001Good afternoon everyone. Thank you so much for being here on this beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. I am Nicole Watson. I am senior director of family and community engagement for Portland Public Schools and I'm excited to welcome you into Benson High School. Go Astros. Our principal Principal Wilson couldn't be here this afternoon. He had a prior commitment. So I just want to welcome you into this space. When you walked in this afternoon, you should have some documents with you. If you don't, if you can go ahead and raise your hand and some of of our staff around the space will communicate with Habakkuk in the back and maybe in the front so we can get more of our documents for some of the folks that don't have materials. While we're waiting for those materials, we're going
002to get those to you soon. I want to just give you a brief overview of what you can expect. Today, there's going to be some opportunities for us to grab your input. And the way that we're going to do that will be definitely some time for Q&A, but we want you to have access to our interactive polling and that is what this QR code is at the corner. If you scan that QR code with your phone, it's going to take you to our interactive poll. That polling is really critical so that our board directors have some information and some data in the decision-making that they have ahead of them. The second document that you have, I am excited to share that we have more students enrolled in AP classes in Portland Public Schools than ever
003before and that means that our babies are testing at the AP level and we need some proctors. So if you love good fun, Mhm. If you love good fun and you have nothing to do and you got a free day or morning or afternoon to spare, if you could use your phone to scan this QR code, you can sign up for a session. What this means is that our babies are testing at the highest level and we want to make sure that they are prepared for what's next and we want to make sure that they have a safe space to test and then and pass their AP classes and head on into college or career. The third paper that you might have in your in your packet is we just want to make sure that
004you know where we've been throughout our engagement series. This is the document that has our timeline on it that tells which stakeholders, which groups we've been engaging with, what time we've been engaging with them, what location that we've been giving and who those stakeholders are for. So if you are curious about what this engagement series has looked like, that is for you. On the back of the timeline, as you know in the office of family and community engagement, having an opportunity to ground us in how we might show up today, what emotions we might experience, what things we might hear, we always just want to provide some grounding. That grounding is for you to center yourself, to affirm yourself and to know that whatever emotions might be coming up for you are real emotions and
005we affirm those and we want you to have a grounded place in which to navigate some of those big emotions. And then last but certainly not least, when we're done at the very end of our presentation today, our assistant superintendent Margaret Calvert is going to lead us in some data capture, which is going to really be beneficial to our board because as of our current our previous policy, our student assignment policy, there were six factors that needed to be considered in order to begin this conversation about right-sizing. As they begin to move forward with their framework, we want to make sure that they have our your input on what which of these factors, the tradeoffs, which of these factors are the most important to you or which of the three of these factors are the
006most important and assistant superintendent Calvert will walk you through that activity. Our restrooms for this afternoon, I believe are around this area here on the left-hand side. So if you need anything, anyone in this space that has a PPS badge or a friendly face is a safe space for you to ask a question, get some insight or huddle. If you don't want to ask your question in real time, there are posted notes on your table with pens. Feel free to write your question, comment, insight on that posted note and all you got to do is raise it in the air and we'll come by and grab it and we'll put it in our um in our receptacle and we'll be repeating and sharing back those feedbacks with you and making sure that our board gets
007that data. With that, I would like to introduce up our senior chief of operations, Dr. John Franco for a welcome and an introduction to our Board of Directors. Can we give him a round of applause as he comes? Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you first and foremost for being here. As Nicole said, my name is John Franco. Happy to be here. I'm the senior chief of operations. First, let me just say this that anytime we enter into a conversation and Nicole mentioned this regarding right-sizing or school closures or consolidations, we know with that that it carries a level of feeling. You know, our our school communities are obviously vested in our schools and we're very proud about that piece and so I just absolutely want to go ahead and acknowledge that that we're all entering
008a space and we want this to be a safe space where you're going to be able to relay not only your questions, clarifications, or even just feelings tied to this whole piece. I mean, that's the purpose of of these types of engagements. So I just want to acknowledge that in the space. Before I I I give the mic to our school board directors, I also want to say this in in regards to purpose of this first phase of engagements. Okay, this first phase is truly about getting feedback on guiding principles that you would like the board to consider as we move this work forward. And I'll say adamantly, there's no list. There's no list of schools. Okay, there will be a time, yes, that we will communicate and then we'll we'll have feedback on that
009first portion and iterative process in regards to a list, but at this point in time, there's absolutely no list. I know that's been a question that has come up. I also want to just touch on this just real quick is is the why. You know, I've I've gotten this question and I think it's very important around, you know, why why why now? Like why are we thinking about school closures? Why are we thinking about school consolidation? It really is a confluence of factors. The first piece is, number one, we are unfortunately in a steady trend of declining enrollment. Okay, if you think about since COVID across the nation, but also specifically here, I would say that if you read the data, it's about a 7% on average decline over the past few years. That's statewide.
