Survey says Laurelhurst School parents want to remain in Grant High School cluster

1. Laurelhurst Parents are FUMING at PPS Dealing Off Laurelhurst
Many families likely to leave PPS as a fall-out. “If it happens, we will be done with
PPS.”
April 23, 2010: An online survey was conducted by and for parents of current Laurelhurst
students about the possibility that Laurelhurst will no longer be part of the Grant High School
cluster. The data and comments highlight the anger and resentment that Laurelhurst students
will once again be on the forefront of another Portland Public Schools (PPS) experiments to the
detriment of the students. An overwhelming majority are concerned about the vitality of the
neighborhood.
Highlighted parent comments solidify the strong opposition of removing the historical feeder
pattern of Laurelhurst School to Grant High School.
“I can't be any clearer: We will not let PPS experiment with our child. We will leave PPS
entirely and we will never vote for another bond measure or support public schools in
anyway. If the public schools won't support us - we won't support them”
“The people running this district are out of touch with what families in the city want and will
do anything to make the numbers play well for their next job search”
“We regard this proposed change as an outrage and consider it completely unacceptable”
“We selected Laurelhurst because of the schools. If our child does not go to Grant we will
leave PPS”
“PPS really needs to focus on doing their jobs instead of pushing the burden onto the
families of what they consider to be upper middle class to fix their problems with other high
schools.”
“Strongly OPPOSE redistricting that would change current Feeder program. I moved to
Laurelhurst in Part for Grant high school.”
“You cannot address the equity issue on the back of one particular neighborhood. It won't
work. Further, PPS has offered NO proof that their redesign plan will achieve its goals”
“We believe in the public school system but don't want our child's future to be jeopardized
by an experiment. We want to go with proven successes. My kid’s future is too important to
mess with”
“To say that I have made many major life decisions based around the education
opportunities available to my children is an understatement...I find this completely
unacceptable under any circumstance.”
“If Grant is not our high school, we will not be in the PPS system, no doubt about it.”
Question: If Grant was no longer the community high school for Laurelhurst, would you be
concerned about the vitality of the Laurelhurst neighborhood?
Summary: Almost 94% of respondents have concerns of the vitality of the Laurelhurst
neighborhood if the school were no longer part of the Grant High School cluster
Data Results
Strongly Agree: 74.7%
Somewhat Agree: 19.0%
No effect: 3.2%
Somewhat Disagree: 0.6%
Strongly Disagree 0.8%
Not Sure 1.9%

2. Question: If Grant was no longer the community high school for Laurelhurst, what is the
likelihood you would do the following
Summary:
• Close to 50% would not likely send their children to a newly assigned high school.
• Over 38% would likely move to a different cluster.
• Nearly 50% would try to get their children into a magnet school.
• Over 67% would likely send their children to private school
• 33% would likely move out of Portland or different school district
Data Results
ALL
ALL Likely Not Sure
Unlikely
Send to assigned High School 8.90% 41.0% 50.00%
Would move to a different cluster 38.20% 26.5% 35.30%
Would try to get child(ren) into a
magnet school 49.20% 29.3% 21.40%
Would send child(ren) to private
school 67.10% 19.1% 13.80%
Would move out of Portland or PPS
school district 33.50% 22.6% 43.80%
COMMENTS START ON NEXT PAGE

3. Comments: The following are the optional free-form comments that were provided by
respondents. Because of privacy concerns, not all comments are represented here. Additionally,
an added level of privacy was inserted. Any instance of the words: she, her, daughter, he, his,
son, grade level of child, specific street names, location (like moved from a state or town) and
numbers (such as have lived here for 15 years) were replaced with <removed>
The most disheartening thing about this is the timing. The same kids that lead the K-8 transition
are the same ones who will have to weather the high school changes
We chose this neighborhood for the schools and are deeply invested in the community, but will
not allow our kids to be guinea pigs in PPS's poorly designed experiment. PPS cannot reengineer
communities and bring up failing schools by redrawing boundaries. Concerned and involved
families will opt out and move to strong schools and PPS will destroy good schools and the very
livability of this city.
