Parents, teachers and students press board over proposed staff cuts and reductions to elementary PE; superintendent outlines $10 million gap

Dozens of parents, teachers, students and community advocates used public comment to urge the Lake Oswego School District board to reconsider reductions in force (RIFs) and proposed cuts to elementary physical education and specialist positions.

Several elementary students from Forest Hills Elementary — including Kai Lopez, Cruz Lopez, William Seacull and Calum Young — told the board that physical education is essential to their well‑being and learning. One student stated, “PE helps my body calm down and makes me happy,” and another said the “state mandate for elementary PE is 150 minutes per week.”

Teachers and parents said cutting PE would harm academic focus and social‑emotional learning. Dawn Young, a district teacher, told the board classroom teachers cannot sustainably replace trained PE specialists and urged data‑driven, transparent decision‑making. Lauren Lopez, who identified herself as a former early‑childhood educator and nurse, said a petition she started had gathered strong community support and reported “735 people have now signed,” urging the board to pursue alternative revenues or foundation support to preserve PE minutes.

Speakers also addressed ethnic studies and racial equity. Sean McCarty and Bruce Poinsett (executive director of Respond to Racism in Lake Oswego) urged adoption or reinstatement of ethnic‑studies offerings at the high school level, arguing a dedicated course provides deeper cultural competency than the current distribution of state ethnic standards across social studies classes. Community members raised concerns about reductions in minority staff representation at the elementary level and urged the board to prioritize diversity in staffing decisions.

Superintendent Shealy presented the district’s fiscal context, saying the district must plan for roughly $10 million in reductions. She said district staff considered many factors and that maintaining low elementary class sizes was a top priority. Shealy explained the choices forced tradeoffs: saving specialist positions (including PE and instructional coordinators) helps spread impacts across grades, while cutting individual classroom teachers affects specific grade sections. She said at the secondary level class sizes are expected to rise, giving an example that high‑school class ratios are moving “from 1 to 29 to 1 to 33.”

Shealy noted the district is monitoring pending state bills that, if enacted (such as an increase in the special‑education cap from 11% to 15% funded with new money and increased high‑cost disability funds), could change the budget picture. She said the district will not know final state allocations until June and will continue to update the community.

Board members and district staff listened to comments during the public‑comment period; no formal board action on the RIF or PE reductions was recorded at the meeting.

Speakers who provided written comments included parents and staff who asked the board to reconsider reductions in force; several individuals’ written submissions were acknowledged by the board at the meeting.