Rightsizing Update Scenario Release Memo

To: Board of Education From: Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, Superintendent Dr. Jon Franco, Senior Chief of Operations RE: Rightsizing Update: Scenario Release Date: October 5, 2026 Introduction This memo presents two proposed rightsizing scenarios for Board review and community engagement. Both scenarios seek to stabilize enrollment, strengthen academic program pathways, and align the district’s use of school facilities with student needs. They combine school consolidations, grade reconfigurations, program moves, and boundary changes. Scenario A proposes 14 school closures, while Scenario B proposes 11. The primary differences concern Stephenson, Rose City Park, and Lewis, which would close under Scenario A and remain open under Scenario B. Community feedback will inform the Superintendent’s recommendation in mid-November. The Board of Education will vote on the Superintendent’s recommendation at a public meeting in December. Background On April 14, 2026, the Board adopted Resolution 7296, directing Superintendent Armstrong to begin an enrollment balancing review and launch a districtwide rightsizing process within Growing Great Schools. The direction includes consideration of school and program consolidations, boundary adjustments, special program changes, and grade reconfigurations to support well-resourced, sustainable schools and equitable access to opportunities for students across the district. Following community engagement throughout March and April, the Board adopted four guiding principles and an overview of a workplan through Resolution 7307 on May 26, 2026. These principles and applicable Board policies have informed the development of the proposed scenarios. Central office teams in Academics, Activities and Athletics, Data and Modeling, Operations, and Communications and Engagement have worked together to develop two scenarios for feedback from community members, families, students, and staff. Both scenarios will be compared with projections of enrollment and school sustainability if no action is taken. District leaders and planning staff developed the proposed changes using criteria focused on enrollment sufficient to sustain stable, adequately resourced programming, effective use of buildings, and keeping school communities together through change as much as possible. These criteria sometimes pull in different directions: preserving a community may require a larger boundary adjustment, while consolidating an underenrolled immersion program may lengthen some students’ trips. Criteria were weighed against one another rather than applied in a fixed ranking, with the balance differing by regional conditions. 1 The scenarios differ primarily in the number of proposed school closures. Scenario B would affect fewer families and change fewer boundaries, while leaving 43% of schools below the enrollment needed for stable, sustainable programming. Scenario A would involve more transitions and boundary changes while bringing 67% of schools to sustainable enrollment levels. Community review will help inform how these benefits and burdens are balanced in the Superintendent’s recommendation. Rightsizing modeling responds to uneven enrollment across schools and programs, underenrolled dual language immersion classrooms, and the need to strengthen middle school enrollment. The analysis considers functional capacity, facility conditions and planned improvements, geographic access, and existing feeder patterns. These conditions differ across regions and require different combinations of changes. In the Roosevelt and Jefferson region, dual language immersion consolidation and middle school enrollment were primary drivers. In the Grant and McDaniel and Cleveland and Franklin regions, modeling emphasized K–8 reconfiguration, language pathways, facility considerations, and reducing split feeders. In the Lincoln and Wells region, geographic isolation, travel distances, and elementary enrollment were central considerations; immersion programs were already consolidated. The regional approach also seeks to address lessons from prior southeast changes by considering more comprehensive school and program changes, preserving community connections where possible, and limiting repeated transitions. The scenarios identify proposed assignments and program locations; receiving school readiness, transportation, staffing, and transition supports will require further implementation planning. Scenario A Overview Scenario A proposes 14 school closures, eight grade reconfigurations, 13 program moves, one program discontinuation, and 38 boundary changes. Seven K–8 schools would become K–5 schools: Beverly Cleary, Laurelhurst, Sunnyside, Bridger Creative Science, César Chávez, Faubion, and Vernon. Metropolitan Learning Center would become K–8. Program moves consolidate Spanish and Chinese immersion pathways, relocate Creston’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing program to Glencoe, move Rose City Park’s Vietnamese immersion program to Vestal, and relocate Odyssey to Metropolitan Learning Center. Sunnyside’s environmental focus option would be discontinued; it would become a neighborhood school with no new lottery transfers, while existing lottery students could remain through fifth grade. Odyssey’s relocation would leave East Sylvan vacant and available for consideration through the building repurposing process. No alternative or focus option school closure is proposed. Regional Analysis Lincoln and Wells: Maplewood would consolidate into Hayhurst and Rieke, with a proposed distribution of 70 percent to Hayhurst and 30 percent to Rieke. Stephenson would consolidate into Markham and Capitol Hill using the same proportions. Targeted boundary adjustments would balance nearby campuses, shift the Maplewood middle school area from Jackson to Robert Gray, and change Skyline’s high school assignment from Lincoln to Roosevelt. Skyline would remain K–8. Bridlemile’s existing pathways would be retained because changes would substantially affect middle school enrollment. Grant and McDaniel: Irvington would consolidate into Beverly Cleary for