Portland Public Schools Chief of Staff to Resign Amid Contentious Plan to Close Up to 14 Schools
Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon — Portland Public Schools saw another leadership change on November 3: the district's chief of staff, Deborah Kafoury, is leaving. Willamette Week obtained her resignation letter through a public records request: Kafoury wrote to Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong on October 27 that her last day as chief of staff will be January 4, 2027.
The district is in the middle of a contentious process: in early October it released two scenarios that would close 14 and 11 schools respectively, drawing strong pushback from parents and the community and sustained pressure on the school board and district leadership. The chief of staff is a key post for the district's daily operations and external coordination, and the departure leaves a senior vacancy at a critical stage of the closures process.
The closures debate has been running for some time and involves declining enrollment, building maintenance costs and budget gaps. The district has not announced a successor or transition arrangements, and parent groups say they will keep attending board meetings and demand that the community be fully heard before any final decision.
(Source: Willamette Week)
Source: Willamette Week
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：波特兰公立学校属下的 Benson 理工高中主入口。Steve Morgan 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Main entrance of Benson Polytechnic High School, a Portland Public Schools campus. By Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
