Board approves two staff additions and directs finance review for further hires

The West Salem School Board on March 20 approved hiring two full-time positions for 2025–26 — a school psychologist and a technology education (CTE) teacher — after hearing budget projections and grant funding context from district staff and finance personnel.

A board member moved to hire a 1.0 FTE school psychologist and a 1.0 FTE technology education teacher and omitted a proposed family and consumer education (FACE/FCE) position from the motion because of budget uncertainty. The motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote. The board recorded affirmative votes and the motion carried.

During discussion, staff and finance personnel presented staffing and revenue figures. Finance staff said the district’s current wages, salary and benefits total about $17 million and noted employee-salary figures used for initial CPI modeling were around $13.3 million; using a roughly 3.5% CPI projection would increase personnel costs materially. The board and staff also discussed how special education categorical aid is calculated (based on prior fiscal-year expenditures) and how a change in reimbursement percentages could add to revenue projections. Finance staff cautioned that several variables (health insurance costs, aid certification timing and program status) must be reconciled before presenting a final staffing forecast.

Board members debated whether to post the FACE position now or wait for additional financial information. Several members said the FACE position has been requested for years and could be posted to increase the chance of hiring, but others urged caution, citing recurring increases in staffing costs and the need to ensure sustainable funding if grant support changes.

Board members and staff agreed on next steps: finance staff will produce updated forecasts (including CPI, benefits and potential special-education aid increases) and present those figures at the next meeting so the board can reconsider the FACE position if the projections are favorable.

The approved motion authorizes immediate posting and hiring steps for the school psychologist and the CTE teacher; the board instructed staff to report back with a budget projection that would support future hiring decisions.

The board also took other routine actions during the meeting, including approving consent items and early college credit requests, and voted to cancel the second May board meeting scheduled for May 26 (with a contingency to convene an emergency meeting on May 23 if needed).