010We unfortunately are beating that trend in not in a good way. On average, it's about a 12% decline for Portland Public Schools. And when we get our funding very specifically for the number of students that enroll, that leads unfortunately to a budget deficit. And moving forward, it is for projected for next year, it's about $50 million. Okay. So that's a piece, but I will say this too. This process will yield for sure some cost savings, but that is not why we are engaging this process. I mean, it's a piece. What we are really wanting is well-resourced schools for our kids. That's the piece. That's the foundation of why we're pushing this this work forward is that we want all of our kids, we want consistency of student experience in all of our schools. And so
011when you think about comprehensive programming, kind of those types of things, that's really our push for the why we need to go ahead and start with this. And lastly, and there's going to be plenty of time for questions. I want you to know that, especially with such a small group. Thank you again for being here. Dr. Armstrong unfortunately couldn't make she's our superintendent. Unfortunately, she had a prior engagement so I just want to make sure I put that in the space um that she couldn't make it today and she she's definitely as thankful as I am that all of you are here today. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Vice Chair Michelle DePass. And so the piece and they're going to talk a little bit they're going to obviously introduce themselves
012and then talk a little bit about what they hope to hear from you or what they hope to get out of the engagement today. Hi everybody. I'm going to stand up cuz I'm vertically challenged. Um my name's Michelle DePass. I live in the King neighborhood. Um I'm a PPS mom of two grads, also PPS grad myself, the daughter and granddaughter and sister of PPS teachers. So I have a lot of time and energy vested here. I'm here to listen and learn today um from all of you here. Thanks for coming. Hi everybody. >> [clears throat] >> My name's Stephanie Englesman. I live in Southeast. I have three kids in PPS, two in middle school and one 30 days away from finishing elementary school, but who's keeping count? Um I'm really excited to hear what you
013think a well-resourced school looks like because if we're going to do this, then let's shoot for the moon and I want to hear what you think because we should have schools that are amazing if we do this and I would love to have ideas of what that is. So thank you for being here today on this beautiful Saturday. Hi everyone. My name's Virginia LaFort. I live in Northeast Portland, but I'm also a former resident of North Portland so I know the upside down L well and for what I'm most excited about in this process really is exactly what Director Englesman said like what does a what does a well-resourced school look like to you? And the way I've kind of explained this to um to families out there is it's sort of like, you know,
014why are we doing this? If you have a school that has a 0.5 librarian over here and another one over here that has a 0.5 librarian, well, we could have a whole librarian in one building. So, when we talk about um programmatic changes and resourcing schools, that's what we mean. Um and also, you know, what are the things that you're worried about that are keeping you up at night? I think about that a lot, keeping me up at night, so that we can solve for those as we work our way through this process. So, again, I'm really excited that all of you guys are here today. Thank you for coming. It is gorgeous out. Um and I'm really uh really looking forward to hearing your input. Hi everyone. My name is Rochelle Chase Miller. I
015live in North Portland. Um I also attended PPS schools growing up and have kids in our schools right now. Um and kind of just want to echo what my colleagues said. Um the schools that I grew up going to, um at least through the elementary school, um we had art and music and librarians and all of these really wonderful enrichments and I think we all want those kinds of experiences for our kids. So, um I'm excited about a process that um will result in our kids um having a fuller and more enriched school experience. So, I'm really interested in hearing what that looks like to all of you and what uh values and considerations you would like us to be prioritizing in this process and as we look at making these decisions. So, thank you
016for being here. I it's tough to be inside today. It's so beautiful out, but we really appreciate you all being here. Thank you so much, Board of Directors. Um if you just walked into the space, we are about to transition to where we're going to have some subject matter experts before you. What we've been hearing and what you have hopefully been feeling and seeing is our agility as a as a team to take your feedback in real time and being able to shape shift a bit. So, today what you can expect is this agenda. We've already had our welcome and our grounding. I'm going to explain our learning labs, which are going to be brought to you by our subject matter experts. And then we're going to have time for whole group Q&A. And then
017we're going to have some time for our board to reflect back to you what they heard from the space. And then we're going to close. As I shared with one of our beautiful parents from Buckman this afternoon, you don't have to wait until the subject matter expert that is a part of the that may have something to do with the question that you have today. If you have a question and you want it in the space, ask your question. But just so that you know, our learning labs will consist of two rotations. The first will be our academics and activities team and that will be facilitated by our senior director of PK-5 academics, which is Dr. Emily Glasgow. And then our second rotation will be our enrollment and our data team. And that will be
018facilitated by our assistant superintendent Margaret Calvert and our uh senior director of research and accountability Richard Smith. After each of their sessions, where they introduce themselves, share a little bit about their role and their team, you're going to be able to ask some questions, give some insights. And tonight or today, we may not have full answers because we're in a listening posture today, where we're really wanting to hear what what you're grappling with, what's coming up for you and what you want our board to know as they move forward into the building and developing of the framework. So, with that, I am excited to introduce Dr. Emily Glasgow from our uh senior director of PK-5 academics. You can clap for her as she comes. All right. Uh one more slide, I think. Thank you. Um
019Yeah. I'm excited to also welcome the folks that we have online with us. We've got about 25 folks that are um in this space virtually. So, as you hear Q&A, we're going to also give spot for our folks that are online to ask some questions as well. Sorry for the interruption. No, great. Hello, everybody. Thank you for being here. Um I am Emily Glasgow. My job right now is to oversee pre-K through fifth grade academics um in the district. I am also a PPS graduate, um a former PPS principal, and a PPS parent. My son actually is a sophomore here at Benson and my daughter's about to graduate from Grant. Um I'm here today with the hat of being the co-lead of our academics and instruction work group that's supporting this right-sizing effort that we're
020all moving through. Um you can see on the slide which departments are a part of that work group. So, I'm here on behalf of several colleagues and leaders representing early learners, humanities, math and science, college and career readiness, enrichment programs, special education, multilingual learners, RESJ, that's racial equity and social justice partnerships, and funded programs. Um and our first task um is actually to try to define a phrase that you've now heard several times already today. Our first task is to try to define what do we mean when we say well-resourced school? What is a well-resourced elementary school? What is a well-resourced middle school? What is a well-resourced high school? Um and that is no small task. So, we are subject matter experts. We do have perspectives on this, but we really wanted to start out
021by using these engagement opportunities to get your thoughts as well, so that we can take your feedback into the definition or the model that we're building that's going to help guide the process. Um we've had a lot of talking already today, so we're going to turn to some activity and some processing now. I'm going to give you a little assignment. Uh what I'm going to ask you to do if you're in person, and you can do the same thing online in the chat, um is to just take a couple minutes to think about your own child or children's experiences or your own school experience and think about what do you feel are the most important criteria of a well-resourced school? And you can think about whichever grade band or all grade bands, whatever makes the
