SCHOOLS

Salem-Keizer budget committee considers $1.5 billion budget with COVID impacts still unknown

The Salem-Keizer budget committee in a May 19, 2020 meeting.

Salem-Keizer’s budget committee will vote Tuesday night on a $1.5 billion district budget that represents an unlikely best-case scenario for Oregon’s second-largest school district in the coming year.

The 233 page document, drafted before the coronavirus pandemic blew a hole in Oregon’s tax revenue, would make no substantial changes to local schools next year, aside from shuffling some teachers from elementary to high schools because of shifting enrollment.

Superintendent Christy Perry is pushing ahead, hoping the document can serve as leverage during an expected special session of the Oregon Legislature over the summer to address cuts to state services and jobs.

“We need them to allocate the full funding to the state school fund…We need them to tap the reserve, prioritize us over some other programs,” she told the committee in a May 19 meeting.

The budget committee, which includes all seven elected school board members and seven appointed community volunteers, has received no public testimony on the proposed budget during two virtual committee meetings. They may vote to approve the budget Tuesday or hold an additional meeting Wednesday, May 27 to hear more public comment and continue discussion before voting.

Once approved by the budget committee, the budget will go to the school board for a vote on June 9.

Members of the public can submit email or video testimony ahead of the 6 p.m. meeting by emailing [email protected] or filling out this form to call into the meeting. The meeting will be broadcast live on YouTube in English, with a Spanish translation posted the following day.

The reality of local education funding in the fall looks grim. A state budget forecast released last week projected Oregon’s general fund, the largest source of K-12 school money, would be about $2.7 billion short. The Oregon Department of Education and Gov. Kate Brown have yet to issue guidelines for school districts about what level of funding to plan for.

Perry said the district is taking every step it can to save money for next year, including freezing hiring for open jobs.

Last week, the Salem-Keizer school board approved a plan to furlough nearly all district workers, including teachers and administrators, one day per week through the end of the school year, a move they hope will save up to $10 million for next year.

Budget committee members: Jaqualine Bechtel, Kathleen Harder, Levi Herrera-Lopez, Adriana Miranda, Tyson Pruett, Cynthia Stinson, Virginia Stapleton, Marty Heyen, Jesse Lippold, Sheronne Blasi, Kathy Goss, Danielle Bethell, Paul Kyllo and Satya Chandragiri

Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.