QuickTake:

Eugene School District 4J will eliminate 38 full-time equivalent positions for the next school year and make other cuts to spending. To some district leaders, however, the budget cuts were not enough.

Eugene School District 4J school board members voted 5-2 to adopt the budget committee’s 2025-26 proposed budget of $560 million Wednesday night, which will cut a total of $20.7 million from the district’s general fund spending.

Because the budget also adds $4.9 million in new spending, the net amount of the cuts is $15.8 million.

The cuts will result in budget reductions across the district, including the elimination of 38 full-time equivalents (FTEs). It is unclear at this time how many positions this will be, because cuts likely will include part-time jobs as well.

These cuts come as the district faces declining enrollment, the end of COVID-era federal grants which 4J used to increase staffing, and rising costs across the board. 

Some district leaders and school board members did not think cuts went far enough, however, warning of the negative consequences of dipping further into reserves.

“This budget irresponsibly ignores financial reality,” said board member Morgan Munro before the vote Wednesday evening. “It leaves us incredibly vulnerable to the likelihood of federal funding cuts, and it sets both this board and our new superintendent up for unnecessarily brutal choices next year.”

Munro and board member Rick Hamilton voted against adopting the budget. Board chair Jenny Jonak, vice chair Tom Di Liberto, and members Judy Newman, Maya Rabasa and Ericka Thessen voted yes.

Budget details

District leaders plan to make staff cuts first through attrition and eliminating vacant positions in certain departments, but they are still uncertain whether resignations and retirements will be enough or whether layoffs will be necessary.

The adopted budget added 27.6 FTEs that had been cut in the budget originally proposed by the superintendent and district finance department, $3.2 million worth of positions that will be funded by reserve money. 

Among other positions, interim superintendent Colt Gill said Wednesday he intends to add back some first-grade education assistants who aid in early literacy.

Here are the numbers:

  • Total cuts: $20.7 million.
  • Net cuts (includes new spending added to general fund): $15.8 million.
  • Uses $26.5 million in reserves.
  • Eliminates 38 FTEs. (The number of employees this translates to is currently unknown.)
  • 8% of cuts will impact school-facing positions.
  • 92% of cuts will impact positions outside of schools.
  • Number of FTE cuts per category:
    • Elementary: 12 FTEs
    • School safety: 1 FTE
    • Finance: 2 FTEs
    • Services for students with disabilities: 2 FTEs
    • Communications: 2 FTE
    • Instruction (includes several departments of district-level employees, school athletic programs and the Center for Applied Learning and Community Impact): 18 FTE
    • Nutrition: 1 FTE

Dipping further into reserves

Over the past five years, 4J has added staff while student enrollment has decreased. The state gives money to school districts on a per-student basis, so lower enrollment means less revenue for 4J.

In fact, staff grew by 29% from 2020 to 2024, funded by federal COVID grant money. In order to maintain that level of staffing, the district has been drawing from reserves and will continue to use reserves in its next budget year, which begins in July. Many of the new positions support students who experienced learning loss during COVID.

The district spent nearly $30 million more than its revenue in the 2024-25 school year and is projected to spend $26.5 million more than its revenue in 2025-26. The district is projecting reserve funds will fall below 8% of the general fund by the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year. 

This runs against the board’s policy for reserve funds, which requires the 8% level. The board passed the budget with the contingency that it make a plan with the superintendent for how to rebuild the reserve fund in the coming years.

“My suggestion to you is that the plan be that you continue to watch this forecast (of the reserve fund balance), at least on a quarterly basis,” Gill said to the board Wednesday.

Gill said the state is expected to deliver the $11.36 billion in statewide education funding that 4J is counting on for its 2025-26 budget. However, economic volatility and changes to federal funding, could lead to unexpected changes, which the reserve fund usually safeguards against.

Gill laid out three options for the board to consider over the course of the year regarding their break in reserve policy:

  1. The board could direct the superintendent to underspend the budget.
  2. The board could do nothing to build back reserves this year and make a plan for how to build back reserves in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
  3. The board could choose to change its 8% reserve policy.

Gill spoke about how other Oregon districts have faced negative consequences from not addressing declining enrollment consequences sooner. Portland Public Schools’ bond rating was lowered in April because of a decrease in the district’s reserves and “operational challenges” from declining enrollment.

“They just received a $1.83 billion bond in the election,” Gill said. “Those bonds will be sold at a different rate than they would have previously been sold at, which means that they don’t have as much money and it’s a greater risk on the investors.”

Next year: Deeper cuts anticipated

4J will likely have to cut an additional $27.5 million in spending next year, and staff reductions will make up a higher proportion of those cuts, according to the district. 

Munro pointed out that $10 million of this year’s budget cuts are from a deferral of operational costs that will have to come back into the budget next year.

“This is going to mean a lot of cuts, and it’s going to be really brutal,” Munro said. “It really seems like our most likely scenario for next year in the future.”

Lilly is a graduate of Indiana University and has worked as a journalist at the Indianapolis Star and in Burlington, Vermont, as well as working as a foreign language teacher in France. She covers education and children's issues for Lookout Eugene-Springfield.