Parkrose Board adopts $89.65 million 2025–26 budget, approves tax levy resolution

The Parkrose School District Board of Directors on June 9 voted to adopt the district's 2025–26 budget and approved a separate resolution to appropriate funds and levy taxes for the coming fiscal year.

The budget the board adopted totals $89,649,953 and reflects adjustments created primarily by a 1.68 percentage-point increase in the public employees' pension rate driven by state action (referred to in the meeting as Senate Bill 849). District staff reported the rate change freed up $443,647 in the latest budget calculations; the board approved moving much of that amount to restore two furlough days and a professional development day, which staff said cost $327,005.29.

Director of Finance (budget presenter) Shuri Lewis summarized changes made after the board's previous "approved" budget: an $84,000 amendment to debt-service appropriations tied to amortization schedules; reassignment of one social-studies teacher from a grant fund to the general fund; small adjustments across multiple grant and nutrition funds to match revenues and expenses; and corrections to staff "academic days" entries for several employees that increased payroll totals. The district reported a staffing level of 357.26 full-time-equivalent positions in the adopted budget.

Lewis told the board the bulk of adjustments affected funds tied to personnel; capital funds were not touched. She also said the district will replace current budget software next year to avoid recurring data-entry errors that required multiple manual corrections this cycle.

Superintendent Michael Lopez and board members discussed that the adopted budget includes roughly $12 million attributable to Portland Clean Energy Fund (referred to in the meeting packet as PSAP) and noted the levy campaign's failure earlier this year, which the superintendent and staff said required difficult cuts during the current process.

Board action came in two recorded motions. A voice vote approved the resolution adopting the 2025'26 budget; a subsequent motion to "appropriate funds, levy taxes, and categorize funds for fiscal year 2025'26" also passed by voice vote. No formal roll-call tallies were read into the public record during the meeting.

The board closed its budget hearing with no public comments on the proposed changes and moved on to the next agenda items.

Votes at a glance: - Resolution approving the adopted budget for fiscal year 2025'26: approved by voice vote; no opposed voices recorded during the meeting. - Resolution to appropriate funds, levy taxes, and categorize funds for fiscal year 2025'26: approved by voice vote; no opposed voices recorded during the meeting.

The district plans to publish the adopted budget documents and the associated schedules (Schedule A and Schedule B) in the board packet and on the district website; staff said they will continue to brief the board on implementation and on budget software migration.