Portland schools outline seismic prioritization and a July report on recommended projects

Portland Public Schools staff told the School Facilities Improvement Oversight Committee that structural deficiency data for every school has been collected and a prioritization algorithm will produce recommended seismic upgrades, with the first prioritized report expected in July.

Stormy Shanks, senior director for the Office of School Modernization, said the district’s structural engineer completed a detailed deficiency and cost database in 2024. That database lists seismic deficiencies and estimated costs for every school building but did not include prioritization; OSM is now combining structural risk scores with school-use importance and other local factors to create a ranked list of projects.

Why it matters: the board passed Resolutions 7109 and 7110 on May 6 to prioritize 2025 bond funds for seismic upgrades and to require tracking, reporting and public engagement on seismic findings. Prioritization will determine which schools receive work first and how the 2025 bond’s seismic allocation is spent.

Planned approach and timeline - Step 1 (complete): structural engineer’s deficiency and cost inventory for all schools (completed in 2024). The report is technical and lengthy, staff said. - Step 2 (in progress): apply a prioritization algorithm that combines structural risk scores, the importance of affected spaces (for example, assembly areas), Title I/Title III status and a search for low-cost/high-safety-return items. Staff expect the prioritization report in July. - Step 3 (forthcoming): OSM will take the prioritized results and apply district-level lenses — including facility condition, enrollment and other optimization work — to form recommended projects for board consideration and public engagement.

Seismic execution and oversight OSM told the committee it will adopt standard bond program operating procedures for execution once projects are selected and will report progress through the SFIOC, quarterly Bond Accountability Committee reports and a public 2025 Bond Seismic Improvements website. Staff said they will establish key performance indicators to track execution and include the seismic work in the annual bond performance audit.

Other details and dependencies - Marysville seismic retrofit is an example of a project delayed by permitting and additional design work required by the city; staff said the Marysville retrofit will span three summers and is expected to be complete in summer 2026. - The district received a state seismic (SRGP) grant to support Marysville; staff described the grant as a funding partner but did not provide the grant dollar amount during the discussion. - The CMGC (construction manager/general contractor) procurement for Jefferson High School is under way; Stormy said an RFP is out and proposals are due in early July. Because the Jefferson procurement is a CMGC process, proposers submit fee proposals (a percentage of future GMP) during procurement rather than fixed GMP bids.

Ending: Staff said they will present the prioritized seismic deficiency report in July and follow with execution planning; board and committee members asked for ongoing public engagement and clear execution timelines once project recommendations are defined.