Portland Parents Demand Delay for 14 Proposed School Closures

Hundreds of parents and students gathered on Friday at Mike Bennett’s Art Studio on NE Fremont to write letters to the Portland Public Schools board. Their goal is to persuade board members to defer plans that would close as many as 14 schools next year. The event follows earlier protests and walkouts by families who opposed the initial proposals.

Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong introduced two consolidation options this fall. Scenario A would close 13 elementary schools and one middle school, along with 38 boundary changes. Scenario B would close 10 elementary schools and one middle school, with 34 boundary changes. Both plans would change seven K-8 schools to K-5 schools. The affected buildings include Beverly Cleary, Laurelhurst, Sunnyside, Bridger, César Chávez, Faubion, and Vernon.

Families expressed concern over the short timeline for implementation. Matt Coolidge, a parent at Rieke Elementary and a volunteer with the Save PDX Schools coalition, noted that the transition would affect 70% of the district’s students in less than a year. He cited a lack of infrastructure and logistics planning as a primary reason for his alarm.

Dual language immersion students face particular uncertainty under the proposed closures. Eleven of the district’s 13 dual language immersion schools appear on the closure lists. Emiliano Vega, a parent at Beach School, said the district has not explained how students will travel to new schools that may be five miles away from their neighborhoods. He described the situation for Latino, Vietnamese, and Mandarin learners as "pretty horrific" given the unknown outcomes of the move.

Elly Milder, a parent representative from Buckman Elementary, questioned the equity of the process. She stated, "PPS says this process is about equity, but the process is anything but equitable." Opposition to the plans has expanded beyond parents, with Portland city councilors and state legislators calling for a pause. Some school board members have also voiced reservations about the scale of the changes.

Virginia La Forte, a PPS school board member, said she is a "hard no" on Scenario A because she believes Portland cannot absorb such a sweeping change to neighborhood infrastructure. She added that she is not convinced Scenario B targets the correct buildings for closure. Armstrong will present her final plan to the board on Nov. 17. The board will vote on Dec. 15 to either adopt Armstrong’s plan or defer the closures to next year.