Lake Oswego legal budget committee approves 2025–26 budget resolution after multi‑fund review

The Lake Oswego legal budget committee voted to approve a resolution adopting the district's proposed 2025–26 budget and appropriations and forwarding the package to the full school board for final action.

The committee's approval followed staff presentations on the June state revenue forecast, projected reductions in staff FTE, and detailed reviews of the district's general fund, grant funds, capital projects, debt service and other special funds. Dr. Shealy, who opened the session's strategic-perspectives update, said the June economic forecast was "disappointing," and noted a drop in corporate activity tax collections. "We did get the PERS rate relief at 1.68 percent, which equates to about $900,000 for Lake Oswego each year for the next biennium," Dr. Shealy said.

Committee members then heard a final review of the general fund from Mr. Kessler and related presentations by Margaret on student activity, nutrition and other funds. Kessler summarized personnel adjustments and said materials in committee packets detailed a reduction of 53 classified FTE in the general fund and a re‑categorization of attrition across employee groups. He also summarized the grants fund outlook and noted that both the Student Investment Account (SIA) and IDEA grant projections were lower than prior years.

Key numbers and program notes discussed at the meeting: - Classified staffing: packet materials and Mr. Kessler's…