June 2012
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
What will be the effect of budget cuts on Southwest schools?
SCHOOLS SIDEBAR
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Last year Portland voters defeated
a proposed $548 million bond mea-
sure intended to repair and replace
Portland Public Schools’ aging build-
ings. The voters passed a companion
$250 million tax levy that will partial-
ly offset budget cutbacks. What will
be the effect of all this on Southwest
schools?
According to Will Fuller, chair of
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.’s
Schools Committee, the effect of
the bond defeat will be “long-term
and indirect.” In contrast the budget
shortfall, cushioned though it is by
the Levy success, will be “immediate
and direct.”
The bond defeat “means that we
won’t be able to replace Markham
School, and that is disappointing,”
Fuller said.
The District had determined that
this building had passed its useful
life, and should be replaced. For other
southwest buildings, the proposed
improvements “tend to be not so
major,” Fuller said.
“There are some safety-related
Light rail may mean bus cuts for
Southwest Portland neighborhoods
As part of Northwest College of
Naturopathic Medicine’s (NCNM)
master plan process the college
is seeking to encourage as many
student and visitor trips as pos-
sible to use means other than cars.
However, they may be thwarted
by TriMet plans that have implica-
tions for a much broader area.
TriMet officials have spoken for
some time of transit changes once
the new transit bridge, which will
carry the new Portland to Mil-
waukie light rail line, is completed.
Last month TriMet spokesper-
son Mary Fetch told The Post that
current plans call for lines 9, 17
and 19, which currently use the
Ross Island Bridge, to shift to the
demographics.
The District receives a certain por-
tion of such funds, and redistributes
them according to need – which, Full-
er says, typically means “the money
flows from southwest to northeast.”
At best, Fuller said, such funding is
a stopgap. What each parent would
contribute to a Foundation project
“is a fraction of what it would cost to
send your kids to a private school,”
he said.
“But there is a tipping point where
you go from adding extras to an
already good school, and where the
problems are so major the contribu-
tions are money down a rat hole.”
Construction Bond
Barnett emailed The Post a finan-
cial update on May 14, saying that,
to raise the $10 million needed to
save teaching jobs, school employ-
ees are offering to take furlough
days and delay raises, and the
city could contribute $5 million.
As of press time, the Portland City
Council had not approved that
financial step, which it was sched-
uled to consider May 30.
Barnett also said in her email that
a recent analysis of the percentage
of students graduating in four
years changed last year’s estimate
from 59 to 62 percent, and 2009-10
was 55, not 54 percent. That’s a
seven percent increase in one year.
“It is really good news, although
62 percent isn’t enough,” Barnett
said. “But, it is a sign that we are
on the right track with our stu-
dents.”
(Continued from Page 1)
new bridge, thereby shifting ser-
vice away from parts of the inner
southwest that currently receive it.
Fetch shortly afterward called
to say that no decisions had been
made and discussions of service
changes would begin in 2013.
NCNM’s Keith North gave a dif-
ferent report. In discussions with
the college, he said, TriMet officials
have said that west side service
on eight of the nine bus lines that
provide service to the area would
be eliminated, rather than shifted,
once the bridge opens, with the
aim of utilizing light rail exclu-
sively.
– Lee Perlman
things, some classrooms, repairs to
roofs.” The buildings will continue
to deteriorate and the cost of repairs
will grow, but they will not affect this
year’s operations, Fuller said.
The budget shortfalls are another
matter. Here, Fuller said, the District
will have to cut “core staff,” such as
librarians and counselors.
There will be a chance to offset
some of these things through the use
of contributions to local school foun-
dations, Fuller said, but this method
is “uncertain and inequitable.”
Stephenson School, for instance,
can count on generating more funds
than Markham, given their relative
look more tempting, and when
people leave, the community suf-
fers, Apenes said.
“The schools are so vital to our
community, and I think as the
schools are slowly dying the com-
munity won’t be far behind,” he
said.
Hillsdale Neighborhood As-
sociation member Don Baack got
up after Apenes spoke and stood
next to the three presenters, so he
was facing the about 15 people at-
tending the meeting. Wilson High
School principal Sue Brent and
school board member Ruth Adkins
had stood by during Barnett’s pre-
sentation, adding their input.
“What our community is about
is standing next to each other,”
Baack said.
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