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Portland Public Schools on Monday night released two consolidation scenarios for the Portland School Board to consider.
The first scenario would shutter 14 schools, 13 elementary schools and Sellwood Middle School. The second would shutter 11 schools, 10 elementary schools and Sellwood. Under both scenarios, which WW has listed below, seven of the district’s 11 K-8 schools will become K-5 schools. It also recommends the shuttering of the high school at the Metropolitan Learning Center, which was targeted for closure last year and saved through advocacy.
The majority of elementary schools considered for closure appear in both scenarios. Among the 10 that overlap, six are Title I schools that serve high percentages of students from low-income families. The three that do not appear in Scenario B are Rose City Park, Stephenson, and Lewis. Under Scenario A, the district proposes 38 boundary changes. Under Scenario B, it proposes 34.
In a memo to the School Board, authored by the district’s senior chief of operations Dr. Jon Franco, the district explains that Scenario A leaves more schools above the enrollment thresholds needed for robust programming. Rebalancing in that scenario would leave 67% of schools enrolled at threshold, while Scenario B would leave 57% at or above threshold.
A third scenario, a PPS press release notes, would defer the decision and maintain school configurations as they stood “for now.”
The district will continue to engage families through November. PPS Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong will deliver her final recommendation to the board before it votes in December. Decisions will be effective by the start of the 2027–28 school year.
“We know how deeply connected students, families, educators and communities are to their schools, and considering the closure of any school is extraordinarily difficult,” Armstrong said in a release. “But we also have a responsibility to look at Portland Public Schools as a whole and consider changes that give every student access to strong programs, stable staffing and the opportunities and support they deserve.”
The district is sure to face vocal challenge to its closure process in the coming months, particularly from its largest union, the Portland Association of Teachers. On Sunday, the union publicly released a petition that, among several things, called on the district to redraw its boundaries, return central office to pre-2019 staffing levels, and invest in opportunities to grow its enrollment.
In a statement sent shortly after the district released its two scenarios, PAT president Alisha Chavez urged the district to step on the brakes and slow its school closure process down, calling for a more community-centered approach over a longer period of time.
“Closing schools is not a plan, it’s a reaction. Our students deserve better. Families deserve better. Educators deserve better,” Chavez’s statement reads. “We ask that the district exhaust every available option it has before considering closing schools.”
WW has printed the two scenarios below, and will update this story with more information. Schools in bold are targeted for closure, while receiving schools are where currently enrolled students at affected schools will be redirected.
Scenario A:
Maplewood Elementary
Receiving schools: Hayhurst and Rieke.
Stephenson Elementary
Receiving schools: Markham and Capitol Hill.
Irvington Elementary
Receiving schools: Beverly Cleary for K–5 students and Beaumont for the area’s middle school pathway.
Rose City Park Elementary
Receiving schools: Scott for neighborhood K–5 students and Vestal for Vietnamese immersion.
Buckman Elementary
Receiving schools: Abernethy and Sunnyside.
Creston Elementary
Receiving schools: Atkinson for neighborhood K–5 students and Glencoe for Deaf and Hard of Hearing classrooms.
Marysville Elementary
Receiving school: Arleta.
Woodmere Elementary
Receiving school: Whitman.
Lewis Elementary
Receiving school: Duniway.
Beach Elementary
Receiving schools: Chief Joseph for neighborhood K–5 students and César Chávez for Spanish immersion.
James John Elementary
Receiving schools: Sitton for neighborhood K–5 students and César Chávez for Spanish immersion.
Peninsula Elementary
Receiving school: Rosa Parks.
Sabin Elementary
Receiving school: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sellwood Middle School
Receiving schools: Hosford for students from the Llewellyn area and Brentwood for students from the Duniway and Lewis areas.
Scenario B
Maplewood Elementary
Receiving schools: Hayhurst and Rieke.
Irvington Elementary
Receiving schools: Beverly Cleary for K–5 students and Beaumont for the area’s middle school pathway.
Buckman Elementary
Receiving schools: Abernethy and Sunnyside.
Creston Elementary
Receiving schools: Atkinson for neighborhood K–5 students and Glencoe for Deaf and Hard of Hearing classrooms.
Marysville Elementary
Receiving school: Arleta.
Woodmere Elementary
Receiving school: Whitman.
Beach Elementary
Receiving schools: Chief Joseph for neighborhood K–5 students and César Chávez for Spanish immersion.
James John Elementary
Receiving schools: Sitton for neighborhood K–5 students and César Chávez for Spanish immersion.
Peninsula Elementary
Receiving school: Rosa Parks.
Sabin Elementary
Receiving school: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sellwood Middle School
Receiving schools: Hosford for students from the Llewellyn area and Brentwood for students from the Duniway and Lewis areas.
In both scenarios, the K-8 schools that would become elementary schools are as follows: Beverly Cleary’s grades 6–8 would move to Beaumont; Laurelhurst’s to Mt. Tabor; Sunnyside’s to Hosford; Bridger Creative Science’s to designated neighborhood middle schools; César Chávez’s to George; Faubion’s to Ockley Green; and Vernon’s to Harriet Tubman.
