For months, officials at the biggest school system in Oregon have been hinting that they will need to make huge budget cuts for the 2025–2026 academic year.
Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong released the first comprehensive analysis of the potential effects of $41.3 million in cuts on students, staff, and school communities on Wednesday. The cuts include the elimination of 228 positions throughout the district.
To put things in perspective, the district employs about 8,700 people and is using a general fund budget of $853 million this year. The planned reductions would amount to around 4.8% of the district’s current operating budget and 2.6% of its personnel.
A budget proposal is always subject to change. In the upcoming months, figures and effects will probably change as community members argue for the preservation of jobs and services and the Legislature considers how much it can afford to spend on public education for the upcoming fiscal biennium, which starts in July. Additionally, union leaders will need to be consulted on any modifications that affect the parameters decided upon during labor discussions.
During a press conference held at the district’s North Portland offices on Wednesday, Armstrong outlined the proposed cuts, which include $29.1 million from school budgets and $12.2 million from the district’s central office budget.
Retirements and other types of attrition naturally reduce the number of employees each year, but that does not necessarily translate into mass layoffs. Early estimates indicate that the district won’t have to lay off employees as a result of the reductions, Armstrong stated on Wednesday.
However, it does imply that by next autumn, there may be more than 200 fewer individuals working in the district’s schools, and that other people may have their building assignments or work hours changed.
Cost-cutting strategies Armstrong stated that she is weighing the following:
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Reducing four professional development days for teachers. That would save $2.2 million, the district says, by cutting back on offering the same training opportunities on multiple days.
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Cutting the budget for contracted services by $3.4 million.
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Eliminating or leaving open six senior leadership positions, for a total of $1.5 million in savings.
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Eliminating 18 kindergarten educational assistant positions at Title I elementary schools for class sizes of 19 students and below. Title I schools receive extra federal funding to serve their relatively high concentration of low income families. That would save an estimated $1.2 million.
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Slightly increasing the class sizes across the district s high school to save $2.8 million by paying for 20 fewer teachers.
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Eliminating 15 positions due to enrollment declines, including both licensed educators and support staff, across elementary and middle schools, for a savings of $2.2 million.
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Reducing contracts with community organizations that focus on racial equity and social justice by 5%, for a savings of $400,000. Alarger proposed cut
to the same line item drew loud pushback in 2024, prompting school board members to make an 11th hour decision to restore all the funding in question.
Armstrong’s suggested cuts would primarily target academic intervention specialists who work with struggling students one-on-one or in small groups, social/emotional specialists, and instructional coaches who collaborate with other teachers to help them create curricula and teach effectively.
After the epidemic, Portland and other districts greatly expanded their employment in this occupational category. The planned cuts would affect roughly 40% of those posts, according to Chief Academic Officer Kristina Howard on Wednesday. This means that certain schools may be able to retain those positions while others may have to switch to part-time.
69 fewer teachers would be employed in schools next year as a result of the planned reductions, which would slash $10.4 million from that three-pronged group of educators who deal with pupils at multiple grade levels inside a school.
According to district budget officials, the changes are being made because of the impact of inflation on labor costs, the Public Employees Retirement System’s growing expenditures, the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds, and a persistent enrollment loss that has exceeded the state’s decline in student enrollment. Chief Accountability and Equity Officer Renard Adams stated on Wednesday that the district as a whole is expected to have 900 fewer pupils in the 2025–2026 academic year.
The district’s enrollment is expected to continue to decline through 2040, from 43,375 students this year to 36,083 in the 2039–2040 school year, according to updated enrollment forecasts from Portland State University’s Population Research Center. This decline is expected to be driven by lower birth rates, high housing costs, and a modest increase in other educational options.
Armstrong stated on Wednesday that although fewer students are enrolled, the needs of those who are still there are critical and call for resources and care.
Until school board members decide on the final package in June, budget talks will go on for the next five months. Armstrong stated on Wednesday that she was making the list of possible cuts available at a relatively early stage of the process in order to promote state-level advocacy and community input.
Julia Silverman writes for The Oregonian/OregonLive on education. You can contact her at [email protected].
NOTE: An incorrect statement regarding the impact of removing four days of professional development time on teacher salary was corrected in this item at 1 p.m. on January 22.
