Portland Public Schools

The planned reconstruction of Madison High School took a major step forward when the Portland Public Schools Board of Education approved a master plan for the project.

By a 7-0 vote at its May 22 meeting, the Board passed Resolution 5654, which approved a plan to build a modernized, 298,000-square-foot campus capable of educating 1,700 students.

“Tonight is a big milestone,” Board chair Julia Brim-Edwards said.

The rebuild will be funded by the 2017 bond measure passed by Portland voters. The bond will also fund construction of a new Kellogg Middle School and renovations of Benson and Lincoln high schools.

Construction at Madison, which will cost between $181 million to $196 million, will begin in the summer of 2019. Madison classes will move to the Marshall High School campus for two years before students and staff move back to start the 2021-22 school year.

The design will celebrate the area’s unique geography and incorporate the student body’s diverse cultures. After a study found that Madison students use the cafeteria more than at other schools, designers drew up an oversized common area that will replace the existing cafeteria and be near the front door.

Other plans include rebuilding the baseball and softball fields in a manner that will reflect equitable treatment of the two sports, with new turf that will allow more use by the district. The stadium’s grandstands will be rebuilt to seat 2,000 spectators.

The school’s auditorium, which currently seats about 1,300, will be reduced by about a third and turned into a state-of-the-art theatre. Other changes include revamped parking and car entries that will help traffic flow and reduce the daily congestion off 82^nd Avenue.

To inspect more of the plans, see the 510-page master plan report.

In other moves by the Board:

• By a 6-0 vote (member Scott Bailey was not present for the early portions of the meeting), the Board passed Resolution 5653, which establishes a nepotism policy for the district. (Read the policy.) The policy is the first installment of a larger conflict of interest policy the Board is working on.
• The Board held the first reading of a revisal of the district student wellness policy. The comprehensive policy, which covers such areas as nutrition, physical education, healthy foods and physical activity, will reflect new state mandates. The resolution to approve the changes was put into a 21-day public comment period. (See the proposed changes.)
• The Board heard an early report on plans to change the mascot and nickname for Franklin High School, which it ordered at its May 8 meeting. Staff is working with Franklin principal Juanita Valder to establish a naming committee that will include students, community members and alumni, and is working to complete an administrative directive on the process. The renaming process will begin in August, with a Board-set deadline of June 20, 2019 to finalize a new mascot.
• The Board honored the valedictorians for the 2017-18 graduating class. (See the complete list)