022most sense to you. Um and another way to break down that question is on the slide. What daily learning experience and oppor- opportunities should every student have? So, take a few minutes to just think. And I want you to kind of brain dump onto some Post-it notes if you're in person and into the chat if you're online. Give you a few minutes to do that. Then I'm going to have you buddy up and talk with somebody near you, develop your ideas a little bit. Then we'll hear out some of the ideas, but we'll collect all of the ideas and we'll make sure that all the data from this activity gets back to our team to inform our definition. Any questions about the directions? Okay. Take a few minutes to work on some sticky notes or
023in the chat and then we'll open back up for some discussion. Awesome. I love that I see students in the room participating as well. Please do, you guys. If you start to feel like you've tapped your own ideas, feel free to turn to a partner and share a little bit and construct some more together. And then in about 2 minutes, we'll hear some of the ideas out loud. One thing to note, on your sticky notes, if what you're writing you think is specific to a certain grade band, like this is particularly important in elementary schools or particularly important in middle or high schools, if you could just kind of like write that on the corner, write K-5 or 6-8 or 9-12. If it's all schools, just leave it as is. Okay, I see some people
024starting to chat a little bit. I'm going to give you another minute or two and then we're going to share out some ideas. >> Great, the room is starting to buzz. Online folks, you can buzz a little bit, too. I'm going to give another minute or two cuz we're buzzing, and then we'll hear some ideas, and I'm sure Nicole will tell me when I need to be done. Okay, for the sake of time, cuz this isn't our only lab, feel free to keep writing. Uh feel free to keep putting things in the chat if you're online. I'd love to hear out just a couple of the big ideas um out loud, and then we will have somebody run around and collect all these so that they can get synthesized and brought back to our work
025group, and we'll um for online folks, we'll be grabbing the chat and and using that information in the same way. We've got a couple people with mics. You want to share She had a great list. We have a middle schooler up front that had a great list. He, sorry. Uh Okay, I said Wait, can I just talk like this cuz my voice is better? You know, I think people in the back actually can't hear. I know we feel loud. All right. Um so, I said a strong curriculum that teachers really like. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Sorry. Cuz a lot of my teachers will just kind of shy away from it, and they'll do like extra or like other things. For example, we read The Outsiders, um and that wasn't in the curriculum. A
026lot of students really liked that. So, I feel like a lot of people in my classes also will just like go on their Chromebooks. They're not really engaged to what the teacher is saying. So, we need stronger curriculums that students like and like I feel like the curriculums were made a while ago. So, we need something that is relevant to students nowadays. I love that. Thank you. I also had a chance to peek at his posted, and also on there I saw things like after-school programming and extra help for students who need it, and like materials like pencils and stuff, right? So, lots of good thinking here. What else? What were some other ideas? Hi there. Um my name is Tracy Gluckman. I'm a parent of a first grader at Duniway Elementary in Southeast Portland.
027Um top of my uh of our list was adequate number of adults in the classroom to support students and the teachers. I mean, like we're we're maxing out on class sizes at our school. Um access support for special education resources so teachers can teach and children can have their needs met, and then access to the arts, music, art, and a full-time librarian in a school. Great. Let's see if we can do one more in person and one online, and then I know I do have to wrap our little lab portion. I said um physically comfortable, functional, and safe buildings and classrooms, rooms that fit the number of kids they have. Um not just in square foot per kid, but in actual functional use. Um for example, my one of my kiddos has an L-shaped circle
028time rug, so that the teacher can't actually look at the entire class at once. And their classroom is so full that kids can't get out from behind them to get to the restroom without slamming into all of their chairs on the way. Uh climate-controlled classrooms, carpets for circle time that don't have holes through them, those sorts of things. Great. Yeah, facilities and materials matter. Is there one online, and are we able to hear from them? Yeah. Kimberly, you can ask your question. And maybe while we're waiting for the online question, what might help is if everybody could pass the stickies that you wrote um about the particular question I asked you down to like this end, then we can grab them all. Sure. Sure, yes. We're here Well, is there one online that we're able
029to hear? Yes. Okay, great. Let's do that. Yeah. Okay. Okay, Kimberly, let's try again. Maybe We'll circle back. Okay, great. Yeah, hybrid meetings are always challenging on the technology side, but we will make sure that we get all the ideas from the chat that are coming out online, and we'll try again. Meanwhile, I've been told to take a few more minutes and hear from a few more people in the room. So, other ideas. Yep. Creston sweatshirt. Yes. Hi. Creston. Um I just I'm really struggling with this because the way that this exercise feels to me is like we are giving you guys data to support the decision to close schools. Cuz we're asking us what we want. We're saying we're going to tell you all of these beautiful things that we want because we want
030our children to have wonderful experiences and feel supported in their education. And then that data can be used to say, "Well, the only way that we can create this beautiful reality is if we close XYZ schools." And I feel like that is I'm really struggling with that. I think there are other levers that could be pulled. There are other ways to have this conversation. So, I just I just wanted to acknowledge that that's the way that this exercise feels. I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you. It's a complex moment. Thank you. Up front, yeah. I don't know where to start, but I do feel for her in all levels because um you know, being on the Southeast Guiding Coalition, I do have to mention that that was a mess. Um and so, just being transparent
031with everyone through this process, as you could see, I just mentioned to her sitting next to me that I am probably the only native in this room besides another native employee. Um and I come to these events because they don't have a voice. We don't have a voice. Um these schools should be culturally grounded schools because there's so much different cultures here. And if we engaged more on another level of culture, we wouldn't be in this situation. Everything's about equity and about money. Our kids aren't a price. They're not. And we know that. For sitting here, you know, for the last 5 years looking at the outside in because I come from a reservation. I love sharing that because we we learn different. There's people like me here, a lot of people like me here,
032and I will speak for the people like me here because we need to have a voice. And if you engaged more with people like me instead of pushing us out, we would be somewhere. We would be able to go back to our lands and teach about why we're here. We talk about all this clean energy I just told the city council, what's clean about it? We need to start somewhere. And we need to start with Mother Earth and take care of each other. When I come into these spaces and speak, I'm not just speaking to point fingers. I'm not speaking to hold accountability. I'm speaking because there needs to be a change. And people can have been here for 20 years, all their lives. Well, I'm here for those people as well because we need
033to start somewhere, and we need to get focused on our kids' mental health. We could talk about all these beautiful schools and all this safe stuff, but what are we going to do with a bunch of dead kids? Realistically. Our kids are suffering mentally. My daughter is going to be going into high school, and she's scared because of this is what's going on. So, I'm here for that. I'm here for the children, and I'm here for the for the advocates. If we could just connect and all get on the same page, we don't need to shut down schools because we have support. But we don't look for that. But thank you all for being here. Thank you for sharing. I I Dr. Franco started this is a really emotionally laden conversation. It's about our children.
