Parents, teachers and community advocates pressed the Portland SD 1J Facilities Improvement Oversight Committee on earthquake safety on Oct. 8, urging the district to prioritize the highest‑risk school buildings and to ensure the bond dollars go to seismic work rather than other factors.

Antonia Lawler, a parent, told the committee, “I can't be expected to knowingly put my kids in harm's way,” calling out Beverly Cleary School as having “the worst seismic rating” and saying it “should be one of the two schools addressed over the summer.” Teacher and parent Megan Gaiero said the district has 49 structures rated 9 or higher for seismic risk and warned that $100,000,000 set aside for seismic upgrades would cover only the 12 most dangerous buildings, leaving dozens of high‑risk buildings unrepaired.

John Dwyer, representing advocacy group Safe Structures PPS, criticized a draft prioritization framework in the meeting materials. “The formula allocates only 35% weight to actual seismic risk as determined by structural engineers,” he said, and he cited a board resolution the public referenced as directing that funds be used first “to mitigate the seismic deficiencies at the 8 to 10 schools assessed to pose the greatest risk of injury or death in a significant seismic event.”

On the district side, Robert Joel, senior project manager in the Office of School Modernization, described staff work on a prioritization framework and a “hybrid” approach the board discussed in September — a mix of whole‑building retrofits and targeted, high‑risk “parts” work. Joel said the district has an RFP out for design services for a single site and plans another RFP to assemble teams to design parts‑work projects. He said staff hopes to submit a site selection for an Oregon seismic rehabilitation grant (SRGP) to OregonBiz by the Jan. 23 deadline and to pursue additional grants in subsequent years.

Joel and others said targeting parts of buildings where risk is concentrated could let the district reduce overall district risk more quickly than pursuing whole‑building retrofits alone. He noted the SRGP program can provide up to $2.5 million per eligible building but requires a full‑building seismic retrofit for the awarded structure.

Committee members and staff stressed that a final prioritized list will be returned to the board. Robert Joel said the district aims to have recommendations ready “towards the end of the month” to inform grant applications and early procurement, and that some roofing and reroof projects have been widened to include seismic work at Chavez, Marshall and Woodmere to capture “low‑hanging fruit.”