Portland Public Schools is considering closing 11 or 14 schools under two proposals released Oct. 5, part of a district effort to match its buildings and programs to declining enrollment. A third option would leave the current school configuration in place. Neither closure plan is final. The district plans to gather public input through November before Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong makes a recommendation to the Board of Education. The board is expected to vote in December, and any approved changes would begin in the 2027-28 school year. The more extensive proposal, Scenario A, would close 13 elementary schools — Maplewood, Stephenson, Irvington, Rose City Park, Buckman, Creston, Marysville, Woodmere, Lewis, Beach, James John, Peninsula and Sabin — as well as Sellwood Middle School. Scenario B would spare Stephenson, Rose City Park and Lewis, closing 11 schools in all. Both plans would redraw attendance boundaries, relocate programs and change grade configurations. Seven K-8 schools would become K-5 schools, sending their middle-school students to other campuses. The district also proposes consolidating or relocating several dual-language immersion programs, but says none would be eliminated. The proposals would end the environmental focus program at Sunnyside Environmental School. Sunnyside would become a neighborhood K-5 school and stop accepting new lottery transfers. Students already enrolled through the lottery could stay through fifth grade. PPS also proposes moving the Odyssey program from East Sylvan to Metropolitan Learning Center. MLC would remain a K-8 school, but its high school grades would close. East Sylvan would become vacant, with any future use considered through a separate district process. Armstrong said the district recognizes the close ties students, families and staff have to their schools, while also needing to assess the district as a whole. PPS says declining enrollment has left some campuses substantially underused even as other schools remain large. The Portland Association of Teachers opposes school closures and is urging the district to consider alternatives. The union says boundary changes could better distribute students between overcrowded schools and nearby campuses with unused capacity. It also calls for reducing district-office staffing and redirecting funds to positions that serve students directly. PAT says the district has added 79 central-office administrators since 2019. Other union proposals include selling or repurposing the Portland Education Center, reviewing vacant district properties for potential sale or lease, and moving some district employees into underused school buildings. PAT also advocates steps to increase enrollment, including investing in kindergarten, supporting housing projects and promoting public schools to families. The union warns closures could bring staff layoffs, larger classes and fewer student resources, and says school closures can disproportionately affect marginalized communities. The school board will make the final decision after the district’s public-input process; school lists and other details could still change before then.