Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Engagement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
4,067 respond to Beaverton SD 48J budget outreach; behavioral health and class size top concerns
Summary
The district’s budget listening and learning effort drew 4,067 responses: about 50% staff, 325 students, ~1,400 parents/guardians and ~806 community members. Top themes included behavioral health/wellness, district office reductions, class size, and school consolidation.
Beaverton SD 48J reported strong public engagement on its budget outreach during a March 10 budget committee work session, with 4,067 participants in the listening and learning process and nearly 1,500 open comments summarized for board review.
Jessica Jones, the district’s budget manager, said about half of respondents were district staff, 325 were students, roughly 1,400 were parents or guardians and about 806 were community members. Jones told the committee staff reviewed and summarized nearly 1,500 open comments and presented the top themes to the budget committee.
The ranked choices and comment themes showed support for district office reductions among many respondents and consistent concern about preserving behavioral health and wellness services, class-size preservation, and possible school consolidations. Jones said the pink and blue graphs in the presentation summarized the top six ranked reduction candidates and the most-commented open themes; the highest-ranked candidate on the cut list was district office reductions, while behavioral health and wellness dominated open comments.
Committee members raised follow-up questions about how the ranked results would be used and whether every item on the staff-proposed list must be cut. Staff responded that those decisions are still TBD and that cabinet-level work is ongoing to identify 'pinch points' and determine which reductions are necessary versus optional. They said proposed reductions will be included in the May 5 proposed budget package and committee members will receive materials in advance for review.
Jones encouraged committee members to review the full comment archive, which she said is available as a link and contains about 200 pages of open comments. The district emphasized that survey results will inform—but not fully determine—final reduction choices and that staff will continue outreach and clarify program-level effects before formal presentation.
