Portland Schools: Superintendent Proposes $592 Million Budget

Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith Tuesday proposed a $592 million budget that keeps recently hired staff, adds new teachers, focuses on literacy, and tries to build on recent accomplishments.

"In this budget, we are able to sustain the increased investment in school staffing that we made in the current year, as well as provide resources for key initiatives to improve outcomes for our students and to improve our ability to provide robust and equitable offerings in all of our schools," Smith told the board.

The budget includes $6.5 million in funds made available from additional property taxes and limiting increases in certain expenditures.

"Our ability to make and sustain these investments is, in part, thanks to the generosity of PPS voters who supported a renewal of our local option levy in November 2014," Smith said.

Smith said a major goal is to build on recent accomplishments including the recent growth in the graduation rate, which has increased 21 percent since 2008-2009 and is the highest its been since 2000.

To do this, she proposes:

• Maintaining the more than 200 school staff positions added last year and this year– including teachers, educational assistants, secretaries, counselors, college/career coordinators, media specialists, literacy coaches and campus security agents.
• Maintaining the staffing formulas from this year.
• Hiring new teachers and support staff to support enrollment growth – expected at 650 additional students in 2016-17 and 5,000 more students over the next decade. (Current enrollment is 49,075 students.)

Smith says that while the district's financial picture is stable, some schools will see staffing cuts because of changes in enrollment.