Portland Public Schools is going down the wrong road by spending billions on massive renovations to high schools that will only sit empty in the near future as the child population in Portland continues to dwindle, (“PPS families question plan to close 5-10 schools,” April 13). PPS is better off consolidating into five high schools and reducing lowly attended elementary schools.
The fewer buildings PPS has to manage, the more money it has to lengthen the school year and offer educational extras. Right now, PPS intends to rebuild and enlarge Jefferson High School, but there just aren’t enough children in that part of town to merit it. Also, while it is fair to say Black school children deserve justice, we should note that most of PPS’ Black student population lives outside of North Portland — with hundreds living east of 82nd Avenue. This means many kids that the Jefferson plan is meant to help likely won’t be attending…