Two weeks ago, Portland Public Schools put a list on the table: 14 schools that could close, including Maplewood, Buckman, Irvington, Sabin, James John, and Peninsula. Parents packed the board meeting so tightly they were pushing through the doors. Behind the list is a district that has lost 6,000 students since 2019, expects to lose another 6,000 by 2032, and faces a $65 million budget hole in the upcoming budget conversation.
My guest has to vote on all of it. Rashelle Chase-Miller grew up in PPS, sends her two sons there, and serves as vice chair of the school board, representing North Portland. Two of the schools on the list are in her own zone. When she ran, she was adamant she would never support closures. “I was a better school board member before I was a school board member,” she told me. A year on the board changed her mind, and she explains why.
We start with where she comes from. Her mother was among the first students to desegregate Boston’s public schools. Rashelle was an early childhood educator and is now a program director at SMART Reading.
Then we get into the plan itself. Rashelle walks through the three scenarios: A closes 14 schools, B closes 11, and C keeps things as they are. The surprise for a lot of people: this isn’t about saving money. Oregon funds schools per student, so a half-empty school gets half the funding but still needs a principal, a custodian, and a front office. Fuller schools can actually mean smaller class sizes, because there are more sections to split kids into. Her strongest argument is the equity math. Today 24% of PPS’s historically underserved students attend fully resourced schools. Under Scenario A, that would rise to 80% within five years.
We also cover the chaos at the last board meeting and why it scared her, the superintendent salary controversy (Rashelle argues Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong is underpaid, not overpaid), the $65 million in cuts ahead, and what could happen to closed buildings, from social housing modeled on Austin to senior housing and nonprofit leases. (Mike pitched 14 more McMenamins. The idea did not catch on.)
Her ask for listeners: write to the board, be specific, bring solutions, and be kind. Form letters don’t move her. Thoughtful ones do. And call your legislators. Lifting Oregon’s special education funding cap, which reimburses districts for only 11% of students when most serve around 18%, is low-hanging fruit for the coming session.
Also this week: Trash news correspondent Elinor Jones on Kelly Clarkson’s $15,000 animatronic bird standoff, Jane Fonda’s donation to the Kotek campaign, and Johnny 5 returning home to Astoria. Follow Elinor at the Portland Mercury Trash Report.
Key dates: The superintendent’s final recommendation comes November 17, and the board votes in December. Go to a meeting, send testimony, or contact your board member.
This season of SchmidtShow PDX is supported by Corbett Hill Wellness. Thank you for making this show possible. Please support the sponsors that support this show!
