PPS board approves $16 million building purchase for Black Student Excellence Center

PPS board approves million building purchase for Black Student Excellence Center

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – After a five-year delay, the Center for Black Student Excellence finally has a home.

The Portland Public Schools board unanimously approved spending $16 million to purchase a building for the long-promised center on Tuesday.

The “One North Property” sits in the historic Albina neighborhood, once known as the center point of Portland’s Black community, and could open after two to three years of renovations.

Once it does, it will be a hub for after-school tutoring, community gatherings, enrichment programs, and more.

Board chair Edward Wang addressed the purchase in a statement saying, “This is part of correcting decades of harm. PPS has a long history of not honoring or uplifting black children and families, especially in Albina.”

JT Flowers, a rising voice and advocate for the Portland Black community, says he is happy with the board’s move and believes the center is long overdue.

“When folks say they don’t understand why black children may need a resource center, we say you probably have no clue what it’s like to grow up without resources,” said Flowers.

He is a Portland Public Schools graduate and said this center can help close some gaps, so every student has a chance to thrive.

“For many children in our communities, they can’t just walk out of their doors, cross the street, open up the door to a building, and be met with everything they need to succeed in life, so we have to intentionally go out of our ways to not just dream up but to resource, centers, spaces, and toolkits, that can equip our children with the skills they need to chase after their dreams,” said Flowers.

Flowers said the center’s five-year delay was frustrating for this community, one that is often overlooked, but the board’s move will restore some hope.

“What this does is it gives Black children an opportunity to return home and reclaim home. In a full-throated and holistic way, in a way that centers them, their existence, their futures, in the most intentional and deliberate of manners,” said Flowers.

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