PPS will destroy our community and our neighborhood if it separates us from Grant - which is the
center of our community - it is where our children have played since they were born, where they
learned to swim and play tennis and soccer. I can't be any clearer: We will not let PPS experiment
with our child. We will leave PPS entirely and we will never vote for another bond measure or
support public schools in anyway. If the public schools won't support us - we won't support them.
This is incredibly unfair of the school board to do. It's very disappointing. We bought our house
here to be part of these schools and now you are changing boundaries and doing a redesign! Not
to mention our tiny school is now K-8 with no room!
Definitely changes the vitality of the neighborhood.
Portland PS will lose students.
In addition to all of the other reasons, moving children around is not environmentally sound.
Walking and biking to school makes a lot more sense than having more kids take the bus or be
driven. This also impacts after-school activities.
Actually all the "cons" are far too numerous to mention here!
Laurelhurst has always fed into Grant--without exception. We moved into this neighborhood
because Grant is a strong school and only a 1/2 mile walk from our house. If Laurelhurst were
moved to another cluster we will most likely move to Beaverton or send our children to Central
Catholic, which is within walking distance.
Moving out of district would be the most likely scenario because we have already been through a
school closure and boundary change during the K-8 reconfiguration. The people running this
district are out of touch with what families in the city want and will do anything to make the
numbers play well for their next job search.
It's hard to determine what exactly we would do since we don't know the plan. The K-8 transition
wasn't that well thought out so don't anticipate any better with the high school plan. Oddly enough,
it's the students that have been most negatively affected by the K-8 change will be the ones
negatively affected by the high school change. That doesn't seem fair.
We bought our home with the expectation that Laurelhurst School would feed into Grant High. We
regard this proposed change as an outrage and consider it completely unacceptable.

4. We live in this house because it feeds to Grant. We love this neighborhood, and are in no position
to move. While I believe that by the time my younger kids enter high school the neighborhood
school option could possibly again be an option, after dealing with the K-8 transition and its sub-par
academics, I won't let my eldest's entire future ride on PPS' social experiment.
We have already made substantial inroads to Grant as a family and if my child goes to another HS,
they will be starting from scratch.
My children can walk to Laurelhurst and Grant in less than 10 minutes - why should I have to have
them take public transportation or get in the car to drive them farther? This is an absolutely stupid
idea to remove Laurelhurst from the Grant cluster. Why reduce the size of Grant? It needs to be
larger to make sure more programs are available - not less.
We selected Laurelhurst because of the schools. If our child does not go to Grant we will leave
PPS. Undecided about specific alternatives, but most likely private school, or move out of the city.
Unlikely to subject ourselves to any more dealing with PPS.
We moved to Laurelhurst specifically for the school system, and that included Grant High School.
We will be VERY disappointed if Laurelhurst Elem. does not continue to feed into Grant. If that
happens, we will very likely pursue other options once our children reach high school age.
I went to both Laurelhurst and Grant High School myself and I will be very disappointed if this re-
design goes forward.
This will change the community dynamic for many parents and their kids. We had looked forward to
our <removed> being able to walk to Grant High and to-and-from extracurricular events. Now,
many parents will have to make arrangements for transportation to another school, miles away.
Doesn't feel terribly holistic or community-building to me.
I'm also concerned about the commute. Grant is a 10 min walk for us. If the rumors are
true…moving them to Franklin or Madison High School...they wouldn't even be able to ride their
bikes to school! PPS really needs to focus on doing their jobs instead of pushing the burden onto
the families of what they consider to be upper middle class to fix their problems with other high
schools.
I love my neighborhood, so moving isn't an option. I would not be happy to leave Grant, as that's
part of our neighborhood. We go there every summer for swim lessons, our neighbors' kids have
gone there, we can easily walk or bike there. But in the end, what is really important to me is that
ALL of the Laurelhurst kids stay together to go to one school. Fracturing off a small part of the
neighborhood would be worse than changing our community HS.
Grant High School IS working. Rather than make changes to what IS working, make changes to
what IS NOT working. Do not make changes as a decoy when we are really avoiding tackling
critical issues. Strong schools at all levels come from early childhood education, parent education,
nutrition, etc. Shuffling kids to provide a false increase in test scores and appease uneducated
voters is not doing right by our children.

