Legislative and Budget Update - April 28, 2025
Legislative and Budget Update: April 28, 2025 by Dr. Dayle Spitzer, Superintendent
To promote transparency and to keep our community informed, I would like to provide an update on local and federal legislative changes and considerations, as well as current budget information. We are closely monitoring and adapting to this ever evolving landscape as these changes continue to impact our district.
Federal
In May, a funding proposal will be shared with Congress. This will inform the decision Congress will eventually make for federal funding for programs such as Title 1 (for students experiencing poverty), IDEA (Individual with Disabilities Education Act), Title III (for students who are emerging bilinguals) and Title II (professional development) etc.
At this time we are expecting flat funding. If funding remains flat, however, we recognize expenses will cost more annually both for staffing (step increases, cost of living), as well as goods and services. These factors would prevent us from staffing and maintaining efforts next year at the same level as this year.
There have been a few Executive Orders shared recently. The Executive Orders are not laws but new laws could be passed in the future due to the orders. We will continue to follow current Oregon Laws at this time.
Tariffs, and the impact on goods and supplies, could affect our budget and expenses, including the work we will/are doing with the 2025 Bond.
State of Oregon
The Governor recommended a $11.36 billion State School Fund (SSF) budget to the legislature which is currently being considered. This could be approximately $4 million more annually for our district. The legislature must pass a balanced budget by June 30th of which the SSF is a part.
We also receive non competitive grants which can only be used for targeted purposes.
Our state grants including SIA (Student Investment Account) and HSS (High School Success) are projected also to be flat funding.
Two grants which will provide more funding include Early Literacy and English Learner Program Outcomes; again these are restricted grants and can only be used for the grant’s specific purposes.
A state revenue forecast is expected on May 14, 2025. Its implications to the State School Fund and other funding sources will be shared within the following weeks.
Last fall, the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) shared that the 2025-2027 biannual rate would increase OCSD’s employer contribution by 6%. There is recent legislative action that would redirect funds to decrease the percentage across the state by approximately 1.67%. If the Governor signs it, and the PERS Board approves it in May, the overall impact to OCSD will be an increase of about 4.3% annually, or approximately $2.5 million, yearly for the biennium.
We are also watching the impact of tariffs on our local economy and monitoring the decrease we are seeing in the Corporate Activity Tax, which helps fund the Student Investment Account and therefore less money could be available.
The legislature is also considering changes in funding regarding two areas for Special Education services.
Currently we receive additional funding for only 11% of qualified students out of our total student enrollment; however, almost 15% of our students qualify. (Fifteen percent is also the national average.) The legislature is considering increasing the percentage.
Additionally, we receive some reimbursements for high cost disabilities. There is legislation that is being considered to increase or fully fund these expenses.
In Our District
Oregon City School District is also currently in negotiations with our classified and our certified unions which we expect will have a financial impact.
We are also watching our student enrollment which has decreased a bit over the year. We are very concerned about our kindergarten enrollment which is half of our current kindergarten school enrollment. If you have neighbors, friends or family members who have children who will be five years old on or before September 1, please encourage them to register for fall now! This helps us determine class sizes and staff our kindergarten program appropriately.
This last Friday, we received some great news from the Oregon Department of Education! The legislature recently passed a bill for summer school programming focused on literacy for this upcoming summer. We have been given the green light to create a plan and apply for these non competitive funds.
Meanwhile we are working on creating a budget for the 25-26 school year which is required to be in place by June 30, 2025. The Budget Committee, made up of an equal number of community members and School Board members, is charged with approving a balanced budget that the School Board will eventually adopt. They will be meeting several times over the next months for this purpose. There are a lot of moving parts at both the state and federal level. Although in some areas we are receiving more funds, in others we are experiencing a loss of revenue, and in many situations we are simply waiting to see what happens. We will continue to watch and monitor the decisions being made and the impact to the Oregon City School District.
