School board approves enrollment changes

The changes, approved Jan. 23, take effect in September and respond to overcrowding and underenrollment of schools. 
 
Key points of the enrollment balancing changes include:

• A boundary change from the western edge of the Alameda/Beaumont attendance area to Irvington and Sabin K-8 schools. (This is intended to ease crowding at Alameda Elementary School and to stabilize enrollment at Irvington and Sabin.)

• Converting Rigler K-8 School to a K-5 school, with middle-grade students assigned to Beaumont Middle School. (This is intended to ease overcrowding at Rigler and provide Beaumont with a second feeder school, providing greater enrollment stability to both schools.)

• Keeping Sabin a K-8 school and providing Vernon with support for its middle-grade program. (Vernon now hosts Rigler seventh- and eighth-graders. Starting this fall, Rigler’s middle-grade students will attend Beaumont. Current seventh-graders at Vernon have the right to remain there.)

The school board also unanimously approved ending middle school guarantees to students at Skyline and Sabin K-8 schools.
 
Other action

Also at the meeting, board members unanimously approved a new contract with the Portland Federation of School Professionals, representing 1,300 staff who provide support to schools. The contract, announced Jan. 9, freezes current employee pay levels (and does not include a cost-of-living increase in either year). It includes language and policy changes that support employees in the school district’s second largest union.

Board chair Pam Knowles thanked PFSP members saying, “We can’t run the schools without you.”
 
Board members approved a plan to retrofit 47 antiquated boilers with natural gas burners and dedicated a fund to provide life-cycle renewal of major building components at Rosa Parks Elementary, Forest Park Elementary and any newly modernized or renovated buildings.
 
Finally, the board voted 6-0 to approve Director Martin Gonzalez as chair and Director Pam Knowles as vice-chair.

At Portland Public Schools, this is our goal: By the end of elementary, middle, and high school, every student by name will meet or exceed academic standards and will be fully prepared to make productive life decisions. For more information on Portland Public Schools, call 503-916-3304, e-mail us at pubinfo@pps.net, or visit www.pps.k12.or.us. Portland Public Schools is an equal opportunity educator and employer.