Parents protest possibility of school closures

PORTLAND, Ore. – Parents and students chanted “Close the gap, not the schools” outside a Portland Public Schools board meeting Monday night as the district considered closing two or three neighborhood high schools.

Sophie Goddyn, an eighth grader, said she wants to go to Grant High School. However, that will depend on what the school board decides.

Her mother, Suzanne, said Sophie was “already a victim of the K-8 debacle. She needs to have four continuous great years in high school and not have to worry about her high school closing.”

Meanwhile, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith is saying that Portland high schools have serious achievement gaps - often along racial and economic lines. Additionally, Portland schools suffer from declining revenue, declining enrollment and “an enrollment and transfer system that has been skewed, where you have a school of 400 and a school of 1,600, and because resources follow kids, they offer very different programs."

“I do not take this lightly," Smith told KATU. "Nobody wants to close schools, and really what we’re looking at is how do we create viable programs and make them accessible to all of our students.”

Smith’s idea, which she put before the school board, is to close up to three high schools and create larger, comprehensive neighborhood campuses along with smaller, district-wide specialty schools.

Hopeful Grant-High parent Suzanne Goddyn disagrees: “We don’t need all these fancy, smancy, boutique schools like hospitality and hip-hop,” she said. “Our kids need a good solid education to go out into the world.”

Many parents questioned the district’s data on which the plan is based and said they plan to fight it. They said they are convinced there’s another way to bridge the gap other than busing their kids.

Some board members seemed to be asking similar questions as the parents were and pointed out that enrollment is up this year. They also said they want evidence that closing schools will produce tangible results.

The board votes on the issue next month and, if approved, will go into effect in the fall of 2011.