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‘City of Roses'
Volume XXXXI, Number 15
Wednesday • A p ril ll, 2012
High Emotions
011 Schools
Parents and educators speak
out against cuts and closures
American community and other mi­
T he P ortland O bserver
norities. They would cease opera­
Opinions and emotions are run­ tions at the end of the school year as
ning high this week over the poten­ part of a budget proposed last week
tial closure of Humboldt Elementary by School Superintendent Carole
School, and the all-girls Harriet Smith.
Tubman Young W omen’s Leader­
Hundreds gathered at Cleveland
ship Academy.
High School Monday night to com­
Both schools are in north Port­ ment on the plans, which also elimi­
land and serve Portland’s African- nate a $27.5 million budget gap by
by M indy C ooper
laying off 110 teachers and 34 ad­
ministrative positions, throughout
the district.
P a ren ts from the Y oung
Women’s Leadership Academy and
Humboldt School asked Smith and
the school board to keep the schools
open for the good o f kids who are
largely children of color and from
low-income households.
The prospect of closing the all­
girls school was especially difficult
for parents, educators and members
of the community who felt the acad­
emy was not given enough support
to grow its enrollment after just five
years in existence.
“The news came as a shock to
me,” said Young W omen’s Leader­
E s t a b l i s h e d ¡11 1 9 7 0
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
ship Academy principal Bonnie
Hobson. “Because we had a con­
versation earlier in the year to get
enrollment up, and we did a good
job.”
According to Hobson, both par­
ents and students alike don’t want
to see the school close its doors.
“It is heartbreaking,” she said. “I
feel like we have missed an opportu­
nity to support a one of a kind public
institution for girls and to grow
young women leaders in areas where
women are not represented.”
Jyothi Pulla, a parent o f twin girls
who are currently seniors at the
academy, agreed.
She said the potential closure of
her daughters’ school would be a
wrong choice for the future of the
community.
Pulla, who has been a volunteer
at Tubman for four years, said the
low enrollment is not a result of a
lack of interest in the program, but
rather a lack of school district sup­
port.
“Nobody likes to close schools,”
she said. “But this school is differ­
ent. If they close this school there
are no other public all-girls schools
in Portland, in all of Oregon, and in
the entire Pacific Northwest.”
Although she understands the
number of students is smaller than
most public schools, she attributes
the low level of enrollment to the
perpetual threats, every year, of clo­
sure from the school board.
“No parent wants to enroll their
child in a school with an uncertain
future,” she said.
Pulla said, however, the students
at Tubman are receiving a good
education in a positive environment
unlike any other in the city.
“But every time they say this
school is closing, we have to drop
everything we are doing,” she said.
“Because this is a Title I school,
continued
on page 23