The Future of McKay
We will do our best to keep this section updated with what we know about the building of the new Raleigh Hills and the plans for McKay Elementary. We want to keep YOU - families who care about McKay, it's students and staff - informed and engaged throughout the process.
A brief background:
McKay families got word in May 2024 that the district was considering closing several nearby community schools to help populate the new Raleigh Hills Elementary. Families, staff, and students from affected schools quickly came together and expressed their displeasure with the district's hasty plans. In response to the public outcry, the school district has "paused" the discussion about the potential closure of McKay and other community schools until the fall.
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Superintendent Balderas says he wants to have a meaningful discussion this fall with the school board, families, staff and the community.
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Current plans have Raleigh Hills being built with a capacity of 750+ students. This is 5 classes per grade. This number was chose by the district in 2013 to guide new school builds.
Updates from the August 13, 2024 school board work session:​
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Groundbreaking at the Raleigh Hills will begin late August.
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They are moving forward with the planned exterior walls but will be looking at options for how the interior of the building will be used. These discussion sound like they will happen in the fall/early winter. They did not propose any numbers for capacity or make any references to size of the school.
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The district has contracted with an architecture firm to help conduct their community outreach on the long-range facility plan. They envision this being a 1.5-2 year process that will look at data, boundaries, schools' capacity, building size and condition, and community input.
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They did NOT say what the end goal of the outreach is.
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They said this is not a process limited to McKay and other schools originally slated for closure, this would be a district wide effort.
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The district rep said: "We want to take a step back and restart the engagement process."​
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Upcoming dates:
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Virtual Superintendent Coffee Chat
Sept 17, 2024. 12 pm - 1 pm
This Zoom link will be live 15 minutes before the coffee chat starts
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School Board Business Meeting
Sept 17, 2024. 7 pm
District Administration Office - 1260 NW Waterhouse, Beaverton
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