Save Lake Grove Elementary Frequently Asked Questions

The Lake Oswego School District’s (LOSD) Long Range Facilities Planning (LRFP) committee met over the last year to develop a recommendation on what capital improvements to include in the May 2025 bond. Some of the case studies involve closing Lake Grove Elementary (LGE) and reopening Uplands Elementary, currently used as LOSD’s “swing school” site. The City of Lake Oswego contacted LOSD about using the Lake Grove site to meet both of their needs (solve some LOSD challenges and get the City space for a library/community center). City leaders have referred to this as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to build a community center and library on the “unicorn” Lake Grove lot that also houses the LOSD Facilities Building, as well as a trio of sports fields – including the only dedicated softball field for T-ball through AA in LO. The City and LOSD are separate entities and LOSD will make the choice about how to use LGE’s site – whether to rebuild Lake Grove Elementary on site or repurpose the site for a land lease.

The School Board is conducting feasibility studies over the summer to determine what to put on the site. Lake Grove Elementary should remain in place. Any option to remove the school and repurpose the site should be squashed. LOSD stated that if LGE is closed and the site is repurposed for private development, they will NOT know who/what entity will lease the land before the May 2025 bond vote.

The School Board has requested feasibility studies to be completed over the summer. They plan to poll the community to help determine what capital improvements to include in the May 2025 bond. A Bond Development Committee will be created in September/October this year to craft the bond.

A decision by the LOSD School Board could mean the demolition of Lake Grove Elementary as early as four years from now, after the planned rebuild of Lake Oswego Junior High. LOSD has stated they will NOT know who will lease the land at the time of the May 2025 bond vote.

The City’s public library is located in the First Addition neighborhood. The City would like to tear that down and rebuild a new library at the Lake Grove Elementary school site, in addition to a new community center. The Adult Community Center, which is a few hundred yards down the street from the library, has lots of unused community space, is open for limited hours, was just renovated. Additionally, the LORAC is still under construction and will have community spaces available. Perhaps the City could utilize those for a teen lounge or other community spaces?

The City has outlined that our library needs repairs and some City Councilors believe it is best to tear down the library and rebuild it elsewhere. For more information about the City’s proposal for the library, visit here. And check out what our friends at the First Addition & Forest Hills Neighborhood Association have to say on the matter here.

This is a roughly 10-acre lot. With creative planning, LGE could be rebuilt and some LOSD needs could be met on the site. The LRFP Committee reviewed several case studies that included a rebuilt Lake Grove Elementary, the Community Transition Project (moving from LOHS to the LGE site), and 2-3 acres for something additional. LOSD seems to be giving the City first right of refusal to the Lake Grove Elementary site instead of prioritizing kids’ needs. The City continues to dodge questions about how much space they would need for a library, saying they will not invest in any planning until they have confirmed they are getting the land. The bond is capped at $185 million and with strategic planning LOSD could meet the majority of their needs while rebuilding Lake Grove.

LOSD has concerns about their budget and maintains that they must look at all revenue opportunities, and they believe Lake Grove’s site could be a revenue opportunity. They are conducting feasibility studies this summer to determine if a land lease is viable on Lake Grove’s site. Land leases are less common, and it could be challenging to find a developer to partner with. LOSD has stated they will NOT know who they are leasing the land to at the time of the May 2025 bond vote.

On multiple occasions in presentations to LOSD Committee members and attendees of City meetings and among the community, City officials have indicated they desire the entire lot and have not made any remarks indicating they are open to sharing the lot with LGE. 

LOSD LRFP committee members have also made many public-facing statements indicating the benefits of leasing the land for development. Many of the players involved in decision-making for the fate of the school, including those in City government positions, maintain business interests that would benefit from further expansion of commercial property and a larger business district. These potential conflicts of interest should be laid bare and talked about openly, so the community is aware of the broader context and forces involved in the decision to close or share a lot with Lake Grove Elementary.

Schools should not be pitted against one another. We are one school district and should work together. The bond is capped at $185 million and there is ample space and money to get the majority of the needed work done. We believe all existing schools should remain at their sites. The District can go out for more bonds for future projects.

We believe that the next bond measure will not gain the needed support from voters and taxpayers given historically, these bond measures are used to improve schools and facilities that directly impact our children’s successful education. We believe are enhancements to our schools are critical to the successful education of LOSD students.

This is correct. The voters of Lake Oswego have not passed the last two City bond measures (most recently in 2012) that would have funded the construction of a new public library. We believe this signals a new library is not a top priority of the citizens of Lake Oswego and the majority of voters will be in favor of keeping a thriving neighborhood school open versus shutting it down and displacing families to an inferior location at Uplands. 

In The 2023 ETC community survey shows 78% satisfaction rate with the existing library. It was ranked #4 out of 6 in a multiple-choice question on the largest priorities residents would choose to spend tax dollars on. (Sidewalks and Pathways were #1 rank with 75% of residents listing it as their priority choice for tax dollar spending). 