5. Please don't move us again, first Rose City closed, now we are at Laurelhurst with the K-8 not even
completed, and our kids probably going to a different school while it is upgraded in the future, then
changing HS on us. It is too much. Neighborhood schools are the answer.
I struggle to think of anything more ridiculous by the Portland Public School Board and Carole
Smith than to reverse segregate our children into other schools. We will absolutely send our
children and our money to a private school if this plan goes into effect.
We moved to Portland last summer. After much research and consideration, we chose the
Laurelhurst/Grant school district and are extremely disappointed that there is now a possibility that
Grant will not be in existence as it is today by the time our children are going into high school.
Do not change Grant as the high school for Laurelhurst!!!!
After so much work to get to the Portland neighborhood where our <removed> could walk to a
school that met our needs, this change would be devastating. Our kids at Laurelhurst already had
fewer options and we were patient as the district struggled to meet the needs of the first 6,7, and 8
grade
One of the very appealing aspects of Laurelhurst is that it is a feeder elementary school to Grant
H.S. The inherent value of a feeder school is that it is part of the larger Grant neighborhood; and
thus my children will be in attendance with familiar children, with whom they have grown up. This
makes the transition to high school a much more positive experience for our children. And to that
end, our children will be better able to focus on their learning and participating in achieving an
education.
If Laurelhurst is to change clusters, then my children will not have the confidence of the familiar
relationships and support. Instead they will be adjusting to the vastly unfamiliar student body,
causing undue stress, forcing them to focus most of their attention on socialization and not on
academic achievement.
The other concern is the lack of confidence that the high school we may be redistricted to, will
greatly lack the quality academic content that Grant has. Isn't this one of the core concerns anyway
- the academic inequality in the schools? If this is an issue now, how is redistricting going to
correct this issue.
I truly believe that to raise enrollment with in PPS, the schools with the lowest enrollment must be
supported and REDESIGNED. Boost the help for remedial readers; increase tutors; add personnel
skilled in managing students with behavioral issues in order to increase safety in the classrooms
and school campus; improve attendance office personnel and fund mental health and family
outreach again as occurred with the Safe Schools grants during the late 1990's until de-funded
during 2003.
Incroyable!
I bought my house when my <removed> was one year old in large part because of the quality of
the local public schools. If I thought my <removed> was assigned to a public high school that was
less than top notch, I would not send <removed> to that school. I would explore all the
alternatives to have <removed> get a good education/experience. I myself went to an outstanding
public high school in <removed>, so I know how good the experience can be and I would prefer
not to have to send <removed> to private school.

6. I think it is unconscionable that PPS should be looking at changing boundaries to build enrollment
at schools that cannot retain their own catchment. If they would institute an 8 period day at the
high school level, we could have more robust and enriching programs from remedial to advanced
placement courses. This would be a less invasive, less disruptive solution to the problem of
needing a "1350" enrollment to have adequate core programming. Boundary changes should only
happen after a full-on program is in place at every school ... you cannot ask a student to move
from a go-to school with a great program into a go-from school that has less on offer. They will
leave: either the neighborhood, the district, or the city.
Grant HS was one of the parameters we used to find a house- this was even before we had
children. If I find the new school unacceptable, I will not hesitate to move. And I'll make sure we
are really close to the new school so that you cannot redistrict us out again.
Being in the Grant cluster and having the high school in close proximity was a huge factor in
choosing the house that we did buy.
Strongly OPPOSE redistricting that would change current Feeder program. I moved to Laurelhurst
in Part for Grant high school.
We have been an active PPS family for ten years, volunteering in many different capacities in the
schools. We understand how fortunate we are to live in a city where public education is valued and
supported by families, if not by the government.
Our children's network of friends, who live throughout the Grant cluster, are vital to their success in
high school. Please do not hamper their ability to thrive in high school by changing the playing field
mid stream.
We more than understand that some children's school experience has been less than stellar.
<removed>. We have supported programs such as SMART and the Portland Schools Foundation.
Please do not force us to choose between PPS, which makes Portland livable for so many, and our
children's academic success.
If it happens, we will be done with PPS.
