PPS superintendent backs 'Scenario C' to end Jefferson dual assignment; neighborhood parents split over equity, safety and enrollment

Superintendent Kimberly Armstrong on Monday urged the Portland Public Schools Board of Education to adopt a boundary plan known as Scenario C that would end Jefferson High School’s dual assignment and reassign feeder schools across Northeast Portland, with the first incoming ninth-graders under the new boundaries arriving in 2027 and full implementation expected by the 2030–31 school year.

Armstrong told the board and more than two hours of public commenters that Scenario C was chosen because it “balances proximity, enrollment feasibility, and long‑range planning,” and that the district’s bond modernization program will return Jefferson to a “vibrant neighborhood school.” Assistant Superintendent Margaret Calvert presented the analysis behind that recommendation, including engagement outreach, transit-proximity mapping (concentric one-mile and 1.5-mile radii), and enrollment projections intended to bring each Northeast Portland comprehensive high school closer to a district target of about 1,100 students needed to sustain broad electives and extracurricular programming.

Why it matters: The…