QP: Over-sized and Over-priced Schools

Last week, Cascade's President, John Charles, emailed a Memo to the Portland Public School Board urging them to consider the Bond Accountability Committee’s concerns about overbuilding high schools. Their report concluded by stating that, “…the district should not be building such large high schools when there is not the student body to justify it. Given declining enrollment and decreasing birth rates this issue is even more pronounced given the project budget issues."Willamette Week also cited the statement, raising alarm about the Board’s failure to use demographic and enrollment data in sizing future high schools. Nonetheless, the PPS Board voted to move ahead as planned while Chairman Wang argued that size reduction is "unfair" and failing to explain how empty buildings will better serve students.By 2033 Portland will have at least 3,000 empty high school desks. Even now, talks of school consolidation are ongoing. Do Portland taxpayers want to spend $1 billion on expensive and empty classrooms?On the flip side, Beaverton High School has chosen better, building a high school for 1,500 students with the option to replace a building if enrollment goes up.PPS should design real high schools for real students and expand later if necessary. By ignoring the Committee’s due diligence and moving ahead with over-sized and over-priced schools, they will accelerate the district’s slide into the fiscal crisis they already face. Portland taxpayers and students will ultimately pay the price.Read more at www.cascadepolicy.org