St. Helens budget committee approves $71.66 million budget, sets tax rate; members warned of July deadlines and staffing impacts

The St Helens School District Budget Committee approved the district's proposed budgets for the 2025-26 fiscal year and voted to set the district's permanent tax levy at $5.0297 per $1,000 of assessed value and the general obligation bond levy at $5,486,000.

Dr. Gray, answering questions from the committee and public, told the committee that the district faces a roughly $6.2 million shortfall and stressed the legal deadlines driving the timetable: "If we don't adopt the budget by June 30, we have no budget to operate on as of July 1," she said, warning that missing the county filing deadline would risk the district's ability to collect property taxes for the 2025-26 school year. "If our adopted budget is not into the county by July 15, we forego all property taxes for the 25-26 school year."

Why it matters: the committee was asked to approve a package of budgets totaling $71,662,276 so the board can hold the required budget hearing and adopt the budget before state deadlines. Committee members and staff described immediate, concrete consequences if the board could not complete those steps on schedule, including the potential for staff layoffs and a disruption to operations on July 1.

The budgets and levy - The motion approved by the committee set the 2025-26 general fund at $40,490,302; special revenue funds at $11,712,274; debt service funds at $8,890,800; capital projects at $10,570,000; for a total of $71,662,276. - The committee also approved the property tax permanent rate of $5.0297 per $1,000 of assessed value and a general-obligation bond levy of $5,486,000.

District leaders' explanation of the shortfall and staffing actions Dr. Gray and Christy Woodward (business department) responded at length to written and oral questions from committee members and the public about where the district planned to reduce spending and what was required to restore services. - The district has identified staffing reductions and furlough days as the major levers to balance a multi-million-dollar gap. Dr. Gray said the district had already reduced more than 40 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions; she repeatedly said roughly 80'85% of the general fund is committed to employment contracts. She said smaller line-items (subscriptions, facility rental income) do not materially close the gap. - Dr. Gray summarized possible outcomes tied to furloughs: "If you do not cut or furlough 12 days at $110,000 a day, we will have to reduce by 12 more teachers ... or 24 more classified" staff, underscoring that personnel costs are the primary budget center. - Committee members and public commenters repeatedly urged prioritizing restoration of furlough days. When asked what revenue would be needed to restore furlough days, the district said the board and administration would need to identify specific amounts and then use the board's modified-calendar and bargaining processes to restore days; one committee member and district staff discussed needing approximately $1,300,000 to restore multiple days (the committee and administration said those restoration decisions must happen at the board level and be implemented through bargaining as required).

Other line-item explanations and near-term steps District staff walked through several line items that drew questions during the meeting: - Contingency: the district combined an operating contingency and an unappropriated ending fund balance for a single contingency of $800,000 for 2025-26 (staff said this replaced a larger pair of line items used in prior years). - Substitutes: the district budgeted $477,000 for substitute teaching services (listed under purchased services/instructional services) and said it will create a specific code to track substitute spending more precisely. - Contracted special-services: large increases in purchase-service lines (professional technical services) were attributed to contracted school psychologists and speech-language pathologists, positions district leaders said are hard to fill and are routinely provided via outside vendors. - Outside placements: the increase in "other tuition" reflects higher costs for placing students whose needs cannot be met within district programs; staff called these "outside student placements." - Virtual academy and alternative education: St. Helens Virtual Academy has been moved in the budget into the alternative-education function for 2025-26 to align accounting functions; staff said this is a coding change rather than a program expansion. - Fees and facilities: staff said the district historically undercharged for some facility rentals and is now charging required rates; the CRYC building (a small community program site) was described as a donated property restricted for educational use and not readily salable.

Public comments and committee discussion Public commenters and several budget committee members praised the increased transparency of the new budget coding and urged a continued focus on restoring student contact time. Amelie (a community member) thanked district staff and urged the committee and board to prioritize buying back furlough days. Linda Parks, a Lewis & Clark first-grade teacher who spoke during public comment, described wide teacher overtime and urged restoration of staff and days so teachers can have planning time and students get full instructional time.

Legal and procedural context District staff reminded the committee of Oregon budget law and the requirement to publish notice and hold a budget hearing prior to board adoption. Staff emphasized that the budget must be adopted by law by June 30, and that the committee needed to approve the proposed budget at this meeting to permit required public notices and the board's adoption timeline.

Votes at a glance - Approval of the 2025-26 budgets (general, special revenue, debt service, capital projects; total $71,662,276): motion moved and seconded; committee voice vote: "Aye"; motion carries. - Approval of the 2025-26 property tax rates (permanent rate $5.0297 per $1,000; GO bond levy $5,486,000): motion moved and seconded; committee voice vote: "Aye"; motion carries.

What comes next The committee approved the budget so the board can hold the legally required budget hearing and adopt the budget at its June 25 meeting; staff said Christy Woodward must publish the legally required budget hearing notice in the newspaper within the statutory timeline. District leaders and several committee members urged the public to follow subsequent board action and any bargaining steps required to restore furlough days or change staffing.

Ending note Committee members and staff described this budget year as unusually difficult but said the re-coded line items and a larger contingency are intended to make future presentations clearer. Multiple participants urged continued transparency and earlier opportunities for public review during future budget cycles.