David Douglas School District

David Douglas School District No. 40 is a school district in eastern Portland, Oregon, United States. Its administrative offices are at 11300 NE Halsey St. Portland, OR 97220.

The district was formed in 1959 as a consolidation of the Gilbert, Powellhurst, and Russellville elementary school districts and the David Douglas Union High School District. As of 2012, it operates nine elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school with an alternative school campus. It serves more than 10,330 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The district and High School are named after famed Scottish botanist David Douglas, for whom the Douglas Fir tree is named after as well.

In 1964 the school district had no significant tax base. Each year it relied on a voter-approved levy so the district could have funds to cover its operational expenses.

In 1984 the American Civil Liberties Union sued the school district regarding its plans to include prayers in the May 23, 1984, graduation ceremony. The students had created a compromise, but the school board rejected the compromise. During that year Robert P. Jones, the Multnomah County circuit judge, ruled that the David Douglas School District would not be able to include prayers in its high school graduation ceremony, because doing so would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Jones had orally stated so before the ceremony was held, but his written judgment came over one month after the ceremony. The Oregon Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the trial court should have dismissed the lawsuit because, after the ceremony ended, there was no immediate controversy and no party had sought action on future school ceremonies that may involve praying.

In 1990 Oregon state voters passed Measure 5, which was an initiative to reduce property taxes. 1993 the Oregon Legislature cut millions of dollars in education funding. To compensate, the district passed a $19.8 million bond, with 5,658 voters in favor and 3,798 voters opposed. The bond called for renovating a middle school, adding fifteen classrooms to elementary and middle schools, and add multipurpose rooms and new gymnasiums to elementary schools.

...
Wikipedia