What I have loved about Laurelhurst is that I feel part of a community... I can walk around my
neighborhood and know my neighbors b/c my children are going to school with their children. This
is just as important as the education they receive. I want to see this carried out through HS... I
will be devastated if Laurelhurst is no longer a feeder school for Grant.
I have had <removed> children who have attended Grant, this is our last child and <removed> is
very excited about attending Grant. With the alternative being possibly Madison, this is not
acceptable. We will most likely look for <removed> to attend a private school.
<removed> If the majority of the Laurelhurst neighborhood is directed to a different high school it
will sever our community, our family, that we have relied on for <removed> years in assisting us in
raising our sons. We do not have any relatives living in the area and count on our friends to aide us
in guiding our children along the path to becoming upstanding men of the community.
Unfortunately, this change will tear the roots out from under our children, at a very vulnerable time
in their lives!!!

7. We moved to the neighborhood because of the schools in this area. Our next step would be to
move not only out of the district, but also out of Multnomah County altogether. Enough is enough!
We live in a close-in neighborhood and expect to be able to have a close-in high school. We do not
want to commute. Right now we live across the street from Laurelhurst Elementary --A very
conscience decision. Walking to school and living in an area with a neighborhood school, defines our
families' values. To change that lifestyle and sense of community is devastating.
On paper, changing Grant as the community school for Laurelhurst might seem like a good idea but
the intended positive results will not likely happen. Most of the families I know, as well as myself,
will send our children to private schools if they are not allow to attend Grant. When this happens,
the community will be much less likely to support taxes and other measures to help the school
district since it won't be applicable to them anymore.
That would be extremely aggravating. We would most likely move, probably out of the city, taking
our two income tax revenue to another city or district. At that point, there would really be no
reason to live where we do-a neighborhood we bought in to partly because of the local schools.
Any move to remove Laurelhurst from the high school that is less than a mile away seems
absolutely ridiculous.
We have HUGE concerns about safety of a 9th grader travelling by TriMet to a high school 3x
further away than Grant.
We stretched our personal budget to buy a home in the Laurelhurst neighborhood because of the
quality of the schools and their proximity. We currently walk to school every day and plan on
continuing this through high school. If we were forced to attend a high school that was
questionable (and they all will be in the beginning years, if not longer) in quality and a distance
away that made us have to drive, I know we would just opt to send our kids to private school. My
husband and I have pretty much decided this already. I sincerely hope we are not put in that
position. We love Grant and my kids have grown to think of it as their school over the years.
we moved to our house expressly because we can send our <removed> to laurelhurst and grant
schools which are both within walking and biking distance. I absolutely oppose a re-redistricting.
If Grant is not our high school, we will not be in the PPS system, no doubt about it.
We would be very disappointed if Grant was no longer a community high school. We would have to
reassess what is best for our sons and do not know what we would do. I think that this would be a
poor decision on the part of PPS and highly disruptive to families and children.
The idea that I could live <removed> blocks from Grant and be redistricted to a SE school is
ludicrous. It is all about numbers, and if PPS is foolish enough to not respect the existing successful
community of Laurelhurst/Grant, I believe the whole redesign will be destined to fail. Success in
schools is not about the numbers, and all I've heard from this plan is getting the comprehensive
schools to the same size, and offering the same number of AP classes. They are working on serving
up a steaming heap of mediocrity in the "same" high schools, just like they have in the K-8s. Is it
clear that I am dead-set against changing Laurelhurst as a feeder to Grant? NOTHING in this plan
addresses how to increase the graduation rates or how to assist failing students. they have not
fixed the K8 problems, and now will create new high school problems. As one board member said

8. glibly, "the high schools will be good in about 5 years." That's too late for us. Moving Laurelhurst to
another high school will not solve anything. Madison's problems will not be solved by adding 60
eighth graders from Laurelhurst.
<removed> My <removed> who is in 8th grade this year was the first of the K-8 cluster and I
would not stay in this area if Grant was to close!! PPS has yet to get the K-8 program in full swing
and to jump again off another cliff before full design of this program I would think it would be a big
fault in the Portland School District and the students who they represent. PPS stated they had to
close Rose city but yet that school is safe enough for students who are now there. PPS has lost a lot
of trust in this community
I find this appalling. Grant has one of the if not the highest in-neighborhood attendance and it
would be dismantled, students 'bussed' by parents to any one of a number of other schools. It is a
highly performing school. This would destroy a good neighborhood school, add immensely to
carbon footprint, family schedule nightmares and unnecessarily uproot students. I cannot think of
a worst anti solution. Fix the other schools, don't destroy this one and all the neighborhood issues
that go with it, not to mention the students.
