PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Public Schools hasn't quite finalized a new location for Harriet Tubman Middle School, but the district has narrowed the search down to a single area of focus: the former Humboldt Elementary School campus near Jefferson High School, about two miles north of the school's current site.
The Humboldt building is currently home to the KairosPDX charter school under a long-term lease, and the district is eyeing a scenario that would see the two schools share the site in separate new buildings.
The move is happening because of the Oregon Department of Transportation's Rose Quarter project, which calls for widening the stretch of Interstate 5 that passes under Broadway and Weidler Streets and putting a lid over the portion of the freeway around the overpasses.
The current Harriet Tubman Middle School campus backs up against the eastern freeway embankment near the Rose Quarter, and the project has drawn public protest due to concerns about air quality for students. Portland Public Schools eventually announced plans to move the school to a new site, with the state pledging to cover the cost.
District Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and KairosPDX board chair Tiffani Penson announced a partnership between the district and the nonprofit in a letter sent to parents Wednesday. The district scouted several other possible Tubman sites, they said, but none of them worked out.
In the latest version of a relocation study report dated Feb. 1, PPS said ODOT's current plan sets up an August 2026 deadline to vacate the current Tubman building. Building a new middle school takes at least four years, the district said, so the district plans to use a temporary Tubman location for at least one year.
The study focuses on the Humboldt campus and an undeveloped southern portion of the Jefferson High School campus across the street from Humboldt. It outlines two scenarios, both of which would replace the Humboldt building and likely move Kairos to a temporary site during construction.
Scenario 1: A new 3-story building on the Humboldt campus for Tubman and a new two-story building on the Jefferson campus field for Kairos. Each school would have its own parking lot, bus drop-off lane and outdoor play areas.
Scenario 2: Two new buildings on the Humboldt campus; a four-story for Tubman and a two-story for Kairos, with a shared parking lot and bus drop-off lane and a smaller outdoor play area for each school. The Jefferson portion would become a shared multi-purpose field with additional event parking.
Scenario 1 carries a cost estimate of $193-236 million and would see the new Tubman open in 2028 and the new Kairos open in 2029. Scenario 2 carries a cost estimate of $190-232 million and would see both new buildings open in 2028.
Both scenarios "far exceed" the state's pledged total of $120 million in funding, the report notes, due in large part to the inclusion of about 50,000 square feet of additional new construction for the second building.
