Newberg SD 29J budget committee hears proposed 2025–26 budget; committee elects chair and vice chair

The Newberg SD 29J Budget Committee on Tuesday received a proposed 2025–26 budget that Superintendent Dave Parker said “represents a focused effort by district leadership to bring stability and clarity” after a year of organizational disruption and financial reductions.

The committee also elected Kim Mihailov as budget committee chair and Claire Hertz as vice chair; both nominations were seconded and the committee voted unanimously on each motion.

The budget presentation emphasized three constraints shaping next year’s plan: declining enrollment, higher fixed costs (including rising PERS employer contribution rates and insurance), and uncertainty pending the Legislature’s final school-funding decisions. Parker said the district is using the governor’s proposed state-school-fund numbers as the working assumption but cautioned that the governor’s recommendation does not fully cover the district’s rising costs.

Parker, the superintendent, told the committee the document before members is a proposed framework rather than a final, error-free ledger. Claire Hertz, a budget committee member who opened the meeting, said, “the document that’s in front of you is wrong,” and that staff would continue reconciling and correcting items before formal adoption.

Key figures and assumptions in the presentation included a…