While we do not live in Laurelhurst, the Laurelhurst neighborhood IS our community. Portioning off
Laurelhurst send a dagger through the middle of our community. Grant HS will not be the same,
so even though we live in the Irvington community, we will send our children to private schools for
a more stable environment instead of weathering such a staggering change.
Why change a good thing? We want the best for our children and we live in this neighborhood not
only because we love it but the schools are great. I want my child to walk or ride to school and I
don't want to have to resort to private school. We moved from a place where our children would
either be bussed to school or we needed to spent thousands on private education. Laurelhurst
families are a community and are actively involved in their children's education. Sending them to
another school would break up this community and be a bad move for all.
I moved into the Laurelhurst neighborhood specifically for the schools. I will be furious if Grant
High School is no longer the community high school for Laurelhurst!
Grant is a HUGE part of our community and one of the main reasons we chose to live here. We
believe in a community in which one can walk/bike to school (NOT BUS OR DRIVE) and it seems
completely wrong to shut down a successful community supported high school like Grant. It would
be devastating if PPS makes this tragic move.
Please do not change a high school that works. We moved into this neighborhood knowing that
Grant was the assigned high school for my children. I really hope the board knows what it's doing
and it's basing its decision on solid and logical facts. However, I do have to say that it doesn't feel
that way. Please don't mess this up!
We moved here from a city where we had to drive across town to a private school because the
neighborhood schools were so bad. We specifically chose to live in Laurelhurst so our children could
have the invaluable experience of being able to live in a city, but to be able to walk to school and
grow up and have a community through high school. Please do not cut up Laurelhurst this place is
a gem. Grant is <removed blocks from my house. This is a tragedy for the kids.
The Laurelhurst/Grant cluster fits our neighborhood perfectly. A change would negatively impact

9. the entire neighborhood, but most importantly it would have an adverse impact upon our children's
educational/social experience. Everyone has worked very hard over the years to make our
neighborhood a great place to live, and Laurelhurst/Grant excellent schools and it would be a
shame to ignore this based upon any unnecessary urge to change.
I currently have a <removed> at Grant. I moved my younger <removed> from a private school to
Laurelhurst this year for many reasons, one was that <removed> could make friends in the
neighborhood that <removed> would attend high school with. My older <removed> often walks or
rides <removed> bike to Grant. It is one mile from our house. Madison and Franklin are 2.8 miles
from our house. In order for my <removed> to take public transportation to Madison <removed>
would have to walk to the Hollywood transit center,(.7 miles 13 minutes, take Max to 82nd ave, 5
minutes and transfer to another bus to Madison approximately 30 minutes in total). It takes 15
minutes to walk at a slow pace to Grant. Not only is it out of the neighborhood, it is a commute to
get there. That is not why I live in North East Portland. I like to walk, bike and occasionally drive
short distances. I also want my child to be able to walk to friends houses.
A large part of the reason we moved here is because of the quality of the schools (as designated) -
Grant, in particular. We are now part of this community and I know the people here - none of
them will support this idea and will likely move (which is an absolute shame) because our "next
close HS" alternatives are really lame. This is a bad idea!
We moved into the Laurelhurst neighborhood nearly <removed> years ago because it was a great
neighborhood with great schools (Laurelhurst & Grant). Part of those schools being the quality that
they are is because they are in wonderful neighborhoods with great community/parent
involvement. No parents that I have either spoken with or have overheard talking, or sat in PTA
meetings with feel this is a good idea or are happy about the possibility that Grant would no longer
be the Laurelhurst High school. We love our neighborhood schools because they allow us to walk to
them, they are quality institutions and have a great neighborhood feel and support. If we loose that
we would highly consider relocating to ensure that our <removed> was in a high school that we felt
was best for <removed> and our family.
