Buffalo Public Schools continue to face questions and concerns from the public regarding its proposal to close eight schools next year.
At the district's first public meeting Thursday, held virtually, there were a lot of questions and not a lot of time for answers.
Buffalo Public Schools Interim Superintendent Ebony Prophet-Bullock spent 50 minutes on Thursday afternoon explaining in-detail, with statistics and data on a slideshow, why they are choosing to close, merge or repurpose eight schools.
She said while the district is facing financial difficulties, cost alone was not the sole factor in determining which schools to close or change.
"Educational quality, enrollment, utilization, program sustainability, facility conditions, student placement, and costs have to be considered together," Prophet-Bullock said.
The core reasons for these changes, she said, include decreased overall enrollment, increasing preschool enrollment, facility issues, financial and transportation concerns.
"On average, we are currently seeing approximately eight to 10 busses arriving late or delayed each day. The board also requested that the district examine one closure in each of the six board districts," Prophet-Bullock said. "These conditions together created a need for a system-level proposal."
She gave specifics, too, going through each school’s challenges and their reasoning.
"PS 366 Research Lab's lease is ending and costs about $500,000. This site also lacks a traditional cafeteria, auditorium, and gym. Da Vinci needs a permanent home," Prophet-Bullock said, among the facilities concerns. "PS 4, home of CCI and central staff, has major boiler concerns. Lastly, PS 59 continues to need additional safety measures."
However, tensions were high during the Zoom meeting. Attendees left over 150 comments and questions for the district, including “Why did you choose 2:00 p.m. for this meeting?” “Why have closure documents and presentations not been translated to Spanish?” and “So far all I am hearing is how valuable these schools are. Our children are not just lines on a spreadsheet.”
Many expressed concerns with transportation changes, school mergers, bilingual education, education for students with disabilities and how students will emotionally handle the changes.
With only 10 minutes left in the call, Prophet-Bullock answered some, but not all of the questions.
The district did commit to answering the questions on their FAQ page by the end of day Friday.
The next two public meetings are Thursday, October 15, 2026 at Renovation Church and Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at PS 156 Olmsted High School. Both will be held at 5:30 p.m.
The district has a webpage devoted to the proposal, which you can view here.
