feasibility. It was also unclear where the city’s high school students would be housed, as the district’s lone building was already at full capacity.
It was not immediately clear if the district will continue to pursue reopening a high school in the future. But, at least for now, it appears high school students from Duquesne will continue to be sent to West Mifflin Area or East Allegheny.
Andrew writes about education and more for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at agoldstein@unionprogress.com.