Portland Adventist Academy (PAA) is a
private high school located in
Portland, Oregon,
United States operated by the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
It is a part of the
Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system. The school was founded in 1910, and was previously known as Portland Union Academy, serving grades K-12. The name changed when the elementary section became its own school, Portland Adventist Elementary School in 1975. During the process, the high school section was renamed Portland Adventist Academy.
The main building on campus was built in 1963.
History
Legal proceedings over sports
In 1996, Portland Adventist's boys basketball team qualified for the state tournament operated by the
Oregon School Activities Association
The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) is a non-profit, board-governed organization that regulates high school athletics and competitive activities via athletic conferences in the U.S. state of Oregon, providing equitable competition am ...
(OSAA). The school requested the OSAA allow the team to avoid playing a game during the
Sabbath for their beliefs which runs from sundown on Friday until sundown of Saturday. The OSAA granted the request for scheduling Friday games of the tournament, but informed Portland Adventist that they could not change the schedule for Saturday games and the school would need to forfeit a Saturday game if needed. Portland Adventist won their Friday game and was able to play on Saturday after sundown and won the state championship for the 2a division. The OSAA then received complaints from other schools and refused to accommodate Portland Adventist in later tournaments.
[''Montgomery v. Board of Education'']
188 Ore. App. 63, 71 P.3d 94 (2003) Oregon Judicial Department.
In 2000, Portland Adventist students and parents, represented by volunteer lawyers from the Oregon affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a discrimination complaint against the OSAA with the
Oregon State Board of Education.
[ ] Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction
The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, was a constitutional officeOR Const. art. VIII. within the executive branch of the Oregon state government from 1872 to 2012, when it was elim ...
Stan Bunn
Stan Bunn (born June 25, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer in the U.S. state of Oregon. Born and raised in Yamhill County, he is part of a political family that includes his brother Jim Bunn who served in Congress. A self-described mod ...
denied the appeal for the State Board of Education in February 2002.[ The students and parents then asked for judicial review of the State Board of Education's decision that the OSAA did not unlawfully discriminate against Portland Adventist's religious beliefs.]Oregon Court of Appeals
The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...
ruled in favor of the students and sent the case back to the State Board to reconsider the students' request.Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.[Multnomah County
Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Tho ...]
circuit court judge granted the motion,[ and the Oregon Supreme Court denied the OSAA's appeal from the temporary relief on February 15, 2008.][
A decision by the Supreme Court in the principal case was announced on May 8, 2008, in which the court affirmed the Court of Appeals. It held that the OSAA had violated the statute that barred religious discrimination in school activities, and it sent the case back to the State Board of Education to review the OSAA's decision using the correct legal guidelines.]Virginia Linder
Virginia Lynn Linder (born 1953) is an American judge from Oregon who served as the 99th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from January 2007 until January 2016. She served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1997 until her election to the state' ...
.[
]
Reconstruction
An expansion of the school's campus starting in 2007 was influenced by the extension of TriMet's MAX Light Rail to Clackamas Town Center
Clackamas Town Center is a shopping mall established in 1981Sorenson, Donald J. (March 7, 1981). "Clackamas Town Center opens its doors". ''The Oregonian'', p. A19. in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, located on unincorporated land in the ...
. A new station near the entrance of the school
See also
* List of Seventh-day Adventist secondary schools
* Seventh-day Adventist education
References
External links
Nakashima Case Timeline
from the American Civil Liberties Union
*https://web.archive.org/web/20091207072413/http://paajourneytoexcellence.org/project.php
{{Authority control
Private high schools in Oregon
High schools in Portland, Oregon
American Civil Liberties Union litigation
Adventist secondary schools in the United States
Educational institutions established in 1910
1910 establishments in Oregon