How safe do you expect the area to be for schools in the event of an earthquake? Now we know.

As Portland Public Schools undertakes several seismic retrofit projects across its elementary, middle and K-8 schools, it promises it is dealing with schools where student safety will improve dramatically after the upgrades.

The April 29 meeting of the Citizens Bond Accountability Commission provides the clearest insight into the district’s goals for how safe these buildings will be after the completion of the multi-million dollar improvements. (The CBAC is a volunteer citizen committee created by PPS that reviews whether bond funds are going toward their intended purposes.)

After a seismic presentation revealed some of the latest updates on PPS’s seismic progress following the passage of the 2025 bond — progress that WW previously reported on — panelist Jonathan Trott asked if the district had a safety measure that it hoped would remain consistent across all completed projects. Trott asked whether the main mission was just to give students a safe path out of the buildings, or whether the district aimed to keep the retrofitted buildings safe to occupy immediately after the earthquake.

District officials and contractors responded that the minimum PPS is to move retrofitted buildings from hazard class II to hazard class III. These risk categories are based on similar classifications from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which places buildings in four categories. (The classification system is known as ASCE 7 Risk Categories.)

Under ASCE Categories 7, temporary structures may be classified in Risk Category I, while essential buildings such as hospitals fall in Category IV, the highest classification. The second risk category, where the bulk of PPS school buildings are located, is largely suitable for standard residential and office buildings. The standard for school buildings under ASCE 7 is that they must fall under Hazard Class III, which is reserved for structures that “present a significant risk to human life in the event of failure,” according to the International Building Code. Different risk classes correspond to different safety requirements.

Jennifer Eggers, a structural engineer with Holmes, told CBAC members that the overall goal of most PPS retrofits is to have clear, safe exit paths in the event of an earthquake.

“The intent is to get out safely, and we’re not necessarily going to be able to reoccupy it right away, but it’s certainly a higher standard than an office building,” she said. “It’s definitely higher, and it’s not necessarily ready to go.”

But, as it turns out, some school buildings may end up in risk category 4 depending on a range of factors. That means the buildings aren’t necessarily fully operational — think all the equipment running — but “the intent is that you can house people as emergency shelter after the event because the structure will be habitable,” Eggers said.

If the district receives grant dollars from the Oregon Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program for either of the two schools it applied for, Eggers said the program would require the buildings to be upgraded to Level IV. (The grant website indicates it may be more flexible on this requirement for schools.) Eggers also mentioned that there is a cost delta between the two higher risk categories that varies from building to building, so the district evaluates it on a case-by-case basis.

Some details of the additional cost also became clearer on April 29, although presenters confirmed it was preliminary. Officials told CBAC that an early cost estimate for retrofit work on the Beverly Cleary K-8 came in lower than they expected, at $20 million. Additionally, Eggers shared that while the district had hoped to obtain grant funding (up to $2.5 million per project) for both Beverly Cleary School and Ainsworth Elementary School, it is uncommon for districts to receive two grants in one cycle.

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