At the Sept. 24 city school board meeting, the sale of the former East Hills Elementary School building to Imani Christian Academy was approved.
The approval of the $1 million sale comes several weeks after Imani’s initial bid was put on hold at the Aug. 27 school board meeting.
“It was pulled for reconsideration based on the initial information we had received,” school board representative Thomas Sumpter said. “The administration initially did not recommend considering the bid.”
The sale is somewhat controversial due to guidelines stating that the building cannot be used for educational purposes that compete with the Pittsburgh Public School District. Sumpter said Imani does not fit under the competing school category.
“It was considered to be an outreach school,” Sumpter said. “It deals with an at-risk population specifically.”
Imani is a private school for mostly at-risk students. Principal Marilyn Bartlett, Ph.D., and headmaster Milton Raiford said they never saw the school as a competing school.
“We were aware of the guidelines,” Raiford said. “However, because of the nature of our faith I didn’t see us as a traditional school in competition because we’re more of a community outreach.”
Imani is currently housed in a building in the East Hills Shopping Center (also occupied by Petra International Ministries) where some classrooms don’t have windows. Both Raiford and Bartlett said the new building must be renovated, but that it will allow Imani to provide better opportunities for their students.
“It’s going to really benefit us quite well,” Bartlett said. “It will give us the kind of space to provide spiritual development for our students. We’ll be able to expand our scope academically and spiritually.”
Raiford and Bartlett also emphasized what this school has to offer to the community and how it will add to the vision they already have for the East Hills.
“We want to make sure the East Hills community is positively engaged in everything we do,” Bartlett said. “It was an easy choice.”
Raiford said the building would serve as more than a traditional school. He plans to have the school open six days a week. It will also be open in the evening. Ultimately, Raiford would also like to have a boarding school on the grounds.
“It will be more than a school; it will be a community center,” Raiford said. “It will be a hub for a community that’s desperate to find its identity.”
Raiford said the new building is scheduled to be open for the fall 2009 school year.
“Petra Ministries and Imani are all a part of a great vision and we’ve been seeding the East Hills for a long time,” Raiford said. “I think this is an opportunity for Imani to be in the midst of the people we serve.”
