LLEWELLYN ELEMENTARY COOLS DOWN: The Portland School Board approved a major remodel to Llewellyn Elementary School’s schoolyard on Oct. 28, authorizing a project that will overhaul much of the school’s blacktop. Like many buildings in Portland Public Schools’ aging portfolio, the Southeast Portland school doesn’t have air conditioning and heats up rapidly on warmer days, resulting in some school closures. The mass of blacktop around the school reflects heat into classrooms, says principal Diana Collins. And the school’s proximity to the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge means that its status as an urban heat island directly affects the larger ecosystem. In recent years, Llewellyn parent and horticulturalist Kristin Pool Cohen says runoff from the blacktop has fed algae blooms in the refuge. A

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