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Parents urge Parkrose board to restore full-time librarian as budget cuts shrink library services
Summary
Public commenters pressed the Parkrose School District board to restore the sole licensed librarian position after it was cut to 0.5 FTE; the superintendent and CFO outlined budget pressures, special-education cost jumps and an ongoing PSU dual-credit program that staff say yields transferable college credits for participating students.
Several Parkrose parents and teachers urged the board on May 26 to reverse a budget decision that reduces the district s only licensed librarian to half time and eliminates proposed media-literacy electives.
"This is unacceptable," public commenter Zach Melvin told the board, describing research showing licensed librarians improve reading and digital-literacy outcomes and citing Oregon PTA recommendations and state guidance about staffing ratios. He called on the district to use funds now allocated to a Portland State University (PSU) inquiry course (which the superintendent said costs the district roughly $60,000 for the coming year) to keep library staffing full-time.
Superintendent Michael Lo and CFO Sheree Lewis acknowledged the cuts were painful and explained the fiscal context: the district originally proposed 26 FTE reductions and reduced that to 19.5 positions through staff furlough days and other adjustments. Sheree Lewis reported unexpected prior-year adjustments that helped revenues (roughly $1.1 million in prior-year/state adjustments), but she said special-education contracted services rose sharply this year as the number of high-need students increased from 43 planned to 68 actual, contributing roughly $2.4 million in additional professional-services expenses.
Lo said the PSU inquiry course currently enrolls 56 students and provides transferable college credits; he and the board framed that program as a cost-saving, college-credit opportunity for participating students while also acknowledging the equity trade-offs of reduced district-wide library capacity.
Public comment and alternatives: Teacher/parent Lori Amelia suggested repurposing expensive third-party assessment or subscription contracts (she estimated I-Ready costs roughly $30 35 per student and cited a district expenditure near $23,000) as one potential funding source to restore staff. Board members asked staff to continue seeking options and said restoring the librarian is a high priority to pursue if additional funds are found.
Other fiscal items: The CFO reported the district sold a bond that netted approximately $3,625,000 in proceeds (to post June 4), described cash-flow uses and said the district projects a multi-million-dollar shortfall largely tied to special-education costs. Staff also discussed summer-learning grant applications (district requested $400,000) and limited local allocations that will constrain summer program capacity.
Next steps: Board members and the superintendent said they would continue to search for savings and potential reallocation options before the fall; no formal vote to restore the librarian position occurred at the meeting.
