Key Takeaways
- Portland Public Schools proposes Portland school closures involving up to 14 schools by fall 2027.
- The school board will vote on a final plan in December.
- Both scenarios include boundary changes, grade reconfigurations, and program relocations.
Portland Public Schools proposes closing up to 14 schools beginning in fall 2027 as declining enrollment drives changes to attendance boundaries, grade levels and programs across the district.
District Offers Two Closure Scenarios
The district released two proposals Monday, with Scenario A calling for the closure of 14 schools and Scenario B calling for 11. Both plans include elementary school consolidations, boundary changes, and program relocations.
Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong will gather public feedback before presenting a final recommendation to the school board. The board is expected to vote on a plan in December.
The district said the approved Portland school closures changes would take effect in fall 2027. The proposals are intended to address declining enrollment while consolidating students and programs among fewer schools.
Scenario A would close 13 elementary schools and Sellwood Middle School. Scenario B would close 10 elementary schools and Sellwood Middle School.
Scenario A Includes 14 School Closures
Under Scenario A, Maplewood Elementary students would move to Hayhurst and Rieke, while Stephenson Elementary students would move to Markham and Capitol Hill.
The plan would close Irvington Elementary, with K-5 students moving to Beverly Cleary and middle school students following the Beaumont pathway. Rose City Park students would move to Scott, while its Vietnamese immersion program would move to Vestal.
Buckman students would be consolidated into Abernethy and Sunnyside as part of the Portland school closures. Creston students would move to Atkinson and Glencoe, including Deaf and Hard of Hearing classrooms.
Other proposed closures include Marysville, Woodmere, Lewis, Beach, James John, Peninsula, and Sabin elementary schools. Students would move to designated receiving schools, including Arleta, Whitman, Duniway, Chief Joseph, César Chávez, Sitton, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Scenario A also calls for 38 attendance boundary changes, eight grade-level reconfigurations and 13 program moves. One focus-option program would be discontinued.
Scenario B Retains Three Schools
Scenario B removes Stephenson, Rose City Park and Lewis from the closure list while retaining most of the other proposed consolidations.
The plan would close Maplewood, Irvington, Buckman, Creston, Marysville, Woodmere, Beach, James John, Peninsula and Sabin elementary schools, along with Sellwood Middle School.
It would make 34 attendance boundary changes, eight grade-level reconfigurations, and 12 program moves. Like Scenario A, it would discontinue one focus-option program.
Both scenarios would convert several K-8 schools into K-5 schools, sending middle-grade students to comprehensive middle schools.
The district also plans to consolidate dual language immersion programs to create more consistent grade-level pathways. No dual language immersion program would be eliminated, though Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese programs would be relocated or combined at designated schools.
The district’s Portland school closures proposals remain subject to community feedback and a final school board decision in December.
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