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Page A4
May 20. 2009
Heated Discussion
d is tric t. A n u m b e r o f p eo p le e x
pressed th e ir d isp lea su re w ith the
policy since it drained some schools
o f money, students, and com m unity
support.
O ptions one and tw o have serious
im plications for em battled neighbor
hood schoo ls th at have seen their
enrollm ent shrink under the district’s
o p e n tr a n s f e r p o lic y (se e “ H ig h
Schools Do Over,” Portland Observer,
April 22 issue.) Such schools, which
are a source o f pride for the cities
neighborhoods, periodically grapple
with rum ors that they face closure.
Zeke Sm ith openly acknow ledged
that one neighborhood high school
w ould have to shut its doors under
con tin u ed ^ ^ f r o m Front
•
The first idea w ould keep funnel
1 Oth graders into career/interest paths
after a tte n d in g sm all h igh school
academies.
The second would assign students
to their neighborhood school, w hich
would offer the same course offerings
across the district.
T h e th ird o p tio n w o u ld d iv id e
schools into regions, w ith students
being able to choose large schools or
small specialized academ ies to m eet
their needs and interests.
The crowd, which included about 50
students, w as divided up into tables
that seated about 10 people each. Zeke
Smith asked the crowd specific ques
tions about what they wanted form the
redesign. After the crowd deliberated
Smith made his rounds among tables
getting peoples’ ideas.
Issues surrounding equity and ac
cess to class offerings kept com ing
up in peoples’ responses, as did prob
lems with the way high school bound
aries are draw n up, teacher support
and accountability.
The issue o f diversity and racial
tension cam e up in the com m ents
made by several students willing to
give up their Saturday morning.
EJ Kincaid, a 17-year-old junior at
the S p an ish E nglish In tern atio n al
School at Roosevelt said that diver
sity and essential so that “ we can
better understand each other.”
An issue that kept com ing up dur
ing the discussions was the district’s
policy o f allow ing students to trans
fer to any o f the 10 schools in the
Participants in a Saturday
forum at Jefferson High School
to consider proposals to
completely redesign the city's
high schools break into small
clusters to discuss the
proposals. Teletha Benjamin
(right) rose to point out the
level of distrust the community
harbors toward the district.
photo by J ake T homas /
T he P ortland O bserver
these plans.
Sporadically, a participant w ould
suggest that the problem s w ith the
city ’s high schools couldn’t be sepa-
rated from issues facing lower grades.
“1 feel like I’m sacrificing my child if 1
left them in K-8, and she’s the only one
1 have, and that’s the only opportunity
1 have,” said LakeiTha Elliott, who
started home-schooling her 12-year-old
daughter because she was so unim
pressed with PPS teachers.
Roosevelt Boosters Want Principal Back
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Public Schools Super
intendent C arole Sm ith caused a
dust up w ith the R oosevelt High
School Boosters last m onth when
she m ade the decision to yank the
s c h o o l's p o p u la r p r in c ip a l,
Deborah Peterson, and place her at
M adison High School.
S u p p o rte rs o f R o o s e v e lt say
Peterson has proven herself to be
a huge asset to the north Portland
school by raising test scores, brin
ing in arts and m usic program s that
have long been absent, and gener
ally rallying the com m unity around
the school.
"She's ju st a firecracker," said
B ob Johnson, w ho's involved w ith
the Roosevelt Boosters and attended
the school forum.
PPS S p o k esp erso n M att S helby
explained that Peterson position was
supposed to be tem porary from the
day she w as hired on fo r the jo b .
R oosevelt was undergoing a reorga
nization that put three small schools
at the cam pus. B ut with the transition
finished, Peterson's w ork w as done
and each o f the small schools will now
be overseen by an adm inistrator, said
Shelby,
He added that since Peterson was
already em ployed by the district there
was no requirem ent that there be a
public involvem ent process w hen she
was transferred.
