Portland Observer, March 11, 1982 Page 3
METROPOLITAN
What does the future hold?
Boise Principal Dave McCrea re­
ports that his staff is extremely con­
cerned about the future o f Boise’ s
students now that the School Board
has voted to close Boise and use its
b uilding for T u b m an M id d le
School.
Decisions that are still to be made
include: 1) disposition o f the a p ­
p ro xim ately 470 child ren at the
school now; 2) whether Boise will
remain in its building next year or be
moved elsewhere during renovation
o f the building; 3) where teachers
will be assigned.
These decisions— or at least rec­
ommendations to the new superin­
tendent, Matthew Prophet— are ex­
pected to be made on March 15th.
D r. Fenwick had recommended a
“ domino effect” assignment o f stu­
dents— placing students in nearby
Beach, Hum boldt and E lio t, while
children in those schools would need
to be moved to m ake places for
them. This would involve moving
about 6,000 students.
M cC rea hopes the schools to
which Boise’ s students w ill be
moved will be limited to two besides
Tubm an, which will receive the ap­
p ro xim ately 125 6 th , 7th and 8th
grades.
A second question is whether
Boise will exist as a school next year,
and if so, where. W ill Boise remain
in its build in g fo r the fu ll school
year 1982-83 or w ill it m ove this
Septem ber or durin g the year to
allow reconstruction?
Boise began a new pre-Kindergar-
ten and full-day Kindergarten pro­
gram this year as part o f the “ Com ­
prehensive Desegregation P ro ­
g ra m .” W ill this program stay at
Boise next year, and if so, what par­
ents will send their children to a pro­
gram that will be discontinued? O r
will this program be moved to Beach
this year?
Teachers at Boise are under threat
o f losing th e ir positions. I f the
school is closed and the child ren
scattered, the Boise teachers will go
into the pool. They would then be
eligible for selection by other princi­
pals. I f the students go in large
groups to schools that would then
need a d d itio n a l teachers, they
would have a contract right to fo l­
low the students.
Boise has 35 teachers, 15 o f whom
are probationary. These probation­
ary teachers could lose out a lto ­
gether since there is a reduction in
need for teachers. Most o f the pro­
b a tio n a ry teachers are in special
program s— English as a Second
Language and Special E ducation,
but others teach m usic, physical
education or are classroom teachers.
Boise has five Black teachers, in ­
cluding a Special Projects Director
and four classroom teachers.
M c C re a hopes the decisions on
Boise’ s future will be made quickly
so the staff and students can begin
to make plans for the future.
IF W E CAN HELP
Tina Byrd and Karina Alcantara confar during
Bolaa School« Black Hiatory "Collage Bowl.” Tha
7th grada girl« haat tha 7th grada boya. Tha 8th
grade match ended in a tie. but a rerun ended in a
win for tha girls.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
School Board picks Boise
The Portland School Board voted
Thursday night to place Tubm an
M id d le
School,
the
school
established
as part
of
the
“ co m p reh en s iv e deseg reg atio n
plan** to serve students o f E lio t,
Humboldt and King areas, at Boise
school.
The decision came after testimony
representing the m ajo r Black
organizations — Black U n ited
F ro n t, N A A C P . U rban League,
A lb in a M in is te ria l A llia n ce , and
others — and the Tubm an Parent
A dvisory
C o m m ittee
—
all
supporting the placement o f the
school at Eliot as had been promised
two years ago.
The decision will close Boise, the
only K-8 school in the community, a
school that has been under threat o f
closure for many years. The school
now o ffers a **basic” program
designed to give (he school a last
o p p o rtu n ity to avoid closure.
Because all other schools in the
com m unity were deprived o f their
upper grades and turned into Early
C h ild h o o d E ducation C enters,
Boise is a focal point o f community
opposition to discriminatory school
district practices. Boise, the school
w ith the highest concentration o f
Black students, has about 470
students, 7 per cent white, 12 to 14
per cent Asian and the rest Black.
This year, also part o f the new
desegregation
plan,
a
pre­
kindergarten and a fu ll day
kindergarten were added, although
no renovation was done. In fact,
nothing has been done to the
build in g fo r over 12 years except
adding a coat o f paint and moving
the library.
Other promises that this decision
breaks are that no elem entary
school be closed, that Boise’s upper
grade program be strengthened, and
that staff be added.