We don't feel that redrawing lines is the way to increase services at other schools. We live in
Laurelhurst because of the schools. If that changes, we may also have to make a change.
Our family just bought a house in <removed> so our children could attend Laurelhurst and Grant.
The house is OK but the main reason we moved five blocks is that Franklin would have been an
unacceptable choice for our children. We WILL NOT send our children to a lesser school just
because someone changes the rules! It is our hopes Grant is left alone!
I moved to this area <removed> because it was cheap but after having a child I decided to stay
because of Grant high; it offered socio economic diversity as well as a reasonably good program
which I wanted for my child. I wanted <removed> to be in a school with mostly college educated
parents but not ALL college educated parents like I was.
I think that closing Grant to Laurelhurst could potentially further damage the housing market in this
area as well.
I have a <removed> who is a <removed> at Grant right now and a <removed> who is a
<removed> grader at Laurelhurst. My <removed>LOVES Grant and I am hoping that
<removed>will be allowed to finish <removed> high school years there, rather than being forced
to move to a new high school in <removed>year ). And I am hoping that my <removed>will be
allowed to go to Grant <removed>
We moved into the neighborhood specifically with the school in mind. If this change were to take

10. place we would most likely move.
We moved into the Laurelhurst neighborhood specifically so our children could attend Laurelhurst
and then, Grant. Grant is within easy walking/biking distance from our home. That is not true of
any other high school. Attending a school close to home allows for easier access to school events-
something we value as a family. It would be much more difficult for our children (and us, as parent
volunteers) to be involved with the school.
Changing the Laurelhurst cluster increases our carbon footprint and decreases the neighborhood
livability. As neighborhood residents, we are strongly opposed to changing the Laurelhurst cluster,
I have been a part of pps for <removed> years, as a student and now as a parent. I have been
through many changes with pps. Will you ever get it right? I am ready to leave mult. county! You
have let me down too many times!
Both my <removed>and I were born and raised in Portland. We bought our home in Laurelhurst
"knowing" our children would go to Grant, and pleased with that fact. (We're both Grant alum).
We're very displeased with the idea of losing Grant as a neighborhood feeder school...we're in
convenient walking distance and believe in the importance of students being able to WALK (NOT
public transit or private vehicle) to school.
I believe this completely undermines Portland As A City of Neighborhoods, and I am as concerned
for a student who lives at 33rd & Killingsworth, as I am for a student at 33rd & Burnside.
I understand that resources are limited, and I surely don't have the solution, but this project strikes
me as reducing education to the least common denominator, which benefits no one.
No, I don't know what to suggest, but has anyone asked - What programs would you be willing to
give up at Grant, in order to keep Grant in operation, to keep Jeff in operation...to keep
I recognize that the citizenry is unlikely to accept such a bold redistricting endeavor, regardless;
change, large or small, is never easily accepted...but maybe in this case, many smaller
neighborhood changes should be considered first.
Our greatest concern, first and foremost, is that our children receive a quality education. We feel
this can only happen within a strong community (parents and students) and with parent
involvement and teacher support. If the entire Laurelhurst feeder area is transferred to another
high school, I am hoping that the commitment of the parents and sense of community will move
with us. I am very worried that this will not be the case.
I have lost confidence. Reform will not take place without breaking the ineffective PPS bureaucracy
currently in place. Current PPS policy and action is so confused, with planning so opaque and
secretive (open forums I have attended are one-way, with commmunity barking into the wind).
Laurelhurst is kept together from within, despite very poor PPS support. Making these changes with
challenge Laurelhurst even further.
We bought this house so that we could WALK to our local elem, middle and high schools. It would
be terrible for Portland, the planet, the neighborhood and the kids to take all these Laurelhurst kids
who can walk or bike to Grant and make them drive to another high school. Crazy!
One of the primary reasons we purchased our house and paid a premium was to be in the Grant
cluster. It not only effects my children's education, but also our property values. And to be able to
walk to school.

11. Grant cluster needs the Laurelhurst community to keep it vital. it helps to provide balance to the
groups from other feeder schools.
It's hard to have a really strong comment on this when we aren't being told what the outcome is
but I definitely don't agree with decisions being made without the Laurelhurst families' involvement
as they will be the ones who would be directly effected.
