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The Portland School Board on Tuesday night approved a formal home for the Center for Black Student Excellence, unanimously authorizing the superintendent to move forward on purchasing the One North development in Albina.
The vote came more than five years after voters in 2020 first approved a school bond that allocated $60 million to the CBSE, which is meant to improve Black student achievement. That comes both through academic programming—including tutoring, STEM innovation labs, and hands-on learning—and cultural programming. (The district’s superintendent, Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, has said the CBSE will be accessible to all students at the district.)
The approval means PPS will be able to move forward with buying the building for $16 million, and caps off a couple months of debate around if One North was the most suitable site. Due diligence the district conducted further reveals it will need to spend between $21 and $25 million for occupancy compliance and building changes, and about $5.5 million for HVAC upgrades. Those capital expenses will be paid for with bond funds, and fit within the district’s budget.
State Rep. Travis Nelson (D-Portland) was one of several public commenters who testified on behalf of the CBSE. He told School Board members that they had the opportunity to inspire children watching to believe in the power of government. The vote was the board’s chance, he said, to follow through on a long-delayed promise. (It has been just about a year since an external auditor first warned PPS that progress on the CBSE was falling behind.)
“Because of the hard work and deep investment of community partners and district staff over the years, all the pieces are aligned for us to actually get this done,” he said. “The CBSE is not just this district’s but our state’s opportunity to demonstrate that when we do invest unapologetically in our youth, when we innovate and iterate with the communities we serve, we can transform the lives of our children.”
Aryn Frazier, the director of the Center for Black Excellence, an organization that has long pushed for the district to act on that promise, said in her public comment that the CBSE marks a historic investment in Black children through infrastructure, in ways no city has done before. She said the CBSE could play a part in helping people choose Portland.
“Portland currently stands to be transformative not just in this city, and not just in this region, but in the country and in the world,” Frazier said. “I chose to be here…for these projects, for this work, for this once in a generation opportunity to invest not just in a center, not just in Black children, in Black families, and Black educators, but y’all, the opportunity to invest in the transformation of an entire city.”
The mood on the board was largely celebratory—a stark contrast from the heated debate on a bond program management services contract that just preceded it. Board members have had questions about the One North development, including how the district would afford programming and about the number of building upgrades the project might require. At times over the past few months, those questions stoked tensions between board members and led to some heated moments in the board room. But by Tuesday, even the most detail-oriented board members said they felt prepared to vote for approval.
“While I know that there is a bit of angst and a bit of uncertainty, what I deeply appreciate is the fact that you trust the community that is sitting before you to tell you what they need and to tell you what they want,” said Nichole Watson, the district’s senior director of family and community engagement, to cheers from the majority Black crowd. “I guarantee you that us as a staff will not let this fail. We will not let this fail because this is our legacy, and these are our babies, and this is our community.”
It will take two to three years for the CBSE to open. In its completed form, the two buildings that make up the development will be transformed into Chappie East and Adair West, named after two prominent Black educators.
Early plans indicate Chappie East will house arts education, professional learning for educators, and community cultural programming. The vision for it, PPS officials said previously, is to connect what students learn inside the classroom with what they learn outside of it, coordinating with families and the broader community to better support learning at home.
Adair West is envisioned as a space for STEM innovation, for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It will allow hands-on learning and help connect students with external learning opportunities through dual credit and internship work.
Vice chair Michelle DePass, the School Board’s longest-serving member, said Tuesday night that Portland voters understood that they needed to do better in 2020 and put their faith in the district to execute the CBSE.
“It feels so good to be here and so surreal to be here after six years of talking about this,” she said. “Thank you for everybody that’s gotten us here, I know everybody’s carried a little bit of the sky here,” she added.
The School Board then voted unanimously, and the crowd delivered a standing ovation.
