Longview board hears budget planning, Bowen projects 6,238 FTE and flags state cuts to kindergarten and categorical funds

At a April 13 work session, Executive Director of Business Services Patty Bowen told the Longview School District board she is projecting “a total of 6,238 student FTE, which is 20 less than what we budgeted,” and outlined how recent state legislative actions are reshaping the district’s 2026–27 budget outlook.

Bowen said enrollment remains the district’s largest revenue driver and described the district’s projection methodology — cohort survival rates, program-level adjustments, and Portland State kindergarten trend data — that produced the 6,238 annual average FTE figure. “Enrollment is showing we are flat, and we are very, very close to where we budgeted for this year,” she said, while noting even small shifts can change staffing needs because roughly 83% of the district budget is personnel costs.

The presentation moved from enrollment to the state legislative outcomes Bowen said will affect Longview. She reported a new exemption, effective July 1, for certain enhanced sales taxes applied to specified services; the district estimates that exemption will produce…