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Portland Public Schools is re-evaluating three high school reconstruction projects after receiving cost estimates that soared to more than $450 million each.

鈥淭o be really, really blunt about it, if these high schools cost $425 (million) to $450 million, they won鈥檛 be the most expensive high schools built in Oregon 鈥� they may be the most expensive high schools ever built in the United States,鈥� said Andrew Scott, a school board member. 鈥淭hat is not an award that we want to win.鈥�

Scott鈥檚 comments came during a Dec. 2 meeting of the school board鈥檚 Facilities Improvement Oversight Committee.

In an email to parents, the district stated that cost estimates to rebuild Cleveland, Jefferson and Ida B. Wells-Barnett high schools exceeded $450 million each 鈥� more than $1.3 billion in total. PPS Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong has directed the project managers for each project to evaluate costs with an eye toward finding savings.

鈥淧PS leadership believes that the costs for the three new high schools should be scrutinized and made more manageable,鈥� the district stated in the Dec. 6 email. 鈥淚n order to achieve this goal, each school鈥檚 design team is pausing current work on the projects and will focus on preparing options for design, schedule and budget, which the superintendent and Board of Education will review at a future board meeting.鈥�

The cost re-evaluations are part of the district’s effort to define the size and scope of a potential May 2025 bond measure that’s projected to total $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion. In 2020, voters approved a $1.2 billion bond measure that included construction funding for Jefferson High School and planning and design for Cleveland and Ida B. Wells high schools, but not construction funding for the latter two.

The upcoming bond measure could also cover cost increases for the Jefferson rebuild; crews are scheduled to break ground on that project in summer 2025. Like many project owners, PPS has seen sharp increases in construction costs in recent years.

A district spokesman declined to comment on the cost re-evaluations.

Scott said efforts to reduce high school costs could leave more money to tackle other school projects.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to reduce the modernization budget,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f, at the end of this process, there is just no way to reduce those high schools鈥� (costs), there is enough funding there to build them. But I hope there is (additional savings), because to the extent there is, it frees up money and, potentially, significant amounts of money, for other facility problems in the district, including our middle schools and our elementary schools.鈥�

The district has canceled upcoming design workshops for the projects. One for Cleveland High School had been scheduled for Dec. 14.

Bora Architecture & Interiors is designing Ida B. Wells-Barnett, while Bora and LEVER Architecture are engaged on the Jefferson project.

Mahlum鈥檚 Portland office and Studio Petretti Architecture are designing the Cleveland project. Mahlum previously designed the Grant High School renovation and expansion, which was completed in July 2019 for $158 million.

Mahlum declined to comment and referred questions to the school district. Bora did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The proposed 2025 bond would maintain the existing tax rate. Funds would also be used to pay for deferred maintenance, heating and cooling systems, technology improvements, curriculum support and more, according to discussions during the Dec. 2 meeting.

An article in Friday鈥檚 paper incorrectly described Portland Public Schools鈥� funding for high school 聽replacement and renovation projects. A 2020 bond included construction funding for Jefferson High School and planning and design for Cleveland and Ida B. Wells high schools. It did not include construction funding for Cleveland and Wells. Construction funding to rebuild Cleveland and Wells is under discussion to be included in a potential May 2025 bond measure.