News The latest development in the constantly evolving re-design of Portland Public Schools' high schools is that a majority of the school board now wants to close Jefferson as a neighborhood school. That's sure to make for some serious community pushback from Jefferson's defenders at the board's next work session on June 16 from 5:30 pm to 8 pm, and then before the board's expected vote on the entire ...   More

News Schools activist Carrie Adams provides this update today on Portland Public Schools' stated goal of sharing the Marshall High School campus with the David Douglas School District. The one-sentence summary? PPS is no closer to hatching a plan now than it was in June, when WW last wrote about the effort. The idea to share the campus with David Douglas emerged in April from Superintendent Carole ...   More

News In two weeks, the Portland School Board is supposed to vote on the initial plans for Superintendent Carole Smith's high-school redesign. Last night's work session on the topic didn't exactly live up to its name--but not for lack of trying on the part of a few board members. Dilafruz Williams kicked off the session by expressing worry about the possible transition Marshall High School students ...   More

News No one from the public testified this evening in front of the Portland School Board about the latest version of the high-school redesign. That's in some ways understandable. Even though the board plans to vote on the proposal on Oct. 12, Superintendent Carole Smith didn't publicly air her plan until almost mid-way through tonight's 5:30 pm meeting, meaning likely opponents of the idea to close Marshall ...   More

News Superintendent Carole Smith unveiled the broad outlines of her latest high-school redesign this evening. Unlike the previous two iterations of the plan--the one Smith first introduced in April and the one a majority of the Portland School Board supported in June--this version calls for shuttering Marshall High School in Southeast Portland entirely. Both the superintendent and the board previously ...   More

News Never before have I posted the transcript of a lengthy monologue by a Portland School Board member. But David Wynde's off-the-cuff speech explaining his "no" vote Tuesday night, when the School Board approved Marshall High School's closure in a 4-3 split, warrants a full read from anyone concerned about public education. What follows is an unedited transcript of what Wynde had to say. Beth Slovic David ...   More

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