034It's about our communities. It's about our schools. And so all of this is part of the conversation. I appreciate you all getting on the mic and sharing it. We are authentically asking right now and trying to understand in this hard moment we're in, what would our best schools look like? What is the best of the best, right? And how are we going to maximize it? So I appreciate your participation and your ideas and I understand the complexities. It's all part of it, right? So Am I time? Oh, okay, good. Online question. All right. I'm waiting for the big like to be pulled off the stage, but here we go. All right. Online. Well, it's it's more of a statement and it's from Corrine Weldon. Every kid in Portland Public Schools should have a strong, consistent,
035daily experience, solid academics, a safe and supportive environment, chances to think critically, be creative, and just be kids, including movement and play. A well-rounded school does that well and gives kids something to connect to, whether that's arts, language, STEM, or other focus. Equity doesn't mean every every school has to look the same. Different focuses focus schools help different kids thrive and they help families keep families engaged in the district. The goal should be a strong foundation everywhere with a real option across the schools. When we weaken programs that are working, we're not creating equity. We're making the whole system less effective. Thank you. Appreciate that. And again, we'll get everything else that was in the chat online as well as we bring this all together back to our work group. Thank you for your time.
036I'm here for the rest of the time if anyone else wants to have conversation, but I do have to pass to the next group. Go ahead and give Dr. Glasgow a hand there. And thank you so much for your insights. With that, I am welcoming up our assistant superintendent, Margaret Calvert, and our uh senior director of uh accountability and research, Richard Smith, on enrollment and data. Thank you. Hi, good afternoon. Thanks everyone for being here on as everyone has said, a lovely sunny day. Uh my name is Richard Smith. I'm senior director as as Nicole said, for research, assessment, accountability. And I have the pleasure of leading the team that's going to be working on the modeling, on the um scenarios, on looking at current state and future state and those items. And so that's
037a a big task that falls to me and my team. As well as looking at the feedback that you're giving us um with my evaluation team to bring in uh your voice into the decisions that our school board is going to be making down the line. So I would I do want to acknowledge that these are tough conversations and that while we are often looking at numbers, we do understand that a number is actually your kid that we see on paper. It's you as families and that they represent real human beings. And so we will always ground and center in that that is a reality and they're not just facts and figures in those places. Um I'm a former principal in PPS. I had the opportunity of participating in Southeast Guiding Coalition as first a
038principal of Lent when it was a K-8 and then to open Kellogg Middle School. And so that was a multi-year process that many of you may have engaged in and have certain thoughts and beliefs around it and I know it was a lot of energy as well that went into that. So I do understand the emotion that's coming in a space amongst that. And as a parent, I've also experienced school closure out in East County where um one of the kiddos had to go from West Gresham to East Gresham because it closed down. And so I I I understand from a parent perspective where those charges can be. So with that said, um we want to open it up for you. We don't have a fun activity like Dr. Glasgow had, but um we want
039to make sure that you do the Slido because my team is going to be collecting that information and synthesizing reports uh to our school board about them. And we want to make sure we have your voice in that space as decisions are made. So as you're working through that Slido, I'm also going to take comments, suggestions, questions, wonderings in the space. And I know some of you have had an opportunity to chat with, so looking forward to hearing more from you now. Yes. Um Richard. Hi, I'm Jen Baker. Um I am mother of my daughter here, Alex, who is a 10-year-old at Winterhaven. And I'm so grateful for this space. I'm so grateful we're here to be able to voice our concerns and and our hopes. But I if I'm being honest, I'm I'm concerned
040about you know, Portland Public Schools has one of the worst reputations in the country and it's it's it's heartbreaking because I see uh so many great things about it. So when you ask the question about what do we need to have a you know, well-resourced schools, I really think the first thing is trust. You need to have the trust of the parents and students that that you're serving. And I don't know that we have that right now. Um you know, asking my daughter, she said, "Counselors, more counselors." We even at a well-resourced school, we don't have enough support staff and you're stretching them thin. We have a counselor who's also a history teacher. We can't have that. We need to have it all, you know, we we need to have enough support staff to meet
041all of the student needs. But in in reality, too, we we really and then somebody also focused on this before, the focus options that are working, instead of looking to take them apart, why not emulate them in other areas of the city so that all students have an opportunity to have those resources. And and I ask you to consider that when you're looking at the focus option schools because I think that they're so valuable to the education of our students. And I really appreciate. Thank you. Um we do appreciate hearing that and hearing your perspective with that. Um whoever has the mics, we'll go to whoever gets a mic. Hi, um my name is Ellie. I have a second grader who attends um Buckman as our neighborhood school. And I really relate to and appreciate
042um the comment that was just made from the parent at Winterhaven. And also wanted to reflect on I think one of the board members in the end of the last session had uh reflected back that they had heard more from Winterhaven and recognized sort of how valuable um some of the focus options are to students. And something I was wanting to uh kind of talk about from the perspective of my child's school, but also to ask a question about enrollment and the lottery schools and neighborhood schools balance um but I was first wanting to say, you know, Buckman is a arts focused school. It is I think has has um misconception as sort of being some sort of privileged art school, but it is a Title One school and is the only Title One focus
043school in the district of the elementary schools. And there are a lot of parents that I know personally who do not have the flexibility to be here in the room today and have their voices heard and so I want to make sure that people are not thinking, "Oh, we're losing art teachers." And that's some privileged thing. It doesn't matter. Um in reality, our school is having significant, devastating cuts that are starting in the fall. We're losing multiple primary education teachers, a special education teacher, an assistant principal. We are having combined first and second grades and we are losing all after-school clubs and potentially also SUN. I see Tamara there. We are also going to be losing that resource for our students. And so while I know there is not a list, um all those things
044are going to directly impact our enrollment and we are going to be really diminished and weakened even this fall. But I wanted to say that from the arts perspective, seeing how much the children thrive from all backgrounds at our school, we have a lot of economic and racial diversity and all of them benefit from the integration of the arts and that kids that are on the spectrum, and my son is on the spectrum, are able to thrive in a way that doesn't always require IEP. My son could get IEP and he hasn't needed it and that is significant. And I am wondering, I guess >> [clears throat] >> Sorry. Um that when we talk about like focus schools versus neighborhood schools or how that has sort of come to be a dynamic here, to be
045honest about the fact that neighborhood schools are not equal. And even when we consolidate, the neighborhoods that have more resources and have expensive property values will always have more resources as a baseline. And so the transition from consolidating, but not losing parents and students in the process is going to be challenging for the new schools that are consolidated and don't have that strong, already established neighborhood support. And I'm wondering why a school like Buckman that is Title One, we have very low utilization because our lottery spots are limited to matching the neighborhood spots. This The only other school that has that, I believe, is Sunnyside, but they have a really robust neighborhood and so they're up at 80% utilization or something and we're at maybe 43 or 45. And I'm wondering, could we consider expanding
046something that is working? Children all benefit from the arts at Buckman and we have we have 275 students currently and we have room for up to like 625 students. Like is there a world where we could expand what is working even as a way to retain those students or parents who might take their kids somewhere else or if they're on the spectrum and in need more help or support that's going to be more expensive for the school district also if they're in really standardized you know, same learning even if it's more equitable in certain ways. But I'm sorry for the long comment, but just asking can we look at expanding what is working or looking towards making sure we're giving voices to the the the families that are not here and part of this conversation.
