District attempting to right the ship after a tumultuous year saw cuts to programs, personnel and school days

In spring 2024, the Newberg-Dundee school district saw its budget slashed by millions of dollars amid revelations of financial mismanagement and decreases in enrollment and state funding. The controversy led to the district’s superintendent and top financial officer being driven from their posts and the school board and budget committee undertaking months of work to right the ship.

It appears, if adoption of the proposed 2025-26 budget is successful in June, that the district may be sailing into calmer waters going with an increased budget and four more full-time equivalent employees than last year.

The saga began in mid-January 2024 when a financial audit revealed that the district had a general fund balance of negative $1.23 million. The district, it was found, had started that school year with $7.72 million in its general fund, but lost more than $8.95 million due to a variety of causes.

“Local claims that the district is being dishonest and is not actually in a fiscal crisis are false,” the notice to district patrons said at the time. “We are indeed coming out of a fiscal crisis and it will take many years before our operations fully return to normal after the fiscal mismanagement of the general fund in 2023-24.”

The board and budget committee addressed the deficit by trimming more than 90 full-time equivalent positions, reducing work hours, cutting school days and increasing class sizes.

Fast forward about eight months to mid-March when the budget committee, made up of school board members and volunteers from the community who are appointed, first underwent an orientation to explain their role in the process.

In a following meeting, according to Interim Superintendent Dave Parker, the committee received the proposed 2025-26 budget document and additional information on how to construct the new budget.

In subsequent meetings the committee hashed out the details of the budget, Parker said, including reviewing revisions and additional information, before approving the amended document and setting the taxing rate.

When all was said and done the total budget, approved by the committee and forwarded to the school board, was just under $104 million, an increase of nearly $5.1 million from the $99 million in the 2024-25 budget.

Parker said that because many in the current administration were not involved in last year’s budget process, he could only relay the sentiments of those that were.

“The comments from the committee expressed appreciation and relief, noting that the process was informative, questions and concerns were well-received, and responses from the district were educational and promoted the transparency needed by the community during this rebuilding process,” he said in an email.

In addition to funding all of the district’s services, the budget will pay for 480.81 full-time equivalent personnel, a slight increase (of 4.71 FTE) from the previous year’s level of 476.1. In 2023-24, the district had 550.48 FTE personnel.

Projected enrollment for the 2025-26 school year, which determines how much funding the district will receive from the state, is expected to be roughly 4,662 students in the 10-school district. The district is currently funded for 4,750 students and, under a provision in state law, will get funding for 4,720 students.

Although the final per-student funding level has yet to be determined for the next school year, Parker said estimates from the Oregon Department of Education are in the range of $6,920 per student. When added to local and other state funding mechanisms, the Newberg-Dundee school district will see a per-student funding figure of nearly $11,900.

Gauging the financial health of the district

Officials in districts across the state, Parker said, appear to agree that school funding is insufficient.

“As communicated in other districts, state funding for schools is inadequate, especially as we look to 2025-26,” he said. “Newberg-Dundee Public Schools budgetary issues are compounded by an underfunded system. The approved budget includes a reduction of six school days to maintain the current level of services, compared to the eight days that were reduced during the 2024-25 school year.”

The challenges to public education mount

As the district attempts to deal with budget shortfalls, lagging student enrollment and decreases in personnel, it must also pay attention to other factors.

“Stressors to the available budget moving forward include setting aside funds for high-cost demands such as bargaining agreements, essential curriculum materials and technology replacements,” Parker said. “Increases in costs that are beyond district control include liability and workers’ comp premiums, utility increases and employer pension costs.”