1. Why are you opposing the 2025 PPS Bond?

The bond is a blank check to overbuild high schools for thousands of students who won't exist while leaving elementary and middle schools to rot. PPS is planning to build for 17,000 high schoolers, but projections show only 11,000 will be enrolled within a decade—and that number keeps falling. Instead of fixing leaking roofs, broken HVAC, and overcrowded cafeterias in K-8 schools, PPS wants to sink $1.1 billion into three high schools that won't even be full.

2. Is PPS enrollment really declining that much?

Yes, and faster than they admit. Portland has declining birth rates, fewer families moving in, and rising housing costs pushing families out. In just the past few years, district-wide enrollment has dropped by thousands, and high schools are not immune. Jefferson High School, one of the schools to be rebuilt, currently serves fewer than 400 students—yet PPS wants to build a facility for nearly 1,700. That's over four times its actual enrollment.

3. What about other schools? Aren't they getting fixed, too?

No. This bond is exclusively focused on high schools. In contrast, elementary and middle schools—where most PPS students actually attend—are left out. That means no meaningful repairs for leaking ceilings, broken bathrooms, or unsafe playgrounds in the schools where younger children spend most of their day. After spending this money, PPS will have no bond capacity for a decade or more—meaning K-8 schools will keep deteriorating.

4. Didn't voters already pay for this in past bonds?

Yes. Since 2012, PPS has received billions from past bonds and still hasn't fixed basic infrastructure in many schools. While past funds went to essential projects, PPS has repeatedly failed to manage costs, exceeded budget, and delayed completions, leaving taxpayers on the hook. Benson and Lincoln High Schools ran tens of millions over budget.

5. What should PPS be doing instead of this bond?

✅ Adopt an Emergency “Plan B”

✅ Freeze all major high school rebuilds until accurate enrollment forecasts and capacity studies are public and reviewed—we should only build for the students we actually have, not fantasy projections.

✅ Immediately prioritize basic repairs and health/safety improvements in elementary and middle schools, especially Title I schools and those serving BIPOC and low-income communities.

✅ Develop and publish a real plan for adjusting to declining enrollment—including consolidating under-used schools, mothballing excess capacity, and shifting funds to critical needs.

✅ Publicly release a district-wide facilities master plan that aligns buildings with current and future enrollment—before asking for more money.

✅ Commit to regular public updates on project budgets, timelines, and enrollment data so taxpayers know where every dollar goes.

✅ Stop issuing blank check bonds—any future bond should list specific projects, costs, and contingencies.

6. Are you against school construction and modernization?

Absolutely not. I support modern, safe, and fully equipped schools—when needed, designed for the real number of students and adequately prioritized. But building half-empty palaces while kids in other neighborhoods go to schools with broken plumbing and no heat is unacceptable. PPS should focus on equity and need, not vanity projects.

7. Isn't there an urgent need to invest in schools now?

Yes, but that means fixing what we have first, not overbuilding for a shrinking student population. Elementary and middle schools need urgent repairs now—from heating systems to roof leaks—and those issues shouldn't wait while PPS spends over a billion dollars on high schools.

8. What will happen if the bond fails?

If the bond fails, PPS will finally have the complicated conversation it has been avoiding—how to live within real enrollment numbers and prioritize repairs across the system. A failed bond would force real accountability, better planning, and a shift in focus to neglected elementary and middle schools.