What this is about
“Rightsizing” is coming to Portland. This is the term the district is using for potential school closures and consolidation. This moment is the result of trends over years: declining enrollment plus school funding that is not keeping pace with school needs.
As a result, PPS may close up to 20 of its 81 middle and elementary schools at the end of this school year. That’s 1 in 4 schools. We will know the district’s closure scenarios on October 6.
1. Learn what’s happening
- See what PPS is sharing about its plans for rightsizing.
- Educate yourself. This community-made PPS Dashboard shows how closure might affect different schools across our city. This PPS map shows building utilization across the district. These are some of the factors district leaders will consider.
- Follow updates in Principal Dunn’s weekly newsletter and on Konstella, the PTA’s app for connecting directly with families.
2. Connect with your community
Your PTA is following rightsizing so that we can empower our community to speak out. The Abernethy PTA is here to stand up for Abernethy students.
- Join the Abernethy PTA and/or Advocacy Committee and help make decisions about how Abernethy will use its collective voice on big issues like rightsizing. Membership is open to parents, grandparents, teachers, staff, and neighbors — because we’re all in this together.
- Donate to the Abernethy PTA or buy Abernethy spiritwear to show your school pride and support our fundraising.
3. Take action
Every family at Abernethy will be impacted by this process differently, and every person has the right to speak out from their experience and needs.
- Send an individual email to board members (template provided) telling them what you love about Abernethy.
- Complete the PPS survey to give feedback on the district’s plans.
- Review the draft of our Abernethy PTA community letter (coming soon), and submit your comments for improvements before the October 15 PTA community meeting. We want our collective voice to reflect the needs of each and every one of us.
Important dates
- Tuesday, October 6, 6–8 pm, 501 N. Dixon Street, Portland, OR 97227: A crucial PPS Board meeting where the district will share closure scenarios with the board.
- Thursday, October 15, 6:30–8 pm, Abernethy Auditorium: PTA community meeting, where we will discuss our PTA’s approach to rightsizing, regardless of the scenario we are facing. We want to hear your voice there, so please plan to join us in person or on Zoom.
Our goal
The Abernethy PTA aligns with other PPS communities in demanding a methodical, transparent approach to district rightsizing and calls on PPS to preserve Abernethy as a neighborhood elementary school.
The action we want to see from our PPS leaders and lawmakers
- A pause on school closures until we see the following:
- A clear pathway for accountability at the state and local level
- Recent events (e.g., damning audit results about the high school renovation contracts) have inspired a lack of faith in our public school leadership.
- Changing messages from district leaders cause us to question the transparency of this process.
- A strategic plan around the impact of PPS school closures on:
- Students: class sizes, resources, academic development, etc.
- Schools: funding remodels and renovations, selling assets, etc.
- Communities: how PPS will work with community partners to fill the gaps that school buildings leave behind
- A clear pathway for accountability at the state and local level
In the end, it is our students who will bear the cost of “rightsizing.” District leaders must demonstrate that they are accountable by sharing the burden our students are facing. It’s worth taking the time to get rightsizing right.