Beaverton School District mulls new high school siting in proposed UGB expansion area

Continued population growth in our area has caused all but one of the high schools in the Beaverton School District (BSD) to be over capacity. While the district has recognized the need to locate a new high school in the “North of 26” area at some point in the future, it is currently concentrating on finding a site in the southwest quadrant of the district.

A statement from the district says, “The Beaverton School District has been seeking a high school site since a Capital Construction Bond Measure passed in November 2006. Typical high school sites require about 40 acres to accommodate the school building, sports fields and parking.  The 2006 bond provided $11 million for a land purchase, but not the funds for construction. A future bond measure will be needed to finance the construction of the new high school.

"The most pressing need for the District is in the southwest," says Ron Porterfield, Deputy Superintendent for Operations and Support Services. "Generally, we look for a geographical spread when siting a high school. Regardless of where the future school is sited, there will be boundary changes to equalize student population in each high school." That will probably affect boundaries even as far north as Sunset and Westview.

“The District continues to grow at a steady pace each year, adding over 500 students each year across the system of 51 schools,” the statement concludes.

Regional government agency Metro has begun the process of studying some small additions to the Urban Growth Boundary this year, now that the Urban/Rural Reserves Process is (more or less, see UGB article) complete.

The school district has been unsuccessful in locating property suitable in meeting the requirements of a comprehensive high school within the city limits. In a joint meeting of the Beaverton City Council and the School District Board on May 10, Porterfield urged Metro to bring Area 6B (Cooper Mountain) into the UGB so that a new high school could be located there. Beaverton supports this and has already begun preliminary planning for the area, which will help meet the city’s need for an additional 3300 housing units for future growth for the next 20 years.

Some have proposed attempting to include a high school site near the North Bethany area of the county. Whether a suitable parcel of land can be found has not yet been determined.

NEWS HOME