Portland Public Schools: Might more high schools than Marshall close?
By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
May 06, 2010, 7:50PM
Read the Portland school district's full plan for reorganizing high schools, and readprevious stories on the plan.
So far, they aren't saying they want to close even more of the district's nine neighborhood high schools -- but they at least want to talk about it.
Primarily due to concerns about the ongoing costs of operating eight comprehensive high schools, board members pushed Smith and her staff this afternoon to provide more information about the advantages or tradeoffs of closing more high schools in order to cut back to seven or even six comprehensive high schools.
"I think it's really important to make sure the eight-school model doesn't break if you have to cut a certain amount out of school staffing," said board member David Wynde, who chairs the budget committee and is keenly aware the district will spend about $15 million more than it will take in next year in order to operate at current levels.
Thursday's two-hour work session on the high school redesign plan was the first opportunity for the full school board to ask questions aboutSmith's plan, which she unveiled last week. She recommended a plan that would close Marshall, remake vocationally oriented Benson High into a part-time two-year tech skills center and reconfigure the eight remaining
Portland Mayor Sam Adams rolls out his 2010-11 budget today
Portland Mayor Sam Adams releases his eagerly anticipated -- or perhaps keenly dreaded -- budget today. It contains no COLA increases for city workers and keeps the city's reserves whole. But he finds money for projects important to fellow commissioners -- and a $500,000 community college scholarship fund that keeps a promise he made at his State of the City speech.