K–5, with the Irvington middle school area assigned to Beaumont. Rose City Park’s neighborhood K–5 students would move to Scott and its Vietnamese immersion program to Vestal. Beverly Cleary and Laurelhurst would become K–5, with middle grades moving to Beaumont and Mt. Tabor, respectively. Scott’s Spanish immersion program would move to Rigler, Beaumont’s middle grades Spanish immersion to Roseway Heights, and Clark’s Chinese immersion to 2 Woodstock. These changes seek to strengthen middle school enrollment and language pathways while accounting for Beverly Cleary seismic work and Rose City Park facility concerns. Cleveland and Franklin: Buckman would consolidate into Abernethy and Sunnyside, with a proposed distribution of 50 percent to each. Creston’s neighborhood K–5 students would move to Atkinson and its Deaf and Hard of Hearing program to Glencoe. Marysville would consolidate into Arleta, Woodmere into Whitman, and Lewis into Duniway. Sellwood would consolidate into Hosford for the Llewellyn area and Brentwood for the Duniway and Lewis areas. Sunnyside and Bridger Creative Science would become K–5. Atkinson’s Spanish immersion program would move to Lent, and Woodstock would receive Clark’s Chinese immersion program. Boundary changes would strengthen middle school pathways and address split feeders, with facility conditions and prior student transitions informing implementation planning. Roosevelt and Jefferson: Beach’s neighborhood K–5 students would move to Chief Joseph and James John’s to Sitton; both schools’ Spanish immersion programs, together with Sitton’s, would consolidate at César Chávez. Peninsula would consolidate into Rosa Parks and Sabin into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. César Chávez would become a K–5 Spanish immersion hub, with non-immersion K–5 students assigned to Rosa Parks and middle grades to George. Faubion’s middle grades would move to Ockley Green and Vernon’s to Harriet Tubman. Ockley Green’s middle grades Spanish immersion would move to George, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Chinese immersion program would move to Boise-Eliot/Humboldt. These changes prioritize coherent immersion pathways, stronger middle school enrollment, and use of available building capacity. Scenario B Overview Scenario B proposes 11 school closures, eight grade reconfigurations, 12 program moves, one program discontinuation, and 34 boundary changes. It retains Stephenson, Rose City Park, and Lewis as open schools. Stephenson and Rose City Park would have no proposed changes; Lewis would receive part of Whitman’s boundary. Vietnamese immersion would remain at Rose City Park. The eight grade reconfigurations, other program moves, Sunnyside focus option discontinuation, and Odyssey relocation described in Scenario A also apply to Scenario B. The two scenarios therefore share most of their proposed structural changes, while presenting different approaches to elementary consolidation in three regions. Regional Analysis Lincoln and Wells: Maplewood would consolidate into Hayhurst and Rieke with the same boundary proportions as Scenario A. Stephenson would remain open and retain its elementary boundary. The Hayhurst and Rieke adjustments, Maplewood middle school assignment to Robert Gray, and Skyline high school assignment to Roosevelt would remain. This approach retains Stephenson while pursuing the other proposed enrollment and feeder adjustments. Grant and McDaniel: Irvington would consolidate into Beverly Cleary for K–5, and its middle school area would move to Beaumont. Rose City Park would remain open, retaining its neighborhood boundary and Vietnamese immersion program. Scott would not receive Rose City Park’s neighborhood boundary, and Vietnamese immersion would not move to Vestal. The Beverly Cleary and Laurelhurst reconfigurations and the Spanish and Chinese immersion moves described in Scenario A would remain, preserving the broader emphasis on middle school enrollment and language pathways. Cleveland and Franklin: The Buckman, Creston, Marysville, Woodmere, and Sellwood consolidations would remain as described in Scenario A. Lewis would remain open and receive part of Whitman’s boundary rather 3 than consolidate into Duniway. The proposed middle school pathway for the Duniway and Lewis areas would still shift to Brentwood. K–8 reconfigurations, immersion and Deaf and Hard of Hearing program moves, Sunnyside’s focus option discontinuation, and the other identified boundary changes would remain. Roosevelt and Jefferson: The proposed changes are the same in both scenarios. Beach, James John, Peninsula, and Sabin would consolidate into the receiving schools identified in Scenario A. Spanish immersion consolidation at César Chávez and George, the Chinese immersion move to Boise-Eliot/Humboldt, and the César Chávez, Faubion, and Vernon grade reconfigurations would remain. Transition planning will need to address substantial enrollment and demographic changes, academic continuity, and community building at receiving schools. Moving Forward and Next Steps Community engagement will provide students, families, staff, and community members opportunities to review both scenarios, ask questions, and share concerns and priorities. Feedback will help identify the effects of proposed changes on school communities, access to programs, transportation, and the supports needed for successful transitions. The district will consider community input alongside the regional analysis, equity impact findings, enrollment and capacity modeling, and receiving school readiness work. This review will inform refinements to the scenarios and the identification of implementation needs and mitigation strategies. The Superintendent will incorporate community engagement into a recommendation to the Board in mid-November. The recommendation will describe the proposed changes and how community input informed them, along with implementation considerations and transition supports for further Board review. Materials Included ● Memo ● Overview of the Scenarios at the District Level ● Overview of the Regional Impacts ● Slide Deck for the October 6, 2026 Meeting ● Districtwide Maps 4