June 9, 2010 dlu fJortlanh (Obsvmer IN S ID E The Week ¡n Review This page Sponsored by: Page 3 Fred Meyer page 2 Jeff Closure on Table ph - w Redesign plans hit more snags L aw &< J ustice J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver by A high school redesign pro posal has hit more snags, putting into doubt whether it will be ap proved by the school board by a June 21 deadline. The latest skid cam e M onday w hen School Board members suggested con verting Jefferson High School from a neighborhood school to a specialized magnet program. Superintendent Carole Smith had recom m ended m aking the d istrict’s only predom inantly A frican A m erican high school a com prehensive neighborhood school and enforcing bound ary requirem ents for a tte n dance with lim ited transfer op portunities. The initial concept also called for converting Benson Polytech nic High School into a special ized tw o -y ear program and Marshall High School into mag net school. The seven other re maining high schools would be transformed into comprehensive neighborhood high schools, with roughly the same amount o f stu dents, funding, and course offer ings. But this was before news that the state was facing a massive budget shortfall, which could result in $ 19 million decrease in funding to PPS. Because o f the lack o f funds school board mem- cal programs to Jefferson, which evoked a spirited reaction at a community forum at Self En hancem ent Inc., a northeast charter school that serves low- income and minority students that feed into Jefferson. At the meeting, Tony Hopson, SEI president and CEO, scolded school board members and Smith for continuing a history o f ill- fated tinkering at Jefferson that One o f the driving forces behind the redesign is to close in on the Portland’s sobering achievement gap. ber Bobbie Regan and Trudy S argent, w ho co -ch airs the board, both said they couldn’t get behind the eight comprehen- siv e sch o o l m odel. M artin Gonzalez also said he w ouldn’t vote for the proposal because o f cuts to Benson. Last month, Gonzalez sug- gested moving Benson’s techni- 1 has sapped the school o f the resources it needs to thrive, Interestingly, Jefferson was converted to a perform ing arts magnet school in 1974 with the aim o f attracting more white stu- dents to the predominantly black school. The proposal failed to attractive a significant number continued on page 17 No Sign of 2nd Grader C lassifieds pages 12-13 O pinion pages 14-15 ' 7 J? F ood page 20 Vanished from Skyline Elementary tip line. Many parents were at a sci ence fair Friday morning before the boy vanished. Gates said investigators planned to inter view everyone who was at the (AP) — Relatives o f a 7-year- school. old Portland boy missing from K elly Ram irez, the sister o f Skyline Elementary School for K yron's m other, issued a state five days have urged those work m ent M onday evening thank ing to find him to carry on the ing everyone who has "w orked search with optimism. tirelessly on K yron's b e h a lf' Twenty-two state, local and and asked people to print and Kyron Horman federal agencies have been fol distribute fliers w ith the boy's lowing up on more than 1,200 sheriffs Capt. Jason Gates said photo. tips in the search for Kyron Tuesday at a brief news confer "Above all do not give up hope, ence. Horman, who disappeared from as we certainly never will," she He said investigators have in said. "He is out there and we are the northwest Portland school terviewed the families o f about going to find him and bring him on Friday. "There has been nothing o f 90 percent o f the school's stu home safe where he belongs." significance in terms o f results dents, and he asked those who continued on page 17 to report," Multnomah County haven't been questioned to call a