047And I was just wanting to highlight that our school is is title one and there are a lot of families that are not able to be part of this conversation from our neighborhood. Thank you. I appreciate it. We are going to look at many many things as many as possible and we will wait for also some guardrails around what those items are. It is it is true that there really is no list right now. We have not made any types of decisions. So thank you for bringing that into into space. So I'm going to I'm going to come back out and I see hands I'll bring I see a microphone here as well. Um just want to share one piece that I I'm hearing surface and I want to be very careful around language. Um
048I'm mindful of my own so I'm speaking mostly to myself. But I think this notion of what is the right So we talk about what is the right mix of schools? Like what's the portfolio that we want to see? And so this is part of why the descriptions that you're providing are so valuable for us to think through how do we look at that and think through what those pieces are? What are the experiences? What is the variety of experiences that we want across the city? How many where those locations? We'll get into some of those details, but the notion what I'm hearing is that there is a desire for there to be a a mix, right? And so I think that how we enter into that conversation and what does that look like moving
049forward? I think it's very important. So it's and I it is not neighborhood versus like I don't I think there is I want to encourage us to say this is how do we create a system that acknowledges both? So the more the more that we're able to do that I think and it's it's hard. So I just also want to acknowledge that. I see a microphone back here and then I'll bring one up here. Sure. Cool. Yes, Evan. Thank you. Um I wanted to also just bring my voice to um I also have two children at Winterhaven. We have a kindergartner and a fifth grader and to say that that transition into that environment was really positive for our family. Um so definitely there are things that we kind of had to make that choice,
050but being able to like choose that was really good for us and I think expanding that model as much as possible um to make it more available cuz it took us a few years to get in and I feel like making that more available would be really beneficial, but I also want to talk about large class sizes because where we came from we had very large class sizes and still have that and particularly for my kindergartner I think having there's 29 kids in his class and there's two teachers assistants. And next year they're not going to have them. It's going to be 29 kids and one adult and I just think that that's a lot. And I know that there's limited resources decisions need to be made, but 29 five-year-olds and one adult doesn't lead
051to good outcomes. Well, thank you for that. It is as you said there are very limited resources and we want to see how we can maximize within those. I think you have your hand up for a while here? I did. Thank you. Uh sorry. It's hard to talk on the mic. Um so thanks for having this. I just wanted to come in. I attended the Southeast Guiding Coalition with the woman sitting next to me and we got a chance to talk to the like the researcher from Austin, Texas who's I'm horrible with names, but he was amazing. Dr. Green. Was it Roland Green? Terrence. Okay. Um and I asked him had he ever seen a district where right-sizing went well and I just I thought the point that he brought up is usually the district
052and the parents have the parents so distrust they so mistrust the district that it never goes well and I think I'm definitely hearing that today and I'm just also wondering if there's something that more that can be done to kind of regain some or to continue to build on trust because I the one thing also too I think to build on what Creston the parent from Creston was saying is I wonder if some people would say okay a well-resourced school might be this, but I would rather keep the local school that I go to even if our library can't be open full-time. I mean I would love to see libraries open full-time, but if it was that versus closing a school I might pick half-time. Thank you. We'll we'll note that down. We are noting
053all the all the comments and everything and we will include that in our synthesis. Um microphone I think I'm looking for mics. Okay, there we go. >> Yeah. Um >> [clears throat] >> I also nobody wants their neighborhood schools to close, but I also think we have a crisis in PPS and we have too many schools. With that said, I don't want my neighborhood schools closed, but I just want to put that out there. I think consolidation of resources there's a scale problem in PPS and I'm appreciate the district taking this um taking this on. I'm wondering if I know my understanding is that class size is a big deal and PPS uses census to determine class sizes and when you have people having the option to move schools or go to charter schools, that
054drops census at local schools which makes class sizes larger the way the model is done right now my understanding. If they could move away from that model, so like if you are going to make choices for schools available, the local neighbors the schools don't suffer who have dropped enrollment, they don't end up with large class sizes. Because there's like a threshold you have to get over to lower class sizes down. And so like if you don't change that model, if you're going to open up ability to go to focus schools it's going to perpetuate this problem. And so I don't know what the solution is because money is an issue and that's not an always a PPS problem, that's a state problem. We don't have enough time to go into that right now, but I
055feel like making sure that that issue is addressed so you don't like to do all this right-sizing and then still have large class sizes because you can't make the catchment the right size and people are leaving the district. It creates it doesn't fix the problem at least for class size issues which is is one of my number one issues. So thank you. Thank you. We know class size is near and dear on people's heart and we hear about it often. So thank you for bringing that up and we do have the struggle across our state right now with resourcing schools. I mean I will just say I got an email from my child's school last night that they're cutting all their elementary music teachers. And so it gets pretty drastic in some places right now.
