Portland Public Schools has proposed two plans that would close either 11 or 14 schools, redraw attendance boundaries and shift programs as the district responds to declining enrollment and uneven student populations across the city. The district released the proposals Oct. 5. Neither is final: PPS plans to gather community feedback through November, after which Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong is expected to make a recommendation to the Board of Education. The board is expected to vote in December, with approved changes taking effect in fall 2027. The more extensive plan 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. The second plan would close the same schools except Stephenson, Rose City Park and Lewis. Both plans would change school boundaries, move programs and alter grade configurations. Seven K-8 schools would become K-5 schools, sending their middle-school students to other campuses. PPS also proposes consolidating or relocating some dual-language immersion programs, while saying none would be eliminated. Both scenarios 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 attending through the lottery could remain through fifth grade. The district 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 and could be considered for another use through a separate process. A third option would defer changes and keep the current school configuration. PPS says enrollment has fallen while the number of schools has remained relatively stable, leaving some campuses significantly underenrolled and others large. Superintendent Armstrong said the district must consider both communities’ connections to individual schools and the needs of the district as a whole. The Portland Association of Teachers opposes the closure approach and is urging PPS to consider other ways to address enrollment and financial pressures. In a petition to Armstrong and the board, the union proposed redrawing boundaries to better distribute students, reducing central-office staffing and directing more money to positions serving students. The union says 79 central-office administrators have been added since 2019. It also called for selling or repurposing the Portland Education Center, reviewing vacant district properties for sale or lease, and moving some district employees into underused school buildings. Other proposals include investing in kindergarten, supporting housing projects and promoting public schools to prospective families to help increase enrollment. PAT warned that closures could lead to staff layoffs, larger classes and fewer student resources, and said the effects could fall disproportionately on marginalized communities. The board will make the final decision, and PPS says the proposals may change as it considers public feedback.