PORTLAND, Ore. — Students at Markham Elementary School and Robert Gray Middle School in Portland Public Schools (PPS) have not been able to return to their campuses since a January ice storm.
Now, they are running into more delays. Robert Gray students have been learning in common areas within Jackson Middle School. For months, plans have been in place to move students to portable classrooms, though the portables are not yet ready.
"It almost feels like we're asking him to go to a desk job at 12 years old," Lacey White, the parent of a Robert Gray student, said. "It's a lot of 'sit at your desk, do worksheet work, do computer work.'"
White said since learning at Jackson Middle School, her students' education has suffered. PPS has planned to add portable units to the Jackson Middle School campus, though those plans have been delayed. In a letter to families, PPS said that’s due to a miscommunication with PGE.
In the letter, Chief of Schools Jon Franco said PGE thought PPS needed an emergency repair job rather than emergency installations. Due to that, the job would take several more weeks. However, PPS told families that they are looking toward adding generators to move students to portables more quickly.
It is also not yet known if Robert Gray students will take standardized tests this school year, a PPS spokesperson said.
"I think it's important to see where our kids are, from a learning perspective, at the end of this year," White said.
No one from PPS was available for an interview Friday, though in a Friday letter to Markham families, PPS said they are working hard to get students back in their building.
Markham families recently learned that students won’t be able to return to their building at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. Instead, they will be housed in a wing of Jackson Middle School. Robert Gray is expected to reopen in time for the 2024-25 school year.
But some Markham families have instead decided to leave the district.
"It wasn't working," Rob Crow, a parent of a former Markham student, said. "We didn't feel like she was learning and doing as well."
Parents also expressed frustration, saying students didn’t get the education they expected this school year. In November, a teacher strike wiped out much of the month of learning. Missed school days were made up, but large amounts of students were absent on some make-up days.
Markham and Robert Gray students also missed large amounts of class time in January due to the ice storm.
"We pay a lot in taxes as Portland residents,” Crow said. “We expect the education our kids deserve, and they weren't getting it."
"How could there not be huge learning loss after this year?" White added.