The Tigard-Tualatin School District will close one of its 11 elementary schools by fall 2028, a move that could redraw attendance boundaries for nearly every elementary campus in the district.
Superintendent Iton Udosenata said the district has identified the school but will not name it publicly until a board meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, according to The Oregonian, which first reported the story.
Affected staff, students and families will be notified directly before that meeting.
The district has not said which building is targeted. But two Bull Mountain-area schools stand out: Mary Woodward and Alberta Rider elementaries each enroll only about 300 students, The Oregonian reported.
The two sit within a few miles of each other on the district's west side, between Oregon 99 and Southwest Scholls Ferry Road.
Declining enrollment, driven primarily by lower birth rates, is forcing the decision.
"A decline in enrollment has really forced this closure decision," Udosenata said, according to KXL. He noted the district was planning to add schools as recently as two years ago.
The closure adds Tigard-Tualatin to a growing list of Oregon districts consolidating campuses.
Portland, Beaverton, Salem-Keizer, Newberg, Corvallis and Bethel have already closed schools or are weighing plans to do so, The Oregonian reported.
The timing is complicated by the district's newest campus. Art Rutkin Elementary opened in fall 2023 with capacity for more than 600 students, funded by a voter-approved bond.
But forecasted population growth in the River Terrace and Kingston Terrace areas never fully materialized, district spokesperson Jordan Mills told The Oregonian.
Art Rutkin now enrolls fewer than 400 students, according to Oregon Department of Education data.
Beyond the closure, the district plans to redraw elementary attendance boundaries district-wide and make what Mills described as "minor adjustments" to a middle school feeder pattern.
School Board Chair David Jaimes said in a statement that underutilized buildings create challenges for staff and limit resources for students, according to KGW.
Parents have already pushed back on other proposed changes, KOIN reported, including a plan to expand two-way immersion programs school-wide at certain campuses. That plan would require student transfers at Metzger Elementary in Tigard. No on-the-record parent reaction to the closure itself has been reported.
The district said it will outline community support resources after the Nov. 9 board meeting.
