America’s best weekly Orlando Harper announces retirement after 11 years as Jail Warden SEE PAGE A5
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
thenewpittsburghcourier $1.00 Published Weekly
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 114 No. 34 Two Sections
AUGUST 23-29, 2023
COURIER EXCLUSIVE
UNAPOLOGETIC PPS leader Dr. Wayne Walters demands excellence from teachers as new school year begins by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
School is finally back! Pittsburgh Public Schools begin the upcoming school year on Monday, Aug. 28, and no one is more excited for the start of school than the city’s school superintendent, Dr. Wayne Walters. And as you’re about to find out, no one is more candid and open about what he wants to see in his school district than Dr. Wayne Walters. The 2023-24 school year will be Dr. Walters’ second school year as official superintendent. He had been the interim superintendent since October 2021, following the resignation of Dr. Anthony Hamlet. In July 2022, the interim tag was shredded. Dr. Walters has a lot of people cheering him on. He’s earned the respect of many parents, staff, teachers and administrators. He knows the district in-
side and out. When PPS’ Board of Directors said they would have a “national” search for its next superintendent a few years ago, most of the board members had an inkling that the right person for the job in their mind was already in-house in Dr. Walters. As 20,000 students, of which more than half are Black, return to PPS next week, parents, grandparents and education-based watchdogs are keeping two, maybe even three eyes on the district and how it moves. Over the summer, Dr. Walters was a panelist at a forum sponsored by the United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh, held at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Homewood branch. He was joined onstage by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh President and Director Andrew Medlar and City of Pittsburgh SEE WALTERS A3
PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT DR. WAYNE WALTERS, SPEAKING AT THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH’S HOMEWOOD BRANCH EARLIER THIS YEAR. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Much-needed affordable housing for seniors coming to the West End Construction already has started on ‘Cedarwood Homes’
BREAKING GROUND ON THE SITE WHERE CEDARWOOD HOMES WILL BE BUILT. IT’S A NEW COMMUNITY IN THE WEST END FOR SENIORS. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO) NEW
by Rob Taylor Jr.
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Affordable housing is a hot topic in Pittsburgh, maybe even hotter than the August temperatures.
Pittsburgh Courier
Courier Staff Writer
However, before you can blink, there will be a development called Cedarwood Homes coming to the West End, sure to put a smile on seniors in their quest to remain housed in
the city. The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Cedarwood Homes will be built on the former Fairywood School site, at the corner of Broadhead Ford-
ing and Village Road. The housing community will have 46 total units, 39 of which will be affordable to residents with incomes up SEE CEDARWOOD A4