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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2016)
July 13, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News SEI cont’d from pg 1 been up and running for over 10 years, we did that strictly out of need. There was a time when the middle schools in the Jefferson [High School] cluster weren’t doing that well with African American kids. There was a time when mid- dle schools weren’t even available in the Jefferson Our model is not to do schools but to help the public schools do better cluster,” Hopson told The Skanner. The school was primar- ily funded by Portland Public Schools, though SEI contributed between $200,00 and $300,000 an- nually. But Hopson said the closure isn’t based on funding. He sees the dis- trict’s pledge to reopen middle schools as an op- portunity for SEI to re- turn to its core mission. “Our model is not to do schools but to help the public schools do better,” Hopson said. “It gives us a chance to go back to our original model and provide direct support there.” SEI Academy had the capacity to serve 150 stu- dents. The school won’t offer sixth grade this year, and Hopson expects an enrollment of about 70 students this fall. In the end Hopson esti- mates about 30 students total — those enrolling in seventh grade this year — will need to find anoth- er school to attend, most likely the ones in their neighborhoods. Hopson said most live in Inner North and Northeast, but some were bused to its North Portland campus from East Portland. “There is a large per- centage of our kids who Rally some of the current SEI students who bus in come from the Parkrose or Reynolds school dis- tricts and may attend schools there instead of in Portland. Right now there are just five middle schools in the district — Beau- mont and George Middle Schools on the East Side and Robert Gray, West Sylan and Jackson on the West Side. There are 28 schools offering kinder- garten through eighth grade. Hopson is particularly encouraged by the re- opening of Tubman, and hopes SEI will have a role in providing support to students there. Portland Public Schools closed Harriet Tubman Lead- ership Academy, a mid- dle school for girls only, in 2012 over protests of parents and community members. Trombley told The Skanner the district has not made a final de- cision about how many middle schools it will open. He said the closure of many middle schools and the placement of middle-grade students in K-8 programs, was prompted both by declin- ing enrollment in Port- land Public Schools and by a decline in resources from the state. Far West Region Celebrates 50 Years Two Delta Sigma Theta Sorority alumnae from Tempe, Ariz., Sunday visited Portland’s Alumnae chapter’s June Key Delta Community Center in North Portland. They were among many conference attendees who stopped in for a tour of the sustainable building, and for a post-conference reception. From left, Sandra Henderson and Pam Williams. Lead cont’d from pg 3 Portland Public Schools did not respond to request from The Skanner News for comment, but the Multnomah County Health Department is suggesting that parents get their children tested if they’re concerned about lead contamination -- and is offering free testing clinics to all children in the school district. Lead poisoning can cause devel- opmental delays, learning disor- ders, abdominal pain and fatigue in small children, and reproduc- tive problems, intestinal prob- lems and memory loss in adults – though many who test with high blood lead levels show no unusual symptoms. According to the Cen- ters for Disease Control, drink- ing water with high blood levels is not typically enough, in and of itself, to result in high blood lead levels, but risk will vary depend- ing on the person and the amount of water consumed. According to Perry Cabot, se- nior program specialist at Mult- nomah County’s lead poisoning prevention program, teenagers aren’t routinely tested for lead exposure because public health officials consider small children at highest risk for lead poisoning, due to the possibility for long- term health problems and dis- “ havior in homes with high levels of lead dust. For instance, typically Mult- nomah County’s lead testing pro- gram — which offers free month- ly clinics — only serves children up to age six and pregnant wom- The county has worked with funders to expand the clinics so that until the end of the summer, any child in the Portland Public Schools system may be tested ruption of cognitive development in kids who are exposed to lead at age six or younger. Adults are typically only tested for elevated blood levels if there is reason to believe they’ve been exposed to it — for instance, adults affected by chemical spills or other industri- al accidents are often tested. “We just don’t have a prece- dent for testing at this age,” Cabot said, adding infants are also seen as particularly high risk due to crawling and hand-to-mouth be- en. But Cabot told The Skanner the county has expanded the clinics so that until the end of the sum- mer, any child in the Portland Pub- lic Schools system may be tested. The next clinic will take place at 11:45 a.m. Friday at the Kenton Li- brary. To see more clinic listings, visit https://multco.us/health/ lead-poisoning-prevention/get- ting-your-child-tested-lead. Read the full story at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 and Los Angeles. In Baton Rouge, more than 120 protestors have been arrested in demonstrations over the weekend. In Dallas, Texas, five police officers were killed at a Black Lives Matter-or- ganized protest. The gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson, targeted and am- bushed the officers. He then fled to El Centro College, where he was killed by a remote control bomb disposal robot. John Slaughter, Black Lives Matter activist, had pointed words for “Face- book vigilantes” and other social media activists. “Stop filming and give someone else your phone. Stop filming and get in- volved. You need to be able to say, ‘You know what, he’s not going to die today,” Slaughter said, urging the crowd to get involved and do real work to help the community. “We need to be able to stand up as a collective.” The crowd then marched from Pio- neer Courthouse Square to the Mult- nomah County Justice Center. Orga- nizers called for Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman to meet with the pro- testors. Ultimately, Marshman did not talk with the protestors. The next day, “ rally, a group of protesters walked to- ward him. Jeff Singer was among the group that met with Strickland. Singer told The Skanner News that Strickland Stop filming and get involved. You need to be able to say, ‘You know what, he’s not going to die today’ he issued a statement to the Police Bu- reau calling for unity. “As the nation reels from the events this week, in Portland we must come together,” Marshman wrote. The protest had one incident of vi- olence when a conservative blogger, who runs the right-wing YouTube channel “Laughing at Liberals” channel pulled out a gun and pointed it at pro- testers. Michael Strickland is known for showing up at rallies to insult pro- testers while filming their behavior and broadcasting on YouTube. When Strickland approached the began to walk backwards, but then removed a gun from his side holster and swept it back and forth across the crowd, screaming, “Everyone needs to get the hell back.” Organizers tried to defuse the ten- sion, asking Strickland to leave while holding protesters back to keep from engaging with him. The Portland Po- lice Bureau arrested Strickland and charged him with disorderly conduct and menacing. Read the full story at TheSkanner.com PHOTO BY ARASHI YOUNG “ do come in from the num- bers. There’s a number of our kids, African Ameri- can kids, that have been pushed out that still want to go to Portland Public Schools and bus in,” Hop- son said. Jason Tromb- ley, co-chair of Portland Public Schools’ District Boundary Review Ad- visory Committee, said More than 1,000 demonstrators turned out Thursday to protest the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
