Plans to close Pittsburgh Rooney 6-8 in Brighton Heights at the end of the school year were presented again to the city board of education Wednesday night before a final vote next Wednesday.

District administrators proposed closing the North Side middle school in December, citing its low enrollment, currently 165 students.

If the plan, considered during the board's agenda review Wednesday, is approved next week, Rooney students will be offered admission to three magnet schools -- Pittsburgh Allegheny 6-8 and Pittsburgh Schiller 6-8, both on the North Side, and Pittsburgh Classical 6-8 in Crafton Heights.

Derrick Lopez, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, said the district plans to meet with each of the students to determine how they will be placed.

"We will meet with each student and ask them which of the schools they can or want to go to. Then they will then be placed in a lottery system and that will be the selection process," he said.

This year's enrollment is down from 222 in 2008-09, and projected enrollment for 2010-11 is 128 students.

Under the plan initially proposed, another North Side school, Pittsburgh Morrow PreK-5 in Brighton Heights, would be moved into the Rooney building in 2010-11 or 2011-12 because Morrow's current building is in poor condition.

But Mr. Lopez said nothing will be finalized about Morrow until the board approves the closure of Rooney.

"When the board makes its decision, one of the things we will do is look at all the schools of the North Side and then consider a number of scenarios before making a decision," he said.

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