University student James Riggs has closely followed the proposed fate of Harris Elementary School in south Eugene. And he’s not the only one – as Eugene School District 4J’s restructuring plan has evolved in recent weeks, a number of University students with children there have watched the school go from a recommended closure to staying open as of Monday night.
“It’s been really emotional,” said Riggs, who has two of his four children currently enrolled at Harris with one to follow next year. “It’s been hard – emotionally hard, and draining.”
Riggs, 35, lives in Spencer View Apartments with hundreds of other University students, many of whom have children in a similar situation, he said. Riggs and other Harris parents had strongly opposed the school’s recommended closure when it was first announced last month as part of Superintendent George Russell’s original “Shaping 4J’s Future” plan.
Under the original plan, Harris was one of three small elementary schools Russell recommended closing. Consistently declining enrollments and changing demographics have forced the district to restructure its schools in recent years, said district spokeswoman Barb Bellamy. Eugene School District 4J has already closed five elementary schools since 2001, she said, and its total enrollment has gone from a peak of near 22,000 students in the 1980s to about 17,000 now.
Much of the decline in students has resulted from Eugene’s aging demographics and changing housing market, Bellamy said.

“As the price of housing in Eugene has gone up, we’ve actually seen people who have gone to areas that fall outside our school district,” she said, adding those include both Springfield and the Bethel area in west Eugene.
Russell’s first recommendation called for the closure of Harris, Coburg and Meadowlark elementary schools, which caused a strong public outcry. But according to the revised plan released Monday, the latest recommendation would keep all three open, and Harris would merge its 178 students with nearby Eastside Alternative School and remain in the same building.
“Actually, that’s what us parents at Harris have been calling for,” Riggs said. “We’re all for it.”
Bellamy said the district has received a large amount of input from community members during the past month, which contributed to the revised plan. School board members received dozens of e-mails, and parents packed into board meetings to discuss the plan, she said.
“It’s clear that people are very attached to their school, and they’re very involved and supportive of their school,” Bellamy said.
For Riggs, a single parent, the revised plan provided a sigh of relief, he said. Closing the school would have forced him to find other options for his two children who attend Harris, which offers an after-school daycare for students.
Other challenges Riggs may have faced included finding daycare for his youngest son, who will enter all-day kindergarten at Harris next year. He said other nearby schools don’t offer the same program, and finding an alternative would put an extra financial burden on him.
Moreover, the school provides a positive environment for his family that would have been lost had his children moved, he said.
“It’s like a big family there,” Riggs said. “Everybody knows everybody there – we know the janitor over there. Everybody really supports each other.”
Riggs said the Harris staff also helped his family deal with his ex-wife unexpectedly leaving him and his children three years ago.
“Through all that, my kids going through all that, Harris has been there,” he said. “That school’s been great.”
The merger of Harris and Eastside Alternative would begin next school year. After a one-year “test,” the two schools would then decide on a consolidation plan by February 2009, according to the recommendation.
Though the most recent district plan would keep the school open, none of the options will be finalized until the March 19 school board meeting, Bellamy said.
“That’s one thing we emphasize to people: Everything is not cast in stone,” she said. “We encourage people to speak out.”
The next opportunity for public discussion will come tonight at the regular school board meeting. Bellamy said she expects just as much discussion at tonight’s meeting as at previous meetings.
“Every time something changes, we expect to hear comments about it,” she said.
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