Portland Public Schools could close as many as 14 schools starting in fall 2027 under two plans the Oregon district released on October 5. A third option would leave every school open. The school board is expected to vote on a final plan in December.
Scenario A would close 13 elementary schools and Sellwood Middle School. Scenario B would close 11, keeping Stephenson, Rose City Park, and Lewis elementary schools open. Both plans would also redraw attendance boundaries, for 38 schools under Scenario A and 34 under Scenario B, according to the district's side-by-side comparison of the options.
The district has been shrinking. Its schools enrolled 40,589 students in 2024-25, down from 45,232 in 2017-18, a drop of 10.3%, according to allk12's analysis of federal data for the district's 81 non-charter schools.
The schools on the list
| School | Grades | Students, 2024-25 | Closes under |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beach Elementary | PK-5 | 295 | A and B |
| Buckman Elementary | K-5 | 306 | A and B |
| Creston Elementary | K-5 | 246 | A and B |
| Irvington Elementary | K-5 | 249 | A and B |
| James John Elementary | K-5 | 367 | A and B |
| Lewis Elementary | K-5 | 267 | A only |
| Maplewood Elementary | K-5 | 296 | A and B |
| Marysville Elementary | K-5 | 318 | A and B |
| Peninsula Elementary | K-5 | 235 | A and B |
| Rose City Park | K-5 | 448 | A only |
| Sabin Elementary | PK-5 | 293 | A and B |
| Sellwood Middle | 6-8 | 575 | A and B |
| Stephenson Elementary | K-5 | 285 | A only |
| Woodmere Elementary | K-5 | 241 | A and B |
Enrollment from allk12's analysis of NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Closure lists from Portland Public Schools' scenario comparison, updated October 4, 2026.
Together the 14 schools enrolled 4,421 students. Nine had fewer than 300.
The district's comparison sets a minimum size for what it calls a sustainable school: 360 students for a K-5 school, 500 for a K-8 or middle school, and 1,100 for a high school. In 2024-25, 32 of the district's 44 non-charter schools that end at fifth grade had fewer than 360 students. Three schools on the closure list were already above those marks: James John, Rose City Park, and Sellwood Middle.
If nothing changes, the district projects that about 48% of students will attend a school of sustainable size by 2031-32, because more schools will fall below "the size needed to staff a full program." That share rises to 80% under Scenario A and 73% under Scenario B. The district estimates 27% of students would change schools under Scenario A and 24% under Scenario B.
Other changes
Seven K-8 schools would become K-5 schools, sending their sixth through eighth graders to middle schools: Beverly Cleary, Laurelhurst, Sunnyside Environmental, Bridger Creative Science, César Chávez, Faubion, and Vernon. Sunnyside would lose its status as an environmental focus option school, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported. Several K-8 schools, including Astor, Skyline, and Winterhaven, are not on the list of changes.
The high school program at Metropolitan Learning Center would close, and its students would go to their neighborhood high schools. The district does not count that as a school closure. Odyssey, a focus option program, would move into the MLC building.
District officials say no dual language immersion program would be eliminated. Several would move instead. The Spanish programs at Beach, James John, and Sitton would go to César Chávez, and the Mandarin program at Clark would go to Woodstock. Under Scenario A, Rose City Park's Vietnamese program would move to Vestal. Creston's program for deaf and hard of hearing students would move to Glencoe. Buckman, an arts school, is the only focus option school that would close.
Why the district says it needs to close schools
Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong told OPB the closures are about making sure every school can offer the same standard of service, not about the budget. OPB reported the district faces a $65 million gap for next school year.
"We're closing schools because we're spreading our resources too thin," Armstrong said.
The district weighed each school's enrollment and capacity, the condition of its building, whether it meets the Americans with Disabilities Act, whether it can support child care programs, and walkability, according to OPB.
Armstrong said the district will have to wait and see whether families leave over the changes. "The question that I hold onto, though, is what happens if we do nothing?" she said. She added that the scenarios only project the district's stability through the 2031-32 school year.
The Portland Association of Teachers asked the district to slow down. "Closing, consolidating, and transforming programs at over 25 schools is a dramatic change," union president Alisha Chavez wrote. A parent group behind savepdxschools.org opposes the plan, and two petitions ask the district to redraw boundaries and cut central office staff before closing schools. Families planned a rally before the board's October 6 meeting, where district officials were set to present the scenarios.
Portland is not alone. Salem-Keizer, another of Oregon's largest districts, has announced plans to close up to eight elementary schools, and Evergreen in southwest Washington is considering closures, OPB reported. Seattle announced a plan to close four schools, then dropped it a month later. Our analysis of school closures from 2017 to 2024 tracks the trend nationally, and the Portland Public Schools district page lists every school in the district.
The district is collecting feedback on both scenarios through an online survey on its rightsizing page.
Sources
OPB: Up to 14 schools closing in Portland Public Schools 'rightsizing' scenarios
Portland Public Schools: Rightsizing Scenarios (district-wide comparison, updated October 4, 2026)
Enrollment from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2017-18 and 2024-25.
