PORTLAND, Ore. — A couple of weeks ago, Portland Public Schools sent a letter to families saying that the district planned to cut $30 million from its budget. Roughly half would come from school budgets, while the other $15 million would be shed from the central office budget. The central office cuts were made in an effort to minimize budget cuts to schools, the letter said.
However, the central office staff includes some employees like speech language pathologists and behavior analysts, who work directly with students in schools and also help train staff members at schools. Three days after PPS sent the letter to parents, some of those central office staffers were notified that their positions may be cut.
"It came out of the blue," said Lisa Doane, a PPS speech pathologist. "I had no idea this was even being considered."
In any given week, Doane said she may spend hours working with high-needs students in Portland Public Schools.
"I'm more supporting students who need something extra to be able to communicate," Doane said.
Doane said she didn't think her position would be affected when she first heard about the cuts.
"So, I think it's a little bit misleading to suggest that only half the cuts are coming from schools," Doane said.
"We are all student-facing positions," said Mike Carlip, a behavior analyst in PPS. "We go to schools; we spend our time in schools. We might have desks here, but it's so that we could type up our reports and our plans to help service our students."
A PPS spokesperson said the 2024-25 school year budget is still being crafted. No changes to positions are set in stone. They said the district's agreement with the unions means it is contractually obligated to tell employees months in advance if their jobs may change or be cut.
PPS administrators have warned for months that budget cuts would have to happen after the district agreed to a new contract with its teachers in November. The deal ended a nearly month-long strike.
Staff who may be impacted say they also worry that high-needs students will be disproportionately affected by potential budget cuts.
"These are going to tie directly into our achievement gap," said Alissa Pollard, a PPS occupational therapist. "Widening for our students with disabilities."
The final budget will be decided in late April for the next school year. Some staff who see their positions cut could be reassigned to other roles, the district said, while others may lose their jobs completely.