District proposes 50% cut to site improvement plan budgets as part of broader $10M reduction effort

District finance staff presented proposed site-discretionary allocations for the 2025-26 budget and recommended a roughly 50% reduction in the School Improvement Plan (SIP) component of the site discretionary budget, a move the presenter said would reduce costs by about $100,000.

Mr. Gessler (finance) told the board the core components of site allocations would remain at levels similar to recent years but the SIP component, which was added in 2017, is being reduced to help meet the administration's larger $10,000,000 reduction target for next year. He noted the district continues to fund sites that exceed initial enrollment projections (schools above 105% of projected enrollment receive additional per-pupil funding) and conversely reduces allocations for sites under 95% of their projection after October 1 reconciliation.

The presenter emphasized the SIP funds vary by site and can cover targeted professional development, outside consultants, site-led curriculum mapping and occasional site-run extra-hour activities; with the proposed reduction he expects allocations will shift to more site staff time rather than travel and external consultants.

This presentation was informational; the amounts will be incorporated into the broader budget development process and presented to the budget committee and the board before formal adoption in June.

Speakers

- Mr. Gessler — Finance presenter (site allocations)

Authorities

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Actions

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Discussion_decision

{"discussion_points":["Core site discretionary allocations to remain similar to recent years","SIP component reduced by ~50% to save about $100,000","Site allocations adjusted after October 1 enrollment reconciliations"],"directions":["Incorporate proposed site allocations into the proposed budget calendar and legal budget committee review"],"decisions":[]}

Clarifying_details

[{"category":"SIP_reduction","detail":"Proposed reduction to SIP component of site discretionary budgets","value":"50","units":"percent","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Mr. Gessler"},{"category":"SIP_savings","detail":"Estimated savings from SIP reductions for 2025-26","value":"100000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Mr. Gessler"}]

Proper_names

[{"name":"Mr. Gessler","type":"person"},{"name":"Lake Oswego School District 7J","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance

{"geographies":["Lake Oswego"],"funding_sources":["site discretionary budgets"],"impact_groups":["school staff","students benefiting from SIP activities"]}

Meeting_context

{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":3,"duration_minutes":25,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"low","history":[{"date":"2017","note":"SIP component added to site discretionary budgets"}]}

Searchable_tags

["SIP","site budgets","discretionary funds","Lake Oswego"]

Provenance

{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"s2725.63-e2793.625","local_start":0,"local_end":668,"evidence_excerpt":"this is our first public step in the development of our 25, 26 budget which is consensus approval of our allocations to the school sites for what we refer to as the site discretionary budgets...we are proposing to decrease by by roughly 50% the amounts that are made available in what we call the SIP budget component of each site discretionary budget...that 50% reduction will serve to reduce our cost by roughly $100,000 in the 20 5, 20 6 year","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s2838.0183-e2889.25","local_start":0,"local_end":552,"evidence_excerpt":"We do provide more funding to that school site, based upon their per pupil funding. And conversely, if they are less than 95% of the projected, then there is a budget reduction that takes place after the October 1 enrollment is finalized this this coming fall.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]},