Hillsboro students stage walkout after district announces 'horrible' cut to theater program at Century High School

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Students in Hillsboro staged a walkout after the district announced cutting theater from next year's curriculum at Century High School.

"The theater program is their career course. It's what they want to do in their life, and they're just ending it. It's horrible," said Century High School Senior Kenneth Polin.

The Hillsboro School District is facing a $20 million budget shortfall going into next year. A statement posted on the district's website says they are projecting cutting nearly 150 positions.

It said the reason for pulling the theater classes is that there are not enough students enrolled in theater.

"The reason is because not enough students forecasted for those electives. Even if all students who forecasted for Theater Foundations, Theater 2, Theater 3, Theater 4, Technical Theater 1, and Technical Theater 2 were combined, there would barely be enough students to justify one class — and having that many classes and levels in one class period would be impractical. Any elective, Career Pathway, or CTE course could be paused if numbers were that low, regardless of the budget situation," said Hillsboro School District.

"It is what shapes people into being adults in their future lives. And it having less funding is directly against the shaping of the growing generation," said Polin. 

KOIN 6 News spoke with students who said their siblings and friends are very passionate about theater and they are upset with this announcement.

"Being able to act out and like perform for other people, that's, I can't even imagine losing that," said Central High School Sophomore Ollie Rodman. 

"It's so easy to feel isolated amongst your peers, even when you're sitting right next to them in their joking, you can feel alone. And if your program really helps students feel together and getting rid of it is stupid, it is beyond incompetent," said Polin. 

In addition to budget cuts, the district is projecting 100 fewer student next year at Century High School, meaning that school is laying off eight licensed positions and "not just their theater teacher," the district said.

"The teachers are really nice here and miss the theater teacher. She's amazing. I love her so much," Rodman said. 

"Principal Kasper is committed to continuing an after-school theater program at Century High School, which engages students who would have otherwise participated in the elective courses as well as any student interested in theater," the district said.