Portland Public Schools’ Rightsizing plans would turn seven K-8 schools into K-5s and send their 6th through 8th graders to middle schools. PPS says stand-alone middle schools are more cost-effective and more equitable, but the numbers say otherwise.
I’m a parent of a Laurelhurst student, and this website is my1 attempt to make sense of the data. I can’t speak for other schools’ families, so I use my own school as the worked example. I went through PPS’s own budgets and reports, state test data, census data, newspaper archives, and more to check the case for change.
The answer is clear: Tell the PPS Board to vote NO on Rightsizing. Demand a better plan with clear implementation details.
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Which K-8s does PPS keep?
6 of 7K-8s PPS wants to convert would start out below their own enrollment threshold recommendations for a K-5. The four they keep are already below.
See the plan → -
Do K-8 middle grades really cost more?
$7,226per middle schooler in teacher cost at Sunnyside, by PPS’s own math. That’s below PPS’s $8,750 K-8 average. The extra cost sits in a few small programs.
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Does converting a K-8 add new costs?
$38K–$77Ka year in new bus routes to take Laurelhurst’s middle schoolers to Mt Tabor, after Oregon pays its share. PPS has no general bus routes to Laurelhurst today.
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How do K-8 middle graders do on state tests?
78%of Laurelhurst and Beverly Cleary 6th–8th graders met the state reading standard in 2024-25, tied for the highest of any PPS neighborhood school. All of PPS: 56%.
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What does research say about K-8 schools?
127% largermath losses for students who were already behind. In a peer-reviewed Harvard study, moving to middle school in 6th grade cost them more than twice as much as their classmates.
See the research → -
What happened to the K-8s PPS already converted?
5 of 14K-8s that PPS has converted to K-5s since 2016 are on its closure list in both plans.
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Can Laurelhurst fill its middle grades?
16%more school-age kids lived in Laurelhurst in 2020 than in 2000, rising from 795 to 922, even as the neighborhood’s older population grew.
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Do neighborhood families choose Laurelhurst?
85%of PPS students living in Laurelhurst’s area attend Laurelhurst, 14th of 74 PPS schools. The district average is 70%.
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Does moving Laurelhurst’s middle grades fix the problem?
~350students would be left at Laurelhurst as a K–5, below PPS’s own 360-student threshold. The plan moves a shortfall instead of fixing it.
See the map →
What a strong K-8 gives its students
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Programs
What do Laurelhurst’s middle schoolers get?
15 electivesplus Spanish, Algebra 1–2, and math and literacy support, in PPS’s own example of a large K-8.
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In their own words
What does Laurelhurst mean to its students?
Laurelhurst students and families on what their school means to them.
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Add your name
Ask the PPS Board to keep strong neighborhood K-8s
Add your name, and find out how to speak to the Board before it votes.
Coming soon
1 This site does not represent the views or recommendations of the Laurelhurst PTA or any school’s PTA. ↑