"W henever you have a structural
change there will alw ays be people
w h o s u p p o r t it a n d p e o p le w h o
don't," said Shelby.
B ut the boosters are not pleased
w ith that answer.
"There's going to be a three-headed
m onster at that cam pus next year,"
said Johnson.
A t the end o f a related forum Satur
day on high schools redesigns d is
trict-w ide, Sm ith agreed to stay late
to m e e t w ith th e s u p p o r te r s o f
R oosevelt.
She began by thanking them for
p a rticip a tin g co n stru c tiv e ly in the
forum.
"Are w e looking for a win-win? You
bet," she said to ab o u t tw o dozen
s u p p o r te r s w h o r e ite r a te d th a t
Peterson's accom plishm ents had re
vitalized the school.
Laura Day, one o f the R oosevelt
boosters, offered a solution to the
problem : K eep Peterson on as prin
cipal, and hire a vice principal. This
solution w ould cut dow n on staff
ing costs since three adm inistrators
fo r the sm all schools w ouldn't be
needed.
H ow ever, Toni H unter, assistant
superintendent o f high schools, said
that staff at the school needs to be
consulted because there are q u es
tions as to whether or not Peterson is
credentialed to do staff evaluations.
"W e're not g oing to get this re
solved today," H unter said.
MM MM NM M M M NM M M NM NN M M N M M M M M M N NM M M I
Long time and
respected baseball
coach Matthew Todd
has returned to his
Jefferson High
School roots in an
attempt to revive the
sport and inject a
new sense o f pride
in the school and
neighborhood
Coach on Mission
it’s crucial to have a sustained effort
to keep kids interested in the sport,
which is w hat he expects Todd to do.
“ W e n e e d to s ta r t w ith th e
g rassro o ts. We need to start w ith
young kids,” said W hitehurst.
A fte r k n o c k in g o f f o f w o rk at
Portland's Bureau of Transportation
Todd heads to the field to do m ainte
nance on it, w hich he says is the one
o f the m ost crucial com ponents for
having a successful team.
"They started acting like baseball
p la y e rs ," sa id T o d d o f w h en he
brought his team to the field he's
spent hours on. "You can't underes
tim ate how im portant that is."
con tin u ed ¿ ^ j r o m Front
is im pressed by his dedication to get
ting kids involved in the sport.
So far, T odd has larg ely sp e ar
headed the effort on his own. He's
already shelled out a couple hundred
o f his ow n dollars to pay fo r the
league fee and insurance. He's also
p u rc h a se d e q u ip m e n t to k eep up
m a in te n a n c e on J e ff e r s o n H ig h
School's field.
But this could change soon.
A ccording to the school’s athletic
director, M itch W hitehurst, Todd is
likely to get a jo b coaching baseball
at the school. W hitehurst agrees that
PHOTO BY
,
____ 1 J
Todd, clad in an aging "Demos"
baseball jacket form the 1990s, envi
sions a com petitive baseball team at
Jefferson that w ill produce stories
that will be told for generations.
For Todd, the issue is about more
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
than having the sport at the school.
Jefferso n 's en ro llm en t has steadily
dropped o ff in recent years as stu
dents in the area tran sfe r to oth er
schools, w hich befuddles Todd who
hopes that if he takes the initiative on
this it will encourage others to rally
around th eir school and n eig h b o r
hood.
"W hen the people in the neighbor
hood see change, som etim es I think
th e y ra lly b e h in d it," sa id T odd.
"They're going to w ant to be part o f
it."
But Todd realizes that this w on't be
easy, and will require a sustained ef
fort. H e's vying to head up the base
ball program at Jefferson, and said he's
willing to do whatever it lakes to keep
kids interested in baseball.
"It's not easy, and you have to stay
after it, and you have to do it your
self," he said. "You can't expect some
one else to pick up your sw ord be
cause it's not n ecessarily g oing to
happen."
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