Yes, the LRFP committee is recommending tearing down Lake Grove Elementary and possibly re-opening Uplands as the District’s seventh elementary school. This would mean redrawing school boundaries for Oak Creek, Forest Hills and Lake Grove and potentially River Grove in order to balance enrollment. The District has been dismissive about this as they review boundaries every 5 years, but this isn’t a small boundary change, this one is enormous and unprecedented in the District’s history. The School Board has stated that they cannot project about how many families would be impacted by boundary changes if this plan moves forward.

LOSD made the decision to close Uplands Elementary in 2012. The school has been used in various ways since then, mostly as the District’s “swing site” where students go when their school is being rebuilt. It was most recently used for students from River Grove Elementary, while their school is rebuilt, and will be used for the next two years by students at Lake Oswego Middle School while their new school is under construction. The District is arguing that Uplands is newer as it has received updates. Newer is not new.

This Long Range Facilities Planning Committee shared preliminary cost estimates for updating Uplands to be an Administrative Building, costing $4 million. The estimate for building a new Administrative Building (potentially on Lake Grove’s site) is $32 million. The estimate for updating Uplands to current educational specifications if it is used as the District’s seventh elementary school is $12.5 million.

LOSD families and students are not in support of a move to Uplands for several reasons, the most compelling are: 

• Closing one neighborhood school and opening another means redrawing school boundary lines that affect ALL Northside schools (Forest Hills, Oak Creek, Lake Grove, Uplands) and may include Rivergrove
• Uplands is a smaller facility than Lake Grove, which means fewer classrooms and less room for critical student services such as Special Education, STEM, Music, PE, Social Emotional Learning and Library  
• If LOSD decides to utilize the portable classrooms currently being used by LOJ students, they cannot ensure the safety of elementary students (these portables are not secure) 
• Uplands is known to contain hazardous materials: the School District should have a goal to be sending LESS kids to old buildings with lead paint, lead water and asbestos, not moving more kids to old buildings. 
• Uplands is not located in the Lake Grove neighborhood
• Lake Grove is categorized by the EPA as a “smart site” to place a school according to walkability, transportation, accessibility and sustainability to the surrounding area by the EPA.  It scored the “smartest site” to place a school by the EPA in Lake Oswego. 
• Lake Grove meets the Oregon School Siting Guidelines
• Uplands is categorized by the EPA as the least smart site within the “smart site” in LO
• Uplands is a 250 foot elevation gain from Lake Grove Village 
• Uplands classrooms are rated less seismically safe than new LO school buildings and have more risk of injury during a large earthquake than a new school. With a rebuild of LG to same safety measures as Rivergrove and LOJ, the entire building could function as a shelter after a major earthquake. 
• The School Board and District want people to believe that Uplands is better as it has had improvements over the years. They are missing the mark – an updated school is not the same as a brand-new school. Should they re-open Uplands, they have no plans to rebuild it.

The Lake Grove Village Center Plan, adopted into the LO City Comprehensive Plan, includes our neighborhood school as central to the long-term vision for Lake Grove, in addition to the prospect the library center. Not in place of.  LGE is referenced 14 times in the City document and has been the hub and anchor of the community since 1924. The 2023 ETC community survey shows 78% satisfaction rate with the existing library. It was ranked #4 out of 6 in a multiple choice question on what residents want to prioritize tax dollars on.

While there were no “formal” plans to rebuild LGE, many voters who voted YES on the last bond measure feel there were plenty of “unofficial” promises made regarding the future of LGE. If you review the LRFP Committee’s 2020 10-year plan, the Educational Adequacy Assessment data certainly points to a strong argument that LGE should be high on the LOSD priority list for a rebuild. 

Our publicly-elected LOSD School Board members will take a vote on the future of our beloved, thriving community school. We urge you to take the time to convince them the future children of Lake Grove deserve the right to be educated in their neighborhood school, which has the second highest population of all the district’s elementary schools and is projected to have the highest enrollment in the district by 2030. We are NOT a declining school – we are a thriving school that is frequently rated one of the top-performing public elementary schools in the state. 

The most important thing you can do in the coming weeks is indicate support for Lake Grove if polled – including your willingness (or not) to vote for a bond that includes the closure of Lake Grove Elementary.

And as always, it’s also incredibly valuable to submit testimony (written or in-person) to the School Board. More information on the How to Submit Testimony page. The District held a Listening Session on 5/22, heard testimony at the 5/20 and 6/3 Board Meeting, and a Town Hall on 6/8, and are eager to hear from new voices and points of view that can shape their decision. The last opportunity for testimony before the Board deliberates and decides on a course of action will be at the 6/17 Board Meeting, at 6pm at the District Office.

You can also Sign the Petition and share it far and wide on social media!

Finally, you can add your voice to the many others in the community! Show up to meetings, submit testimony, and rally support by wearing a T-shirt or displaying a yard sign. Visit the Take Action page for details on events to atttend and ways to pitch in, and follow our social media accounts for up-to-the-minute updates on developments.

Thank you for showing up for our community!

 

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