The ripple effects of this supposedly small change would be felt far and wide – and not just by families with children in the district.

• Lake Grove is a thriving neighborhood school. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Lake Grove has experienced an increase in enrollment with a 25% growth rate over the past four years. 
• New School Boundaries mean uncertainty for all. Closing Lake Grove would result in new neighborhood school boundaries that would affect ALL LOHS Feeder Schools (Forest Hills + Oak Creek) plus Lakeridge High School’s feeder school River Grove (sending some families to Lakeridge vs LOHS as planned) and would result in an educational “dead zone” in the thriving Lake Grove neighborhood. 
• Uplands is not a suitable school for walking and alternative “safe” modes of transportation. Lake Grove not only has the highest growth rate in the district but it is also the most safely walkable school for residents in Lake Grove and surrounding neighborhoods within the current school boundary. Ensuring “Safe Routes to School” is a priority of the Lake Oswego School District (as published in the Long Range Facility Plan 2020). Uplands has a walkability score of 22, compared to Lake Grove’s 70 according to the EPA. 
• Beloved teachers would lose their jobs. Closing Lake Grove Elementary would not guarantee current teachers and staff members could keep their jobs, as a redrawing of school boundaries and distribution of our current student population to Uplands would result in fewer classes (it’s a smaller facility) and thus a need for fewer teachers. Uplands also does not have as much space as Lake Grove for special education resources.  
• Loss of crucial field space. There is already a shortage of athletic field space for Lake Oswego student athletes. Lake Grove Elementary fields are frequently utilized by Lake Oswego Soccer Club teams and Lake Oswego Girls Softball for practices and games. Losing field space will mean later practice times for ALL Lake Oswego families and more travel time to practices and games. 
• A decline in engaged families. Frustrated families who have been highly engaged in LOSD schools as volunteers, donors and taxpayers will move to private schools or leave LOSD all together for other districts that value students over profit. 
• A decline in Lake Grove property values. Property owners in Lake Grove will be negatively impacted as not having a local, neighborhood school will make their property less desirable by young families looking to relocate to Lake Grove to attend a highly rated neighborhood public school. 
• A move to Uplands would disadvantage Lake Grove students currently benefiting from special education. The Lake Grove student population has 1 in 5 students with an IEP, which is double what the other schools in the district have. Closing Lake Grove will negatively impact this group of students by moving them to an inferior school with less classroom space and lower quality facilities and disrupting their learning environment. These students have greater needs for support and accommodations. 
• Uplands is an inferior facility to Lake Grove Elementary. LOSD decided to close Uplands in 2012 after a thorough and careful vetting process. Not only is it a smaller building than Lake Grove (fewer classrooms, less available space to house crucial student services such as special ed, STEM and social/emotional learning services) it is UNSAFE from a walkability perspective (no safe routes to school) and has been found to have lead in the water and other hazardous materials. According to the EPA: “Old buildings contain hazardous materials that create increased risk for occupants.  They also make buildings more costly and complicated to repair.  Because of the amount of asbestos in the Uplands building during its last renovation, the state DEQ and federal EPA law required extensive safety measures for workers including hazmat suits, in order to remain safe encountering and abating asbestos during the remodel.”
• Replacing Lake Grove with a Community Center and Library will increase traffic in the neighborhood. Increased traffic to a Library is eight times higher than traffic to an elementary school. 
• Voters in Lake Oswego would need to vote YES on BOTH an LOSD School Bond AND a City Bond. The City’s plan to use Lake Grove land to build a library and community center would require both an LOSD bond and City bond. The last two citywide bond votes for a library and rec center did not pass. If the LOSD School Board votes to close a thriving elementary school without strong data showing public support for a library and community center replacement, it would be a mistake that cannot be undone. There is no data proving LO citizens would prefer a library to keeping Lake Grove Elementary an operational school. 
• Lake Grove is growing and attracting a diverse population. The City is planning several low-income housing projects within Lake Grove boundary. Where will these students go to school? They will have to spend hours on the bus to Oak Creek, River Grove or Uplands as opposed to walking or biking (safely) to their closest neighborhood school.