The decision was made a fte r
several months o f indecision. Herb
C aw th o rn e moved that E lio t be
selected and was jo in ed by Steve
Rue! and Bill Scott.
Dean G isvold moved that the
school go to Boise. Voting yes were
Gisvold, Scott, Frank M cN am ara,
Joe Reikc and Charlotte Beeman.
Buel charged the board with racist
tactics in ignoring the choice o f the
Black com munity for its children.
He said the problem w ith in the
Board goes much deeper than the
breaking o f a promise.
Cawthorne expressed disappoint­
ment that hte Board would force
this decision
on
the
Black
c om m u nity. In every other case
“ com m unity acceptance” was
obtained prior to changing a school
to a middle school. This action once
again dem onstrates a double
standard, he said.
DAVE JOHNSTON
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Schools, city ignore fire codes
The Portland City Fire Marshall
recently brought to atten tio n the
fact that the c ity ’ s fire code and
state law have not been enforced
with the Portland Public Schools.
The code requires that children in
the second grade or younger must be
housed on the school’s First floor.
In February the Fire Marshall or­
dered that first and second graders
at Boise Elem cntasry School be
moved from the second flo o r to
meet the code. P rin cip al Dave
M cC rea said the classes were u p ­
stairs when he arrived 12 years ago
and he had never been made aware
o f the code by the adm inistration.
Also, the Fire Marshall has inspect­
ed regularly and never said anything
about the code.
Last Spring the Fire Marshall o r­
dered (hat Eliot School be brought
in to com pliance. An appeal was
made and the district was allowed to
leave the students on the second
floor after installing a sprinkler sys­
tem in the stairwells, hallways and
doors to classrooms.
No one seems to have a good rea­
son why the codes were not enforced
earlier. M ert Lindsay, director o f
physical plants for the school dis­
trict, said he has been aware o f the
law but that arrangement o f class­
rooms w ith in the b uilding is the
responsibility o f the educational de­
p artm e n t, not b uilding m ain ten ­
ance.
The code has been in effect for
m any, many years, he said, and is
designed to ensure the safety o f the
younger children. He has not taken
it upon himself to inform building
principals o f the law but recently did
send a memo to his supervisors.
King School has 2nd graders in
the second flo o r but has a waiver
since sprinklers were installed in
1975. The other Early C hildhood
Education Center had sprinklers in­
stalled when renovated, he said.
C lif f Lowe o f the Area I o ffice
said he is not aware o f any other
schools that are not in compliance
except Glenco, which is in the pro­
cess o f m oving its students. The
school district has always been
aware o f the law and knew there
were students where they should not
be, but the law was not enforced.
“ We always had an understanding*’
with the Fire Department, he said.
He felt everything was all right at
Boise— the traffic flow at Boise was
proper and (here was no threat to
safety. When the order came from
the Fire Marshall, it was to make the
change immediately.
A rea I I Superintendent Don
Jones said he does not know o f any
schools in his area that are not in
compliance. The last was Alameda.
Sometimes the upstairs rooms are
more suitable for small children: for
exam ple, at A lam eda the second
floor rooms are warmer.
His only exp la n atio n o f earlier
code infractions is that principals
sometimes make changes and that
principals sometimes forget the
rules.
Lynn Davis o f the Fire Marshall’s
office also had no answers. He felt
that inspectors might not be aware
o f the ages o f children in second-
story classrooms or that changes
might have been made since inspec­
tion.
As for Boise and Eliot, each with
several years o f non-compliance, he
had no answer. B ill T u rn e r, who
does the school inspections for the
Fire M a rs h a ll's o ffic e , was not
available for comment.
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Community plans opposition
The Black United Front will have
a com m u nity meeting Thursday
night to determ ine what actions
should be taken to halt the Portland
School District’s plan to place Tub-
man M id d le School in the Boise
School building.
Represented at a press conference
to announce the meeting were the
BUF, the National Business League,
the C R IB , and the Jefferson High
School Advisory Committee.
Every m ajor Black organization
supported placement o f the school
at the E lio t b u ild in g , the site
adopted by the School Board (wo
years ago. The change to the Boise
site is seen as breaking a promise to
the Black community.
T u b m an was established as a
school for Black students who had
been bussed out o f their community
to attend 6 th , 7th and 8th grades.
The school was designed with pro­
grams to draw w hite youngsters
from throughout the district.
The meeting will be held at King
N eighborhood C enter, Thursday,
March I llh , at 7:30 pm.
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