FILE: A student takes notes during class at Grant High School in Portland in October 2023. Portland Public Schools is poised to cut $30 million in next year’s budget .
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Several districts across Oregon and Southwest Washington are dealing with substantial budget problems as they head into the upcoming spring budget season.
Inadequate funding from the state, the end of federal COVID relief dollars, rising costs and heightened student needs are among the struggles districts are facing. And all of this is happening in a year that’s been filled with added obstacles, from teacher strikes to severe storms.
But the combination of these factors is especially troubling. It’s leading to tens of millions of dollars in cuts and overwhelming uncertainty among educators and families for next year.
Oregon’s largest districts will feel significant losses, with Portland Public Schools poised to cut $30 million in next year’s budget and Salem-Keizer Public Schools needing to cut $60 million.
But these financial troubles aren’t just impacting large or urban districts.
Bethel School District in Eugene, for example, which enrolls about 5,000 students, decided this week to close an entire school — Clear Lake Elementary — in 2025 to help alleviate their budget woes. Over the past 10 years, the district has reportedly shrunk by about 700 students, more than half of them since the 2019-20 school year when the pandemic began.
School districts are largely funded on a per-student basis, so fewer students means less state funding. Bethel officials, like administrators from other districts, said declining enrollment, inflation and a lack of state funding in particular have led to these cuts.
While most funding for Oregon schools comes from state coffers, school districts can ask local voters to chip in. Some districts are pursuing local tax option levies on upcoming ballots, including Bend La-Pine in Central Oregon.
FILE: Kellogg Middle School in southeast Portland pictured in September 2021. Inadequate funding from the state, the end of federal COVID relief dollars, rising costs and heightened student needs are among the struggles districts across the state are facing.
Elizabeth Miller / OPB
The Bend-La Pine School Board voted unanimously last month to place a five-year levy on the ballot this May. Officials said it would provide an estimated $21 million in new revenue for the 2024-25 school year and help fill a state funding gap that limits student programs and services.
And though Oregon and Washington structure their school funding differently, neighboring districts just across state lines are facing the same issues, too.
Evergreen Public Schools will need to cut between $16 million and $20 million to achieve a balanced budget next year. District educators recently issued a petition after learning that 140 positions would be cut under Evergreen’s initial proposals. Vancouver Public School has voted to cut $35 million from its budget, slashing more than 260 positions in its wake.
Some district cuts throughout the region will trim non-employee expenses, such as supplies, technology or professional development. But others will have a direct effect on staff jobs, meaning fewer people in classrooms and school buildings with kids.
Emielle Nischik, acting executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, said schools are facing a financial precipice. At a time when Oregon is enjoying record revenue, she said, “investment in schools has failed to keep pace with inflationary demands and growing student needs.”
“More than a half-million Oregon students are counting on us to provide the academic and emotional supports they need to continue recovering from the pandemic,” Nischik said. “We are still playing catch-up, and now is not the time to cut evidence-based programs targeting specific student needs. Instead, we need to invest in the future.”
Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education, said the state’s approach to funding public K-12 education is due for an update.
From salaries not staying competitive with the market and backlogs in facility maintenance, to classroom disruptions related to the behavioral health needs of students, Williams seconded Gov. Tina Kotek’s remarks that “we clearly have work to do.”
“We are working closely with the Governor’s office and our education partners, including districts, to connect the dots between the state’s funding for education, to how districts spend these resources, to how we know what success looks like for our students,” Williams said.
Part of that, she explained, ties in with the legislature’s work around minimum statewide educator salary schedules, reviewing the adequacy of the state’s funding formula, creating a statewide transparency dashboard, and other actions.
But “more money” isn’t the only solution. Williams said the state should be looking at both how much it invests and how investments are spent.
The School Finance Indicators Database released data in January that compares states’ investments in education. The research, studying the 2020-21 school year, shows Oregon is deemed a “high fiscal effort state.” In other words, compared to other states, Oregon devotes relatively more money to education than most out of its total economic capacity.
The database’s profile of Oregon’s school finance system focuses on three core indicators: fiscal effort, statewide adequacy and equal opportunity. It ranks Oregon 13th out of the 48 states with possible ratings.
Oregon is putting in a lot of effort and is increasing in adequacy, according to the data. However, the biggest concern is funding for districts with a high percentage of students experiencing poverty.
“We share your concerns and know that it is unsettling to hear about the challenges our schools are facing,” Williams said as a message to concerned staff and families. “Your voices and concerns are important, heard and valued.”
Looking ahead to local decisions this spring, community members in most districts will have a chance to provide public testimony or otherwise get involved in the budget process between now and the end of May.