I would be absolutely furious. We live <removed> blocks from Grant H.S. and it would make NO
SENSE for our children to go to a different high school. We moved to the <removed>neighborhood
in <removed> when our house was a part of a "panhandle" of streets which was designated
Laurelhurst Elementary <removed> I feel we have been extremely cooperative and have
remained loyal to Laurelhurst even though we don't live in the neighborhood <removed>We have
<removed> children and I will think of none other than to send them to Grant when the time
comes. Doesn't every mother want their children to go to a reputable high school that is in the
heart of their community?
We firmly believe that Grant is our neighborhood school. Our two older children went to Grant and
were able to walk to school and attend all afterschool activities. As working parents, our children
that now attend Laurelhurst would have to be bussed to a different school and would not be able to
attend any activities. I will pull them out of public school and send them to Central Catholic.
My child can now walk to Grant H.S., my alma mater. I would be deeply disturbed to find that
<removed> should take public transportation or use a car for <removed> commute to school.
Really, what is PPS thinking? By the way, I am a <removed>teacher in another district.
We will definitely remove our <removed>from PPS and put <removed>into private schooling. Our
family has already discussed the possibility that this may happen and are prepared to make that
transition if necessary. I'll be extremely dissappointed if the school district decides to make this
change.
Many people made significant life choices, such as the purchase of a home, based on an
understanding of where their children would be attending school.
We moved to this neighborhood because of the proximity of Grant and Laurelhurst schools--please
don't sacrifice our neighborhood schools! I don't want my kids to have to a take a bus to a school
when there's one within walking distance.
Do not change Laurelhurst from being a feeder school to Grant!!!
We moved about <removed> months ago from the <removed> area to the laurelhurst area
because we wanted to go to Laurelhurst instead of our slated school. the reason we picked
laurelhurst was because we had heard so many great things about it, but also BECAUSE IT FED
INTO GRANT! I am sick about the potential of this changing since we went to great lengths and
finances to make sure we stayed in the grant school district - please do not make me move again. I
want to have my kids at a public school, but if this is our future, I will likely have to make a
different decision which is extremely upsetting. They are neighborhood schools for a reason - pleas
retain that.

12. In addition to strong concern over losing Grant as the designated high school (this was the reason
we moved to this neighborhood), I remain extremely concerned that my child will have
<removed>education disrupted AGAIN by being shunted to a different school midway through
<removed> high school career. <removed>has already suffered through the inept and incomplete
K-8 transition at Laurelhurst. <removed>education has suffered from unfulfilled PPS promises and
poor execution. I have no intention of subjecting <removed> to further disruption from PPS. I will
pull <removed> out of the PPS system at the slightest indication of this.
We moved into this neighborhood for the sole reason of moving my kids through the
Laurelhurst/Grant schools. Grant is less than mile from our house, Franklin and Madison are more
than 3 miles from our house. It makes no sense for us to stay in this neighborhood if Grant is not
the school.
We moved to Laurelhurst specifically for the schools the year before my oldest <removed> entered
kindergarten. For many of us, the schools are the hub of the neighborhood, the reason we're here,
and the primary motivator for community involvement, If we no longer fed into Grant, we would
probably plan to leave Laurelhurst.
I know that a magnet school might be an option, but we are committed to sustainable living, and
would be very unhappy to have to drive more to get there each day. The fact that our <removed>
can walk to school is very important to us, and again, this is the whole reason we moved to
Laurelhurst. There are many pretty parts of Portland, but they don't all have the schools we're
looking for.
Our decision to move to Laurelhurst was based largely on the quality of the schools we expected
our children to attend--Laurelhurst and Grant. We willingly chose to pay a premium price for our
house and to pay the elevated taxes that go along with it because we considered that the price of
getting the schools we want for our children. If we are redistricted out of Grant, our property values
will go down, and we would seek compensation for it. But beyond these very real financial
concerns, we chose Laurelhurst because we want to live in a neighborhood where our children can
walk to school. Laurelhurst is a livable, walkable neighborhood. If we had to drive our children to
another part of town, our quality of life, and our values, would be seriously compromised. We want
our children to go to Grant, and we want to continue living in Laurelhurst--and we won't take this
lying down.
