School buses parked at the Bend-La Pine Schools bus lot.

After a Bend-La Pine Schools levy failed on the May 2024 ballot, Superintendent Steve Cook predicted cutting 120 positions for next school year. The Redmond School District cut $4 million in its 2024-25 budget. Last month, parents asked the High Desert Education Service District board to reconsider proposed cuts to the budget for next year. The budget was approved without changes. The pandemic Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding that was given out in three batches needed to be spent by September 2024, and many districts predicted falling off a cliff after that money was gone.

Now that the Oregon Legislature has passed the State School Fund and districts have approved their budgets, what’s going to change for the 2025-26 school year in Central Oregon?

Bend-La Pine Schools

Bend-La Pine Schools’s budget for the next fiscal year has increased 36% from last year’s, which is mainly due to adding the remaining bond funding that was approved in 2022. The funding is intended for various projects, including the Bend High School renovation, replacing door locks across the district and replacing the roof on La Pine Middle School, to name a few. Though the budget has increased, that funding is already allocated and cannot be moved around.

Personnel expenses are going up due to the increases in the Public Employee Retirement System and cost-of-living increases after contract bargaining with school unions. Over 37 certified employees will be transferred or cut through attrition due to declining enrollment and lack of funding, said Dan Emerson, chief financial officer for the district. More than 11 additional classified staff, particularly educational assistants, will be hired for the fall. The district also added a classified role to expand its Medicaid team. In comparison, Emerson said Portland Public Schools is cutting over 200 full-time positions.

“We did not (have to pink slip anyone due to declining enrollment),” said Emerson. “So we are hopeful, basically, that we’re going to be able to get out of all of this, whether it was due to natural declining enrollment or due to the lack of state school funding, without having to actually lay off anyone in a position and just do attrition-based.”

Emerson said attrition cuts also happened in the 2024-25 school year but that it would be difficult to repeat a third time.

“You staff to your staffing ratios initially, right? And that’s what you hope to be able to keep. And if revenue comes in less than that, you obviously can’t balance the budget. So you have to do more cuts,” he said. “And we are trying to make really smart fiscal decisions to make sure that the cliff is not as painful as we’re seeing in some of our neighboring districts.”

The district will make it work with the funding it receives, said Emerson. The district sold some land it owns for affordable housing for educators and switched buying iPads to short-term leasing the devices to save money. It has reduced the watering schedule for grass near walkways as well, which is consistent with the district’s sustainability plan. Athletic fields will still be watered.

“I think looking forward to next year, which is all I’d really be comfortable projecting out, next year, since we know what our funding will be from the state school fund at this point, I think we’ll have to make reductions again next year, probably larger than this year,” said Emerson. “It’s still difficult to see exactly where we’ll land. But I don’t think that cliff has dropped off yet.”

The district is going to contract with a new analytics organization to run an enrollment projection for the next few years. Due to changes in, among other things, PERS rates, there will be slight budget adjustments in September.

Redmond School District

The Redmond School District budget for 2025-26 is $98 million larger than last year’s, mostly due to the addition of the $97.7 million bond the district passed in November, which will be used for district building projects including renovating Redmond High School. The district’s general fund balance is approximately $6.5 million more due to an increase in the district’s state funding allocation.

The district is adding staff, especially in nutrition services, which needs more support thanks to the expansion of free meals for Redmond schools. Though positions were added on the special education team, others were cut due to projected lower enrollment at the middle and high school levels. The district was able to add a position in the dual enrollment program at Obsidian Middle School since the program is expanding.

“As of today, we are fortunately not aware of any cuts to our federal funding. However, if funds are eliminated or reduced, the specific programs that were being funded would have to be reduced or eliminated. We are unable to support federal programs by repurposing state funds towards those programs without compromising our efforts in classrooms,” wrote Kathy Steinert, director of fiscal services, in an email June 25.

The cuts made to the 2024-25 budget mitigated upcoming cuts, Steinert said. The district was able to absorb the loss of the federal emergency relief funds in the previous budget because most of the funding had already been spent in prior years. The district also saw enrollment growth last year. Other than next year, when enrollment is projected to be flat, Redmond School District is projecting increased enrollment for the next six to 10 years.

“I think there’s a piece of that because we did have until September 30th of 2024 to spend those (emergency relief) funds,” she said. “So there may have been districts that carried over more than we did for sure. And then I think that there are districts that are shrinking and not growing, and they’re just forced to deal with that reality. And as I mentioned, we actually grew.”

Steinert is trying to stay positive.

“So there were things that we cut that aren’t easy, but we’re coping. I said you have to be optimistic to be in school business in part because these funding struggles are real and they’re persistent and we’re quite adept at meeting the challenges and and making the necessary cuts to balance the budget and also restoring service when we can,” she said. “We have to be good at that.”

The district will reopen contract bargaining with the Redmond Chapter 84 of the Oregon School Employees Association in August. There will be a budget adjustment due to changing PERS rates and contract negotiations with the district’s classified and certified unions.

“I’m going to continue to believe that the Legislature really wants to support schools better and maybe in two more years, maybe in one more year, maybe in the short session, maybe we don’t see the economic downturn that was projected. I think the clear message from the state economists was there’s a lot of uncertainty,” she said.

High Desert Education Service District

Parents and caregivers received a letter from Jennifer Faircloth, the executive director of early intervention and early childhood special education at the HDESD, June 13 alerting them that there would be fewer staff next year. Parents and educators asked the board to reconsider the budget at its next meeting, which was ultimately passed without changes. Most of the federal and state funding the HDESD receives is already allocated and can’t be moved around for different programs. The district’s $90.6 million budget is 2% smaller than last year’s, due to cost increases and the end of federal pandemic relief funds given throughout the pandemic.

The early intervention and early childhood special education programs will see an approximately $4 million cut two next years, said officials. Due to changes in local service plans and a $400,000 cut, administration and occupational therapy staffing will experience cuts. Cuts through attrition and staff transfers are being made throughout the organization. The organization is expanding Medicaid billing and the Oregon Department of Education approved prepaying for facilities costs.

The education service district, one of 19 regional providers in the state, partners with the Bend-La Pine, Sisters, Crook County and Redmond school districts.

“We remain concerned about the long-term outlook for state and federal education funding. Annual budget instability—especially in programs serving children with disabilities—makes planning difficult and undermines continuity for families and staff. We urge sustained, adequate investment to support equitable and reliable services across Oregon,” said a statement from the district. “Despite current challenges, HDESD remains deeply committed to the children, families, and districts we serve. Our teams are working hard to ensure that every decision is made with care, flexibility, and student-centered focus.”