Committee asks board to consider resolution and cost analysis after state cuts to outdoor school funding

Michelle Chase Miller, director for Zone 4, proposed a resolution Aug. 14 asking the full Board of Education to direct the superintendent to provide an analysis of outdoor school costs and options to preserve a five-day student experience for the coming year.

"I would like to propose that we consider a resolution to direct the superintendent to provide a comprehensive analysis of the per student and total cost of outdoor school before and after the passage of measure 99," Miller said.

Dr. Armstrong, the district superintendent, reported that Multnomah ESD (MESD) and other statewide partners had notified districts of a roughly 20% reduction to Oregon’s statewide outdoor school funding amount — an estimated $12,000,000 over the biennium — and that MESD was considering shifting from the current six-day staffing model to four days because of the losses.

"The Oregon statewide outdoor school program…