Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland school board members have begun considering some dramatic changes to high schools in the state’s largest district. Rob Manning reports.

When Portland Public Schools closed buildings a few years ago, administrators focused on elementary and middle schools. Now, they’re looking at high schools.

The district could close a school, but officials say they’re more interested in improving equity, district-wide.

Administrators of high schools with poor test scores have seen many kids transfer away, leaving their buildings half-empty. And, schools receiving a lot of students are overcrowded.

At a weekend retreat, school board members suggested five ways they might overhaul how students get assigned to high schools.

One idea is to drop neighborhood boundaries entirely, and become a district  of magnet high schools. Conversely, the district could assign students to neighborhood schools, and limit transfers to a handful of “magnet” programs.

To avoid turf battles, superintendent Carole Smith says she's intentionally delaying talk about specific schools.