May 2012
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Southwest SUN School program funding threatened
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
The SUN School programs at three
southwest schools (Jackson, Robert
Gray and Markham) have been un-
der attack this budget season and, at
press time, their survival was still not
assured.
The program provides for activities
after school, as well as day camps,
classes and special activities during
the summer. Most are for the school’s
children, but some are for the whole
family.
They are available to all students
for free regardless of income. Some
of the summer camps and classes
charge nominal fees, but there are
scholarships available for those less
able to pay.
The program is available in 64
Multnomah County schools. It is
run by Multnomah County, but the
City provides funding for 11 of the
SUNs, including two of the three in
southwest: Jackson and Robert Gray
middle schools.
The third, at Markham Elementary
School (K-5), is funded directly by the
County.
The Portland Bureau of Parks, which
provides the City’s funding share, pro-
posed cuts as part of its draft budget.
Rather than dilute the quality of the
program overall, it proposed to close
three schools, including Jackson and
Robert Gray.
There are 200 students enrolled in
the Jackson program, and 205 at Rob-
ert Gray. After extensive debate the
Park Bureau has decided to allocate
$72,000 to Jackson’s 2012-2013 budget,
close to last year’s level of $75,000.
However, the Park Bureau is still
considering cutting its allocation to
Robert Gray, which constitutes one-
quarter of that program’s budget, and
this could lead to a total de-funding.
As Southwest Neighborhood, Inc.
Schools Committee chair Will Fuller
put it, this program is “still at risk.”
To some people, during really tough
economic times when budget cuts
need to be made, there is some logic
in targeting southwest SUN Schools.
Because the program is free to all
students, including those whose fami-
lies could easily afford to pay for them,
some see them as a boondoggle.
Further, there is a perception that
southwest is a rich area that doesn’t
need such programs. Commissioner
Nick Fish may be one of them.
At a recent hearing, when an East
Portland resident lamented the poten-
tial loss of a SUN School, Fish said that
Council would try to protect areas of
“high poverty” from such cuts.
Fuller does not see things this way.
SUN programs do have components
that are related to academic subjects,
but also offer a broad range of activi-
ties that most children can relate to, he
told The Post.
That SUN is open to all is a virtue,
Fuller said; if it were only for the
poor you would have the “contrast
effect” of demonstrating that those
who participate “are different from
their peers.”
“Southwest is relatively wealthy, but
there are pockets of poverty,” Fuller
said, and these are likely to increase
in the future.
For example, the Stephens Creek
Crossing housing project in Hillsdale
will be home to twice the number of
low-income families as Hillsdale Ter-
race, which it will replace.
The children of such families may
find themselves as a minority that is
looked down upon; SUN Schools help
to bridge the divide, Fuller said.
Further, participants receive a free
meal; for some children, this may be a
major part of their nutrition for the day.
“In other parts of town, Sun Schools
are just one of many programs that
serve low-income children,” Fuller
said. “Here, because of our demo-
graphics, SUN Schools are just about
all such children have.”
New $230 million Sellwood Bridge faces
access issues; 800 trees to be removed along
Macadam Avenue
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Last month the Sellwood Bridge
Stakeholders Advisory Committee re-
ceived the welcome news that the $230
million replacement bridge is now fully
funded. They also discussed some new
issues, this time on the west side.
Multnomah County Commissioner
Deborah Kafoury told the Committee
that the state legislature had allocated
$5 million toward the project, filling
a gap that occurred when Clackamas
County voters rejected a vehicle regis-
tration surtax to help fund the project.
“I’m really happy we were able to
secure $5 million from the legislature,”
Kafoury said. “I was not sure we’d
be able to do this without Clackamas
County. But this is the number one pri-
ority for many people, some of who do
not even live in this community. Now
we have a fully funded project.”
Mike Pullen, public information
officer for Multnomah County, later
qualified this assertion slightly.
The County does have funds pledged
equally to the estimated cost of the
project, he said, but at press time they
had not yet signed a contract with a con-
tractor to construct the new Sellwood
Bridge at the agreed-upon price.
Through much of the planning pro-
cess the focus has been on the east side;
last month it shifted to the west side.
The new bridge access will require the
removal of 800 trees on the west side of
Southwest Macadam Avenue, project
manager Ian Cannon said.
Pullen later said that most of the trees
removed are “not very healthy and
covered with ivy,” and 1500 new native
trees that will provide a healthier native
habitat will eventually replace them.
The access will also cut off the ex-
isting driveway to the Macadam Bay
houseboat moorage. The County had
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