North Clackamas School District plans to talk about which elementary school it

in private work sessions.

The School Board will lay out its plan for the Superintendent's School Consolidation and Boundaries Advisory Committee at its Sept. 12 meeting. That committee will help choose which elementary school to close and how to distribute the students to other schools.

Normally, committees that make policy recommendations are held to Oregon public meetings law, which would allow the community to observe. However the school district says the committee does not have to meet the Oregon public meetings law because it's not advising a governing body, it is instead advising the superintendent.

Meetings of the school closure committee:

Sept. 24

- Compile information about what is special about each school

Oct. 8

- Discuss data and discuss school closure pros and cons

Oct. 22

- Finalize school closure pros and cons and begin to formulate an advisory report

Oct. 29

- Finalize the report

Dec. 17

- Talk about redrawing the school boundaries

Jan. 7

- Discuss initial proposals for boundaries

Jan. 14

- Begin developing a boundaries proposal

Jan. 28

- Finalize the boundary proposal

Meetings will be 6 p.m. in the Administrative Building and are closed to the public.

The superintendent is expected to bring the committee's recommendation to the school board.

In its notes, the School Board wrote it's best to keep the meetings private "to protect our volunteer parents from not having the pressure and stress if an audience observing their conversations."

If the School Board passes its schedule for the committee, parents and community members will have one input session before the committee issues its recommendation to the superintendent. That open meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17. The superintendent will give a presentation on the final school closure decision on Thursday, Nov. 14. The school will be one of the five elementary schools that feed into Rex Putnam High School.

The committee will be composed of two parents from each at-risk school, two parents from outside the Rex Putnam area, three building administrators from outside the Rex Putnam area, two district-level administrators and two School Board members. It will have three ad hoc members from the technology and transportation departments.

On Sept. 12 the School Board also plans to vote on whether to pay $5,600 to a facilitator for the committee.

The committee's first meeting will likely be 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 at the district's administrative building.

Last year North Clackamas School Board

, but was met with

. It temporarily

and decided to form this committee. To meet its budgetary needs, the board

. Closing an elementary school is expected to save the district $450,000 in ongoing expenses.

–Heather Steeves