August 5, 2020
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
page 2
page 7
M ETRO
Photo by s teve M organ /W ikiPedia C oMMons
Home to Portland’s historic African American community, Jefferson High School, will be completely
modernized if voters approve a new bond levy in November for its reconstruction as part of a pro-
posed new bond that the Portland School Board last week referred to voters.
Jefferson Rebuild Proposed
School next in
line for bond
financing
Arts &
page 6-8
ENTERTAINMENT
O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
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Jefferson High School, home
for generations of families from
Portland’s African American
community, will get a complete
renovation, and schools sur-
rounding Jefferson will start a
process to open a new Center
for Black Student Excellence,
as part of a proposed construc-
tion bond referred to voters by
the Portland School Board last
week.
Scheduled for the November
General Election, the $1.1 bil-
lion property tax measure would
renew the last school construc-
tion bond at the same tax rate
that has provided monies for re-
building or replacing other aging
Portland schools in recent years,
district officials said. It would
also continue other investments
in Portland schools, including
funding for critical educational,
health and safety priorities.
“I’m excited we are investing
in the modernization of Jeffer-
son and focusing on the Center
for Black Student Excellence,”
Board Director Michelle DePass
said. “It tells our Black students,
your education matters. It tells
them we care and are listening
to your voice. I can’t wait to wit-
ness the students we are invest-
ing in today.”
Superintendent
Guadalupe
Guerrero said the decision to
remodel Jefferson and improve
educational supports for black
students keeps with past prom-
ises by the district and listens
to the priorities of the district’s
community partners.
“If we’re going to succeed
in serving Black students and
youth, we’ll have to do it togeth-
er,” said Guerrero.
The proposed bond would
also complete the moderniza-
tion of Benson Polytechnic High
School; build a facility for Mul-
tiple Pathways to Graduation
programs; plan for additional ca-
pacity at Roosevelt High School;
C ontinued on P age 4
School Classes to Start Online
Portland Public Schools Super-
intendent Guadalupe Guerrero has
outlined plans for holding class-
es online at the beginning of the
school year, until at least Nov. 5
when local health guidelines for
social distancing under the coro-
navirus pandemic (COVID-19)
will be re-evaluated.
In a letter Guerrero sent to
school parents and staff last week,
he said the district will start the
fall semester on Sept. 2 by uti-
lizing a new, comprehensive dis-
tance learning model, based on
the best available guidance to pro-
mote public safety from state and
county health officials and Gov.
Kate Brown.
“Our goal is to be prepared to
engage students and provide them
with a robust learning experience
this fall,” Guerrero said.
Guadalupe Guerrero
The online instruction will be
different from the learning expe-
rience of this past spring when
schools adopted online learning
from home when classroom in-
struction suddenly ended because
of the stay-at-home order by the
governor to prevent the spread
of coronavirus amid a worldwide
health crisis.
It is possible that unless
COVID-19 conditions improve
significantly, online learning will
extend past Nov. 5.The decision
will be made by Oct. 10 after con-
sidering new health information
and county health metrics, Guer-
rero said.
“We believe it is both respon-
sible and critical to base our de-
cisions on what will best ensure
the health and wellness of our
students and staff. For those of us
who serve in public education, we
will always prefer to have our stu-
dents engaged in classroom-based
learning, but given current condi-
tions, it would be unsafe to have
significant numbers of students
and adults back on campus at this
time,” Guerrero said.