Moving Targets
In Superintendent Smith’s announcement about budget cuts today Smith said:
Although high schools as a whole would lose 10 percent of their positions, Roosevelt and Jefferson high schools would be shielded from any loss, Smith said. Those two schools are in a protected “academic priority zone,” due to high poverty levels among their students. The district’s eight other high schools would be cut a bit more than 10 percent as a result.
Hello…what about Marshall? If the academic priority zones are based on poverty:
- Roosevelt is 79.4%
- Marshall is 72.7%
- Jefferson is 70.5%
Superintendent Smith’s high school redesign plan was vague about how schools were identified for Academic Priority Zone status but nowhere did it mention that identification was based on poverty.
Where is Marshall’s protected status? Or protected anything? Hey PPS…way to give up on your largest catchment area.
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To further the confusion, if you look at Superintendent Smith’s PowerPoint to the board, it lists Jefferson and BizTech as the only high schools not facing cuts…
I thought she said Jeff and Roosevelt were the ones that would be protected?
Zarwen, That’s what the Oregonian reported but HotCorner is right…Smith’s Q&A lists Jefferson and BizTech. I imagine it’s hard for Smith to keep track of who she made promises to.
What about the $6 million grant at Roosevelt? Why doesn’t that free up a little to use at the other high schools?
Zarwen, The last I heard Roosevelt wasn’t getting the money. Have you heard anything on it?
Everything PPS does seems to be based on politics and therefore also on affluence. Marshall is the least political community. North Portland has the area around the University of Portland and a long tradition of protecting itself. Jefferson, of course, has many activists, but Marshall is easy to dismiss because there is very little political activism in the whole community. Not a surprise they get the bottom attention of the bottom attention getters.
Not anymore because PPS forgot that Carrie Adams existed when they suggested to close Marshall. Hats to you, Carrie.
I will support you 1000% if the secession efforts come to fruition.
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