Community raises concerns about consolidation, boundaries, fees and student seclusion during Beaverton facilities discussion

The Beaverton School District’s Aug. 12 meeting included several public comments focused on long-range facilities planning and related district policies. Speakers urged the board to prioritize neighborhood schools, update the district’s educational specifications (EdSpec), address fees affecting Title I schools and clarify practices around student isolation that parents say function as informal seclusion.

Multiple speakers opposed school consolidation or urged a deliberative, transparent process before boundary changes. Superintendent Dr. Pedro Balderas told the board staff will convene a refresh of the district’s educational specifications as part of the facilities review; he said boundary changes would take months and that he did not foresee board action before 2027. “It takes months for a district this size to look at boundary changes,” he said.

Public commenters asked for greater educational expertise on facilities planning and clearer success metrics. Stephanie Silver asked the board to “commission a working group led by education experts to update our K–5 EdSpec” and said the district’s current EdSpec is “an outlier, 20% larger than the next biggest in the region,” a condition she linked to enrollment and program viability concerns.

Erin Harper, a parent and Zone 1 representative on the long-range facilities planning committee, told the board the committee lacked clear budget constraints, enrollment projections and success metrics and warned that, without explicit guardrails, the committee’s work could “be steered” toward consolidation. “Our community deserves a process that generally explores all opportunities and possibilities,” she said.

Speakers raised specific, local logistical concerns if schools were consolidated, including longer bus rides for young children and disruption to families who choose homes in walking distance of neighborhood schools. A commenter said her grandchildren currently walk to McKay and said consolidation would create traffic and transportation burdens.

Several parents and a PTO leader also criticized new custodial and facility rental fees. Kinnaman Elementary PTO President Kayla Zareberg provided an itemized example of charges for a carnival that she said would total about $850, and said six planned events would cost the PTO $1,680 in fees, which the PTO cannot afford. She asked the district to waive fees for Title I schools.

A parent of an autistic student, Samantha Patterson, raised concerns about “color-coded regulation rooms” tied to the Zones of Regulation curriculum. Patterson said the rooms can operate as informal seclusion and — because some incidents are not labeled as “seclusion” — the district avoids parent-notification requirements she cited in the administrative rules she referenced. Patterson requested the board “close the loophole, define seclusion by the experience — a student isolated, unable to leave, and away from peers — not just by the label.” She cited a regulation in discussion (transcribed as “OAR 581-021-0568” in the meeting record).

Other commenters criticized the cost and value of recent investigations into two board members and asked the district to disclose the cost. Doug Renaud said the investigations of Dr. Tammy Carpenter and Susan Greenberg “were a waste of time, money, and energy” and asked how much the district spent.

Board members acknowledged the public comments. Director Karen Perez and others asked staff about the EdSpec alignment and age ranges in policies; staff said they would double-check alignment and return answers when the policies come back for vote. Superintendent Balderas confirmed staff will convene an EdSpec refresh as part of standard long-range facilities work.

Staff presented three policies for initial consideration—BBBA (board member qualifications), IGBHE (expanded options programs) and KK (visitors to district facilities)—and answered board questions; the policies were slated to return for vote at a later meeting.

The board heard multiple requests for clearer metrics, more educational expertise on the planning committee, and concessions on fees for Title I schools. Several speakers called for transparency around investigations and district communications about consolidation planning. Board members repeatedly said any consolidation or boundary decisions would follow a lengthy community-input process and would not be immediate.