BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Public Schools is revising parts of its proposed school closure plan after receiving community feedback, including changing the proposed location for two merging high schools and adding transfer options for students at PS 33 Bilingual Center.
Interim Superintendent Ebony Prophet-Bullock said the district has been considering community input over the past week as it reviews its original recommendations.
“The feedback has informed several adjustments, or tweaks, as I would like to call them, to our original recommendations,” Prophet-Bullock said.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that Buffalo Public Schools remains capable of providing high-quality educational opportunities for students we serve today and those we serve tomorrow,” she said.
WATCH: Buffalo schools revise proposed closure plan after community feedback
Under the revised proposal, Leonardo da Vinci High School and Research Laboratory High School would merge at East Community High School on Northampton Street, rather than at Riverside Academy, as initially proposed.
Prophet-Bullock said the change responds to concerns about the distance from the schools’ current locations and would place the merged school closer to where the programs currently operate.
Under the updated plan, Riverside Academy would instead house Buffalo Rising Academy and the Career Collegiate Institute. The programs serve students pursuing alternative education, high school equivalency credentials and vocational training.
Prophet-Bullock said the change would allow Riverside to maintain its educational and community purpose while potentially preserving district administrative offices already located in the building.
The district is also expanding the potential transfer options for students at PS 33 Bilingual Center on Buffalo’s West Side. Schools 3, 30 and 76 remain under consideration, while PS 64 and PS 156 have been added as additional options.
Tim Monreal, who has three daughters at PS 33 Bilingual Center, said bilingual education has been important to his family.
Although the superintendent has said bilingual education would remain available in the district, Monreal expressed concern that the proposed changes could reduce families’ access to those programs.
“Although access to bilingual education in theory will still be there, it would actually result in a decrease in bilingual education,” Monrreal said, describing the program as welcoming to his family and the growing Hispanic population in Western New York.
Monreal said he appreciates that the Board of Education is listening to community feedback and urged district leaders to continue communicating with families as the plan develops.
“We want to see it continue to be a process of transparency, a process of open communication and really, at the end of the day, a process of what is best for the community here in Buffalo,” he said.
The revised options remain proposals. Prophet-Bullock said the district still needs to verify building capacity, staffing, student services and transportation before determining whether the proposed placements are feasible.
The district’s first in-person public meeting on the proposed school changes is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Renovation Church, 567 Hertel Ave.
