St. Helens School District proposes $71 million budget, outlines staff cuts and 12 furlough days to close $6.2 million gap

St. Helens School District Superintendent Karen Ray presented a proposed $71,000,000 budget for fiscal year 2025–26 at the district budget committee meeting on May 7, saying the plan aims to align staffing and spending with reduced revenue.

"This is a difficult budget message due to the fact that the school district is severely underfunded to support its current staffing levels," Ray said. "Tonight, we present the proposed budget for the Saint Helens School District for the 20 25, 26 fiscal year."

The proposal lists a $40,000,000 general fund (a 7% decrease from 2024–25) and an $11,000,000 special revenue grants fund (a 2% decrease). General fund operating revenues are budgeted at $40,490,302. The district projects average daily membership resident (ADMr) of about 2,700 students for 2025–26, a decline of 35 from the current projection, and cited cumulative fluctuations since 2020.

Why it matters: Ray told the committee the district faces a budget shortfall of about $6,200,000 between expected revenue and current service-level expenditures. The proposal includes reductions intended to balance payroll-driven costs and preserve core instructional programs.

Key reductions and savings outlined in the proposal include: - Reduction in force of licensed staff totaling 28.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions across elementary, middle and high schools, estimated to save about $3,000,000. - Reduction of 2 administrative FTE, estimated at $250,000. - Reduction of 12 classified FTE (12.0 FTE), estimated at $600,000. - A 30% cut to discretionary school budgets, saving about $100,000. - Reduced technology hardware spending by $100,000 and facilities reductions of $73,000. - Furlough of 12 school days, described as costing about $110,000 per day and totaling approximately $1,300,000; Ray said restoring days will be a priority when finances permit.

Ray said 77.7 staff were added between 2020 and 2025—largely funded by ESSER and other one-time federal funds—and that the district did not have a plan to return staffing to pre-pandemic levels when those temporary funds expired. She said the general fund unappropriated ending fund balance (UEFB) has fallen from $6.5 million in the 2022–23 budget to $1.5 million in 2024–25 and that the current contingency is $809,000 (below the district board policy target of a 5% UEFB).

Chief Financial Officer Christie Woodard reviewed budget structure, revenue estimates and functional expenditures and cautioned that most figures are built from estimates. "All of these, when we build a budget, is based on estimates," Woodard said. She called particular attention to increases in PERS employer rates and other payroll-driven costs and to recently enacted Senate Bill 849, which Woodard said the state estimates may offset part of the PERS increase but that the district is awaiting calculations from PERS professionals.

Other budget details presented: - The proposed budget assumes the district's share of the governor's proposed state school fund and estimates an $1,800,000 increase in the district's portion across the 2025–27 biennium, split 49/51 across the two years. - Special revenue grants include federal and state grants (Title I, special education, SIA/student investment account, Measure 98/High School Success grants) and restricted-use funds; Woodard noted some staff were reclassified into grant funds where appropriate. - The district budgeted $450,000 in revenue from a proposed sale of the Yankton property (listed for sale). - Certain service functions were recoded (for example, alternative programs and virtual academy placements) and some positions were shifted from salaries to purchased services (speech services and contracted school psychology) to address hiring challenges.

Ray and staff emphasized efforts to minimize classroom reductions: where possible, positions serving students were shifted to grant funds and the district tried to preserve athletics, band and other extracurricular fees through SIA and other special revenue to maintain access and equity.

Next steps: The budget committee will hold deliberations May 21 (6:30 p.m., Plymouth High School or Zoom) with public comment scheduled then; if needed, the committee may meet June 3. The school board must adopt the budget by June 30 under Oregon budget law, and the committee planned to forward the proposed budget to the board by early June.

No formal budget adoption vote occurred at the May 7 meeting. The committee conducted internal organization motions (chair and vice-chair elections) and adjourned after the presentation.

Ending: Ray closed by thanking staff for the budget work and said the district had two positive awards/grants to note: a $410,000 summer working program for secondary students (with an elementary program funded through Title funds) and a five-year literacy grant totaling $750,000 to support literacy in the district. She said restoring instructional days and rebuilding the ending fund balance would be the district's highest priorities as revenue conditions allow.