056Next comment question? Hi um Creston again. I have a kind of a Creston specific question and then like kind of to go on that point a little bit more. Um speaking of enrollment and like class like school utilization, I have been told that so Creston houses the Chris program which is the integration program for deaf and hard of hearing students and I've heard that they are not counted in the enrollment number or the school utilization number. I just wanted to be like is that true because that is a rumor that I have heard in my neighborhood school. So I just wanted to confirm that and then I don't know if anybody can say yes or no, but okay, just put a pin in that. And then sort of like to her point right with with
057school closures it's like what are the guarantees that we are being offered with this entire situation? Like are we are you going to lower class sizes if you're going to say like we're going to close six schools and everyone's class sizes are going to be maxed out at 23. Like what is the exchange that's happening and being promised? Like I just want to cuz I'm not hearing any guarantees. I'm just hearing a lot of like maybes. Yeah, you're wanting to know what's on the other end, right? >> Yeah. Yeah, and then yeah, and I also just kind of like want to say to like an elephant in the room and like we were talking about this earlier. It's like there's just been a lot of energy in for in Portland for the past couple of
058years that like Portland is dying and why is everybody moving and like all of this thing and like I don't really see the schools as part of that conversation and I feel like it's so core to that conversation, right? And I feel like I would love to see the school board like engage more deeply, right? With the city, with the Portland Metro Chamber, with all of these very like serious voices that carry a lot of weight that don't seem to be interested in investing in our communities in ways that like are actually could make a difference and make sure that people are staying. So I just wanted to like again when I'm talking about like different levers, different approaches. And like yeah, I think we should be fighting the state. I know we don't want
059to, but like that's actually the problem, right? Is that they have like been underfunding all of this for decades. So let's please name that. Like let's not just like be sad. Like we can also be like and and there's like work to do to continue to like protect and improve because like if this doesn't fix the problem, it's just going to keep getting worse and we're going to be back in a gym in 10 years talking about closing more schools. And I don't want to keep doing this, right? And I don't think anybody else wants to either. I say hope not. Okay. Thank you. Uh this is kind of I guess like a little bit of a continuation of that. Um I've been to a couple of these sessions um and I keep coming back
060to the biggest drum that I can beat, which is that, you know, school closures, blended classrooms, the removal of reading intervention programs, these are all symptoms of the larger scale problem, which is the gross underfunding of our public schools for the last 20 years. And this is why, like you said, we're going to be back next year and the year after to see who else is going to be chopping. So we're we're having to play this game of my school not your school, who gets the ax rather than why does the ax have to fall at all? And I think until we get involved in the larger picture of school funding at the state and to some degree federal level, we're going to keep having these uncomfortable meetings that promote division and apathy rather than
061solidarity and collective action. And I just I I just can't get past that. Um there is a public school funding forum uh Thursday, May 7th at Lincoln High School and I think that's one of the places that we can start to get involved in the financial advocacy that we need for our schools so that we can stop having to play these smaller scale games that again just kind of pit us against each other. Um I do actually have one question as well as to this particular process. Um who's involved in the nomination process? We understand who's casting the votes, that'll be the school board, but who who what what are the persons involved? What is the human landscape that's involved in the schools that actually get nominated? And what are the data sets that they're
062working with? And within these data sets, what are the weights as far as community service, effective outcomes, actual percentage of students in the school versus how many students could be there? Like I I'm trying to find more information on on who is making the nomination decisions um because ultimately I think that I'd like to see more transparency there because I get a feeling like our input in these sessions is not really going to affect the nominations and it's not going to affect the votes that are cast to what schools are closed. I'm not saying this is a a complete, you know, gaslighting event. I do think it's important for us to show up and say what we need to say and express our feelings about our child's schools and the school district at large, but
063who is who is doing the nomination? I know it's probably led by our wonderful superintendent, but what other administrators involved in this process? What are the data sets they're using and how much third-party action is being involved in this? I know you might be collecting the data, but who's really organizing that and doing the analytics that's then going to be given to the people who are making the nominations. Uh so, thank you. Thank you uh for comment and the question. Um so, the purpose of these meetings first and foremost is to set some of those guardrails on what we are going to prioritize when we look at these data sets. And so, if anyone's been involved in a lot of data, you know, you can slice it any which way and there's a lot of
064ways to go with it. And we are we are seeking um guidance on what we are prioritizing as we go through that process. So my team will be working through those data sets that you're talking about. And then uh there'll eventually be a recommendation on uh to our school board to vote on within that. And so, you want to add to that. Yeah, I appreciate the question. So, where we are in process, I think there's two two pieces. One is we are uh working to hear values and guiding principles will be part of where we are right now. That framework we use to say, how do we get it into some operational um how do we uh formalize a decision-making process that we can look across the district to say, these are the things that
065we are prioritizing. Some were I I I think up front here there is this trade-off of of uh if I what are some of the trade-offs? Like if we want if we value having this a smaller school close to home versus a larger school that has a full-time librarian, I think is what the example was. So, those are trade-offs that we are that's part of what we're surfacing. And when you go through and in the on the table, you'll have your your six factors. Those are not um uh you cannot necessarily optimize on all of those at the same time. They're trade-offs. So, that's part of what we're asking is what are some of those trade-offs and how do people feel about that? We use that information to go through and look at uh we
066look at enrollment trends, we look at the physical space of the buildings, we look at um the enrollment trends not only across the district, but localized. We work with uh the Population Research Center at PSU that look at housing um starts and whatnot across the city. So, we there'll be a variety of things. The analysis will primarily be done internally. So, that is an answer to that question. But then ultimately, we'll build out some scenarios, we'll uh take those uh scenarios uh out to the public for you guys to comment and give us feedback on in the fall, and then we'll end up with a recommendation in November. So, there will be points in time that will come out. This is not the first This is the Excuse me, this is not the last time
