Portland Public Schools Confronts Future Of Kairos Charter School

PORTLAND, OR – The chant of "black students matter" echoed through the chambers as the school board of Portland Public Schools met on Tuesday evening. It was on tee-shirts, placards, and coming from the mouths of people.

At issue is the future of the KairosPDX charter school in North Portland.

The school, whose enrollment of about 165 students is predominantly black, has an uncertain future. It currently is located in the district's Humboldt building and is there without a lease.

The current lease expired. The district wants to give the school a new one year lease with a substantial rent increase while the school would like a five-year extension at current levels.

The district, which normally does not rent to charter schools, had made an exception for KairosPDX because of its emphasis on helping students of color.

New PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero says that that the mission is something it is important for the district to support given its history.

"In Portland, like in so many urban school districts across the country, we have failed to effectively serve Black students," Guerrero says. "This is unacceptable to me.

"Families and community members are right to raise attention to this serious and urgent matter."

Guerrero says that the district "will work actively towards resolving the facility question, and are confident we can come to an acceptable agreement."

File photo via PPS.