If the Portland School Board approves the recommendation without changes in December, five elementary schools would close starting in fall 2027: Beach, Buckman, Creston, Peninsula and Sabin. That same year, Beverly Cleary, César Chávez, Faubion, Laurelhurst, Sunnyside and Vernon would convert from K-8 to K-5 schools. The high school at Metropolitan Learning Center, an alternative school, would close, and dual language immersion programs would be restructured.

The remaining five schools on Armstrong’s list—Irvington, Lewis, Marysville, Rose City Park and Woodmere—would close in fall 2028. Irvington would merge with Beverly Cleary, which is slated for a seismic retrofit; students would attend Irvington in 2027 before moving to the retrofitted Beverly Cleary building in 2028. Also in 2028, Bridger K-8 would become a K-5, the Odyssey K-8 choice program would relocate to Forest Park Elementary, and students in the Clark Elementary Mandarin dual language immersion program would move to Woodstock.

The proposal combines elements of two scenarios the district floated in early October, labeled A and B, which would have closed 14 and 11 schools, respectively. Armstrong said she adjusted the plan after community engagement.

Notably, Sellwood Middle School—the only middle school targeted in both earlier scenarios—was spared, as were James John and Maplewood elementary schools, which had also appeared on both lists. Stephenson Elementary, which was in Scenario A but not B, is also off the table.

“These changes reflect the voices of the families, students and staff who participated in this process,” Armstrong said in a press release. “We know that closing or consolidating schools is deeply personal and difficult. We have taken that feedback seriously while remaining focused on the long-term needs of all PPS students.”

Sellwood, Maplewood and Stephenson organized robust community protest efforts. The latter two communities argued their schools were in remote parts of Portland that were difficult to access. Representatives of all three schools previously told the media they had outperformed student performance metrics and raised concerns about the district’s reliance on enrollment forecasts.

James John is the only Title I school spared between the initial proposals and Armstrong’s recommendation. Its community objected on different grounds: Latino parents worried that long commutes to César Chávez for Spanish dual language immersion students, and to Sitton for neighborhood students, would risk exposing families to federal immigration enforcement. Advocates also said the district had not adequately engaged Latino families, especially those who speak Indigenous languages.

The district is still moving forward with condensing dual language immersion programs, including at James John. Spanish DLI will be consolidated into four regional hubs at Ainsworth, César Chávez, Lent and Rigler. Mandarin will be condensed into two hubs, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary and Woodstock, beginning in fall 2028. With the proposed closure of Rose City Park, neighborhood students would move to Scott Elementary, while those enrolled in Vietnamese DLI would move to Vestal Elementary.

Some advocacy groups’ demands were not met. The Title I Coalition, a parent group seeking to distribute closure consequences more equitably by sparing more schools that receive extra federal funding for serving high percentages of low-income students, saw half of the 10 targeted schools on the list—five—are Title I schools. Currently, 43% of elementary and middle schools in the district are Title I.

At Creston Elementary, an effort to keep students enrolled with the Columbia Regional Inclusive Services Deaf and Hard of Hearing program together with their cohort did not succeed. The school would feed into Atkinson Elementary, while roughly 30 CRIS students would split off and move to Glencoe Elementary.

Some schools saw both wins and losses. Sunnyside K-8 would become an elementary school under the recommendation but would retain its environmental focus, a key point advocated by community members.

Special education focus classrooms would transition from relying primarily on regional assignments to bringing “focus classrooms closer to students’ homes,” according to a district press release. The district would provide individualized transition support through closures.

The district is considering closures primarily to condense limited resources across fewer buildings. PPS has struggled with persistent declining enrollment and has cut millions from its budget in recent years. The district maintains it will still face a $65 million deficit in the upcoming year even with closures, largely driven by rising pension costs.

“Maintaining the status quo will not protect our students from the financial challenges ahead,” Armstrong said. “We cannot continue spreading limited resources across more buildings than our enrollment can sustain. Our responsibility is to make the difficult decisions necessary to protect the quality of education and opportunities available to every student.”

District officials will formally present Armstrong’s recommendations to the Portland School Board on Nov. 17. The board will vote on the recommendations Dec. 15. At a special meeting earlier Friday, board members unanimously approved an inquiry into Signal use among district leaders. That resolution asks independent counsel to produce a report directly to the board with findings by Dec. 11, shortly ahead of the vote on school closures.