PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Public Schools on Monday released its proposed budget for next school year, one that will see the district slash staff positions in order to absorb a $30 million shortfall.
The district's top administrator held a news conference to soften the budget's release. Interim Superintendent Sandy Husk took the podium to talk about the budget proposal and the challenges it represents.
“We care about your students, we care about our families, we care about our employees," Husk said. "Let's work on this and get through it together — this is going to be a tough season for moving forward and it's already been a very challenging year."
PPS has said previously that the cuts will be split evenly between the central offices and the schools themselves. Husk reiterated Monday that the proposed cuts are spread out from top administrators down to custodians in an effort to minimize the impact on students.
With the release of the proposed budget, the specifics are beginning to come into focus. About 90 full-time licensed positions connected to regular primary instructional programs — including teachers, counselors and some support staff — would be cut.
In many areas, cuts are deepest for classified staff; things like educational assistants and secretarial, clerical, maintenance and transportation positions. Among special needs programs, for example, PPS' proposed budget would actually increase licensed staff by about 59 full-time positions, while cutting classified staff by about 30 positions.
Among support services for instructional staff, PPS proposed cutting about 30 licensed positions and 26 classified positions.
According to a message Husk sent out to PPS employees, about 110 of the cut positions are ones funded through the central offices. Of those, 40% were already vacant due to a hiring freeze that began in November 2023.
In all, full-time employees at PPS would shrink from about 6,246 this school year to 5,995 next year — a net loss of about 251 positions.
"I hope we can have a productive, respectful discussion about whether this proposal is the best way to balance our budget," Husk said in a statement accompanying the budget proposal. "I know it’s an imposing document, but I would encourage you to read the proposed budget as it includes fuller details and rationale for our decisions."
The district will present its plan at a public meeting Wednesday night. They hope to have a refined version of the budget approved in about a month.