Parents and residents urge board to abandon small-school closures as task force begins

Dozens of speakers at the Oct. 7 West Linn–Wilsonville School District board meeting urged the board to avoid closing small neighborhood primary schools and to slow the task-force process. "You have the numbers. You have the community's opinion," said Jerry Ross, a Bolton parent, arguing that decisions framed around cost create an "illusion of choice." The public comment period filled much of the evening, with parents describing the schools as anchors for walkability and community ties.

Several commenters asked the board to use alternatives to closures: boundary changes to boost enrollment, targeted fundraising, rental or shared-use strategies, and mediation to ensure unbiased task-force work. "Keeping these schools open doesn't mean that we're protecting our kids from change…it's the easiest win," said Taylor Van Hylke, a Bolton parent and former teacher. Board members had earlier described the small schools task force and scheduled community listening sessions starting Oct. 22; speakers asked staff and board members to incorporate the community's concerns and the latest demographic data into deliberations.

The board convened a small-schools task force after the long-range planning committee recommended further study; the district contracted Flow Analytics for enrollment forecasts and has made the consultant-led public engagement part of the task force scope. Residents called for transparency on data, clear explanations of cost assumptions (operating and renovation costs), and slower timing before any closure decisions. The district's staff said the task force will examine grade-level and school-level enrollment figures and that community input is critical to the process.