067it came out wrong. Um this the we'll be out to asking for input and looking. Right now, we're really trying to get solid on values and guiding principles, and then we'll use that to shape um some of the scenario development, and then we'll bring those back out so you can give us feedback there. Do you have a ballpark of the number of people involved in You're saying nomination, I'm going to say evaluation, but I think >> [laughter] >> um so, I think So, there there are multiple levers. So, the total number of people we have internally, we have four work groups that um in internally each of the work groups, I would say, has uh between five and 10 uh folks. We will have uh an advisory council as well. And then we're also working
068with principals and we'll be out. So, internally, it's it'll be a significant number of folks. And then we are also there are times we're consulting with folks like the Population Research Center. Okay? Go ahead. Hi, my name is Courtney and I have a third-grader at Peninsula Elementary in North Portland. And I've been looking at your utilization map and I have a couple of questions there. Um I'm curious first of all, how Title One schools and Title One protections will factor in. I noticed that's listed um as I as schools are identified on the utilization map whether or not they're Title One. I'm also curious what the optimal utilization percentage is that you're targeting. They're really across the board. Some are over 100, there are a couple that are sub-40, including Peninsula, and I'm curious what
069the target is. I don't know that we've landed on a target just to be straightforward with you and it is going to vary um based off middle school, elementary school type situation there. Um the utilization formula itself has a lot of factors that go into it, a lot of things that get backed out of it depending on what the building looks like. In terms of Title One, we are going to definitely take that into account. We want to make sure that we are um centering also our our historically underserved students who who need who don't always show up in these spaces with us. And so, we are going to be having a lens on that as we go through that. I know as part of my team, um I have somebody who's going to be
070keeping a close eye on that to make sure that we're keeping those guardrails within what we do. So. Hi, sorry. For the utilization, are you guys open to creative solutions of like what I was asking about Buckman of like increasing enrollment at places that exist and factoring that into how many schools get closed cuz it also is a matter of how many kids stay in the district, right? Not just reducing the buildings a certain amount, but are you guys still trying to look for creative solutions or are you just looking towards how to build whatever schools are left? Um there was a comment left on the virtual meeting on Wednesday, I think it was last one. There was an excellent comment a question that was someone was saying, is has it been considered to incorporate
071preschool for all into some of the underutilized buildings because that could be a very desirable feeding program into keeping people into their neighborhood schools and having a positive experience that then that can kind of flow through into retaining more students. So, sort of just wanting to know, are we still looking for creative solutions? Are we just looking at consolidation, cutting? Yeah. I think we're we're looking at these um these very specific points that we we want to know where we start with and we are always going to look for solutions where we can. We have time for about one more question and then we're going to give time for our board reflection. Okay. So, um I know it Dr. Glasgow is here with early learners, I know. So, part What one one quick point I
072think and I I want to be very what we are using utilization information for right now is to describe. We're describing how schools are being used. We're not saying that this is going to be the filter by which we make decisions and it certainly would not be the only one that we would consider. So, I I some of what we're doing is trying to help people understand what current state is and and that description overall. So that is really so are there there's not a specific target for utilization we're going to talk about ranges they're going to be things like that that we look at. We there is one of the pieces that we did in the policy asked us to look at resource utilization. It asked us to do that. So that's part of
073what the policy is going to ask us to consider. Consolidation is one of many levers. So program moves could be one that merging schools could be another. We can talk about various other ways. So this is a boundary shifts. There lots of other tools. So I also don't want to just say that there's going to be one. We will consider many. And just quick tidbit factual information about preschool for all. We do already use preschool for all funding to create pre-K classrooms in PPS. So we currently have 51 pre-K classrooms in our buildings that are PPS pre-K classrooms funded by preschool for all preschool promise federal and state headstart funds. So may we continue to grow that over time possibly that's part of the conversation and that's also why the early learners team is part
074of our our academic design team. All right. Last question back here. >> one last question and I just want to comment that that was helpful information that you just shared about the preschool for I did not know that and that's really helpful because I am a homeowner not just a mother of a PPS student and so my question is genuinely what do you plan to do with the closed schools as someone who lives right by one of the district schools that could potentially be on the list. And so I mean you know it's going to have such an impact on home values and and and people staying and going. So I'm I'm very curious what you plan to do with these closed schools so that you know are you going to demolish them build more
075housing because we obviously need that or are they just going to stand there empty and and potentially attract you know uh unsavory behaviors. And so I'm genuinely concerned and and and want to know what you plan to do with that. Yes earlier this week I interviewed well Dr. Armstrong did talk a little bit about that specifically about how there are no decisions currently right now but there could be many options like selling off or partnering with other organizations. Any of those items would require board approval on those things. So right now we don't have a great answer for you on that but there are a lot of options that could be explored. All right. Please give our enrollment and data team Richard Smith and Margaret Calvert a hand. With that if you have any final
076remarks or insights that did not get in the space today or if you want to double down and say it twice please make sure that it gets on a posted note and that before you leave this afternoon that that posted note stays with one of our staff. With that I'm going to turn it over to our vice chair Michelle DePass for some final comments and you'll hear from each of our board members that are here today. If you have any feedback that lives outside of the slido results uh The slido form just closed do we need to go back a slide? We'll just go back a slide and how about we'll just leave it there? We apologize for that blip. So we're going to get it back to that. There we go. There we go.