Please reconsider this -- it would add incredible hardship to our family in many ways. Grant is a
very short drive for us, has a community we have been connected with for years and have been
planning on attending since the kids entered Laurelhurst Elementary. Please, Please, Please allow
Laurelhurst Elementary students to feed into Grant
.
I paid a premium on my modest house in order to be in the Grant cluster (of which I am a graduate
<removed>). Not only will I be concerned regarding the quality of education offered to my
children but financially I will no doubt be taking a huge hit in regard to housing price declines in the
Laurelhurst area. To say that I have made many major life decisions based around the education
opportunities available to my children is an understatement. If this rumor proves true, PPS will
have made a decision that will have a devastating impact as to my families future as well as the
viability of the Laurelhurst neighborhood in general. I find this completely unacceptable under any
circumstance.
The schools were a main deciding point in why we moved to and live in Laurelhurst. We believe in
the public school system but don't want our child's future to be jeopardized by an experiment. We
want to go with proven successes. My kids future is too important to mess with.

13. We live within walking distance of Grant. My oldest <removed> walks or bikes to school and has
for the last two years. My youngest <removed> plans to do the same. It would make zero sense to
put <removed> on a bus or on Max or in a car to go to school. Zero sense. And it's zero cents the
district would get from me and my vote in the future if they tried to screw Laurelhurst like this.
When we moved back to Portland from <removed> our first criteria in looking for a house was the
schools. After we narrowed it down to one west side and one east side high school, we started
looking at grade schools and middles. Then we discovered that the west side wouldn't work for our
family because of housing prices and concentrated our efforts finding a house within the Alameda
or Laurelhurst areas. This was a <removed>-long process from across the country. Eventually we
found a house in the Laurelhurst neighborhood with the school tragectory Laurelhurst, Fernwood,
Grant. I don't want PPS to concern themselves with property values ... that is not within their
purvue. However, we bought here because of these schools. The beautiful neighborhood, the
walkability and good, caring neighbors were a big bonus.
Then came K8 and Fernwood was no longer an option for us. And if Grant is lost to us during this
High School Redesign, we will NOT take public transport to another school. My mother went to
Grant. I went to Grant. And either my children will go to Grant, or they will go Private
I would be greatly dissatisfied and would not know what to do without Grant high school
We live in this community (NE Portland/Laurelhurst/Hollywood) because of how easy it is to
walk/bike to the schools. This is a lifestyle we have chosen and hope to pass on these values to our
children by living within a reasonable distance to their schools (and other activities). Biking to
Franklin or Madison is just not as safe and they are not within the community that we live.
You cannot address the equity issue on the back of one particular neighborhood. It won't work.
Further, PPS has offered NO proof that their redesign plan will achieve its goals. Finally, I like for
them to justify the "equity" throughout the system while allowing Lincoln High to remain virtually
unaffected. I will fight the PPS with whatever I can for as long as I can.
If I can't send my kids to the neighborhood school, I will be a lot less attached to my neighborhood.
We walk and bike to school. If I have to drive anyway, I'll be much more likely to look for a
different school, either magnet or private. I'd like to stay and support my public school, but not at
any cost.
The whole High School redesign reeks of social engineering. Something PPS has never done well.
I am not sure which book is a more appropriate example of what this whole process feels like.
Both Harrison Bergeron and Kafka's The Trial come to mind.
This whole plan feels very Kafkaesque.
We bought our home SPECIFICALLY for the Grant cluster.
We are really interested in the vitality of this neighborhood. We are so happy here and have 2 other
children who will also attend the local school. We couldn't possibly pay for all of them to attend a
private high school but that might be necessary. Seems a shame to have to close any of the
schools.

14. This is ridiculous! My kids walk to and from Laurelhurst & Grant every morning and every
afternoon. Will you be using tax dollars to bus them off to another school, or shall we each fire up
our SUVs for two round commutes each day? THINK GREEN!
Laurelhurst is one of the three elementaries that are closest to Grant. Pushing it out of Grant
catchment to make room for children who live farther away makes no sense at all
The most disheartening thing about this is the timing. The same kids that lead the K-8 transition
are the same ones who will have to weather the high school changes