District warns of deep cuts, uses reserves this year; board urged to press legislators
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Summary
Chief Morrison told the board the district used about $23.5 million in reserves to close the current budget gap and is targeting a minimum 5% fund balance; staff illustrated possible impacts of structural gaps (equivalent of ~14.5 school days lost, ~350 educator FTEs) and urged advocacy to state legislators and ballot measure action.
Portland SD 1J staff on Jan. 13 warned the board that a structural budget gap will require difficult choices and that current-year reserves are being drawn down to balance this year budget.
Chief Morrison reported the district is using roughly $23.5 million in reserves in the current year and reiterated board fund-balance targets (minimum 5%). Morrison said late federal compliance work delayed the ACFR and single-audit timeline, which pushed audit committee review to Feb. 5 and board approval to Feb. 10.
Staff highlighted illustrative impacts of a $50 million gap: approximately 14.5 lost school days, the equivalent of about 350 educator FTEs, roughly 650 paraeducator equivalents, and the operating budget equivalent of about 12.5 elementary schools. Morrison framed these numbers as illustrative to convey scale and urged the board and community to engage with state legislators and ballot measures affecting school funding.
Board and student responses: Student representative Retorto and board members urged constituents to contact legislators and raised the possibility of coordinated board letters. Directors also discussed potential state actions (including partial decoupling from federal tax code) that could recover significant revenues.
Next steps: Staff said they would circulate preliminary budget recommendations internally and plan to present a formal proposed budget to the board in April, accompanied by public engagement. The district also reported a planned bond sale and ongoing credit‑rating engagement with Moody's and S&P.