077We'll keep it there for a moment um and then there is a feedback form that is also floating around that has just some other open-ended questions in case what you asked today was not on the slido. Vice chair DePass. Yes. Thank you for this presentation and I had a question answered too. I didn't realize we had 51 classrooms that's more than I would have thought. What I heard today is a desire for strong curriculum and after school programming access to having adults in the room arts music and library is important. Um climate controlled uh physically comfortable spaces. I'm a big fan of that as well. Um strong consistent safe movement play connected supported students um to look at the focus focus schools and what they've done right um to learn from them and maybe replicate
078those models. Um And I also just want to appreciate um as somebody that graduated from a couple of a high school that was very much arts focused in the late 70s and attended Jefferson High School as a dance student this idea of the design thinking that we're kind of engaging in right now is really thinking big right now and then we'll come back and make decisions and then we'll go out again and think big. And so really um I've gathered what's important to some of the people in this room here and I appreciate your sharing those values. Um >> [clears throat] >> I agree with all of what vice chair DePass said. I'm really grateful for you being here today. I heard a lot of things that resonate very well with some of the thoughts
079concerns questions I have with this process and I'm actively seeking to get answers as I know you are. I know the district is working on an FAQ which should be up soon and so please check that out and then keep the questions coming. Thank you to [clears throat] the the person that told us about the May 7th at Lincoln. I just wanted to say Senators Lieber and Taylor are going to be there. It's not just a community thing. And Sanchez too. So these are people who actually have control and power and need to hear from our communities that it's just not okay to keep underfunding our schools and that it is linked specifically to Oregon's economy and Portland's economy and people wanting to move here. So if you can go to another session. Um I'll
080say that and just grateful for everyone participating today. Thank you. Okay. What what I heard today I'm going to say what I'm going to actually share what I'm taking away from today. Um My conclusion that I wrote to myself was really focusing back on our board goals which are you know K through three literacy fifth grade math and graduating our students. Um what I'm hearing when I hear about what we're potentially losing and missing from our neighborhood schools versus what we have in our focus option schools I hear things like art music I think about librarians. I think about mental health support smaller class sizes and I think to myself like how can we shrink this gap between or why is there a gap between what I'm hearing from focus option families and what I'm
081hearing from neighborhood schools. Um and um if we were when I think about I'm just being totally honest when I think about focus options um and how connected you know we get a lot of advocacy from focus options I don't know what to tell a family at a neighborhood school why there is a difference. I want to get to a place in PPS where there is no difference and that's not something as a board member that I need to explain. That's where I'm at. Um and the event it's May 7th. I heard it's a Yes I'm highly recommend I'll be going to that and I heard a rumor that one of our board members might be moderating. >> [clears throat] >> Thanks director LaFord. Yes I will be moderating on the 7th and would love
082to see you all there advocating for full funding for education in Oregon is really the foundational issue in all of this and it will take all of us speaking in one voice to make change in that area. So I hope we can all combine our efforts in that regard. Um What I'm taking away from our time together today is despite the the significant challenges that we have and the lack of resources that we have experienced in our schools our schools also have so many assets whether they're focus option schools or neighborhood schools and um it always really moves me how much our families care about the schools their kids go to and how much they believe in them. So I think that is one thing that whether you know we're at a focus option or
083a neighborhood school that unites us. And so I have some similar wonderings about how we create those types of experiences that are happening in focus option schools in neighborhood schools. I mean I think that amazing experiences happen now in neighborhood schools but when we think kind of about that um depth of programming and some of the the extra how do we make sure that all of our kids are having those experiences. Um but uh what I think is consistent is just um of course like wanting the best for our kids and how do we create a system where it doesn't matter what neighborhood you live in or you leave your neighborhood to go to school but that we all know that our kids are going to have those types of experiences. So thank you for
084your contributions. Please continue to be engaged in the process. And I'm excited to see what comes next. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So again I want to thank people for taking the time. I think the poll got back open is that right did people get back in? Okay all right. Thank you and I'm because I'm going to change the slide and it may take you back out again. Are people good? Okay. So, a couple things. What we do with this information and we're we're going to we will share Whoops, I got to go back one. We will share the information out. The website is almost ready. You will see the the the variety of answers that we've gotten from the poll. So, they will we'll be transparent with that. So, it's not just going into
085us and and the board. We are we have shared some of the pieces with the board and then we'll take it back out. So, you guys should see that in the next few days. We're hoping everything will be rolling with that. The other piece up here on the left is if you walk out of here and you say, "Oh my gosh, there are five more things I wanted to say. I did what something really resonated with me. I want to make sure that they hear that." We have a feedback form on the left up here. It's another it's a different QR code as we go and and what not. We will be at Roosevelt on Monday evening. So, I believe there's the board school board at policy committee will be at Roosevelt at Monday first
086and then we'll transition into another community meeting and an engagement in the evening starting at 6:00. So, that and there will be a virtual option and an in-person option at that one as well. So, with that said, these are the last dates up here. I'll go back to the QR code for the feedback if folks have it. I just wanted one last thing and that I'll just say is I I have engaged in um a various So, I'm in my 29th year in the district. It's So, someone called me vintage the other day. Um and my experience has been I it's broad, I guess, is what I would say. I've gone through a number of these processes and what I want to appreciate with folks in the room is that as we lean in and
087we start to say what is possible, I like the way like have we thought about can we do those types things really will keep us in a space that will help us try to work through what how can we see what where we want to go and that and that has to be built together. So, I appreciate people coming in, taking your time on a Saturday when it's a beautiful day out and and continuing the conversation with us and engaging. So, I appreciate that and then I'm also hearing, you know, we are we did and have done some work around um some of the past recent decisions with Southeast Guiding Coalition. We'll also bring that information back out so people can see what we've learned from some of our recent decisions and how that can
088shape our next process as we go. So, with that said, I think we're closed for we're closing out the meeting. We're not closed for the day. We're closing out the meeting. So, thank you for your time so much and we we appreciate Sure. Lisa, can we get you a microphone? Can you say that again? I feel like we need to just make these a little bit longer everyone's salary and this is a big big thing. But my main thing I was talking with the um the tribal person back there. Um if you guys get with tribes, you know how helpful that would be? That would be very helpful. And I'm praying and hoping that that can happen where you guys could sit down with tribal people to help the schools because there's a lot of
089kids that are here for natives and I'm willing to help you. I'm willing to help her connect. We don't need to close schools. We have a few months and I was talking to the other gentleman back there and we'll we'll help. We have clean air energy money. We have housing money. We can help navigate where we don't have to lose anyone. Our libraries can teach on the grass. >> [laughter] >> Let's Let's, you know, think about other stuff to do with that funding because there's no reason why we should be even talking about stuff like this. But thank you guys. Thank you all so much for what you have shared this afternoon. I want you to know that we also in the office of family and community engagement are hearing about the distrust, hearing about
090what would work and I think if there is any room left for you to write something down specifically for FACE about how could we organize and cultivate spaces where we are fostering trust? What would that look, feel and sound like for you? And we appreciate your grace and runway as we are hopefully being responsive enough to the feedback that you're giving us so that we reflect that feedback to you. For now, we want you to get outside. We want you to take care of yourself, get some much deserved vitamin D. I'm going to stop by and get a Frosty on my way home. I won't tell you what flavor, but I hope you send me some good energy with my Frosty. And with that, we adore you. We love you. We hope to see you
091on Monday, April 27th at Roosevelt 6:00 to 7:30 and then in our engagement two with Lisa's recommendation, we will talk to our team and see how we can make these more consistent and a bit longer in time for you to be able to share with us. Thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. >> [applause]