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Background

The Plaintiffs

Eighteen plaintiff school districts and four individual families (parents on behalf of their school age children) provide a representative view of the impact of inadequate school funding, resulting in diminished services and fewer opportunities for children across the State of Oregon. The list below identifies the eighteen districts followed by a summary of reductions on several of the districts.

Pendleton School District 16 R
Eugene School District 4J
Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District
Coos Bay School District 9
Corvallis School District 509J
Josephine County Unit/Three Rivers School District
Astoria School District 1C
Creswell School District
Lincoln County School District
Siuslaw School District 97J
Centennial School District
Amity School District 4J
Reynolds School District #7
Coquille School District #8
Parkrose School District #3
Pine Eagle School District #61
Jefferson School District 14J
McKenzie School District

Pendleton School District 16R -- Pendleton attempted to make up legislative funding shortfalls by voting to pass a local option, renewing it for another five years in March 2005. Despite this, they have coped with the impacts of a steady reduction in per-student resources:

State funding to the Pendleton School District last year was reduced by $1,700,000 on top of $3,250,000 lost between 1999 and 2003.
In 1996, the State School Fund grant to Pendleton was $13,871,825; now 10 years later it is $14,955,000 with no allowance for inflation.
They continue to lose seasoned staff at a high rate through attrition. As of spring 2005, they had cut 80 personnel positions including 5 administrators, 45 teachers and 30 support staff.
They continue to hold students and programs harmless wherever possible by asking remaining administrative and teaching staff to do double-, and in some cases, triple-duty.

Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District -- Three years ago, Crow-Applegate-Lorane cut 12 school days from its calendar and reduced program offerings for students (such as vocational courses). In addition to program losses, the district has made substantial cuts to staff and tasked remaining personnel with multiple roles:

A “half-time” Superintendent, Eileen Palmer also serves as the district’s Special Education Coordinator and its Title 1 Coordinator. Superintendent Palmer notes that the administrative requirements of a small district such as Crow are the same as those for larger districts throughout the state. “We have to meet the same requirements and provide the same quality education for our students as any large district. We are simply spread too thin,” she said.
They’ve experienced the loss of high school academic advisors who could help prevent remediation needs of those students who go on to post-secondary education.
Among the smaller districts statewide, Crow currently has 330 students, up from 286 last year.

Eugene School District 4J -- Since the passage of Measures 5 and 47/50, and as funding lost pace with inflation, the Eugene School District has raised class sizes at every level, closed schools to save costs, cut staff positions in all areas, dropped valuable programs and winnowed non-core options like physical education, music, art, technology, library, nurses and counselors:

Eugene has been forced to cut 89 positions due to state funding levels since 2001, with an additional 20 teachers/certified staff due to declining enrollment.
They’ve closed 5 elementary schools while increasing class sizes and reducing instructional programs. Elementary school classes average 28-30 students in many schools.
Since 1990, the district has cut administration and central service staff by 29%.
The student population is changing. Since 2001, the percentage of low-income students has increased from 12% to 34% in 2005. As of 2005, there were 109 students with high-cost special education needs (exceeding $25,000 per year).

Coos Bay School District -- In a community hit particularly hard by an economic downturn in the last few decades, the Coos Bay School District enrollment has decreased by 840 students in the last ten years to approximately 3500 students. In order to consolidate costs and meet the needs of remaining students:

The district has closed three elementary schools displacing over 700 students from neighborhood schools.
Coos Bay has eliminated 4 administrators and 29 teachers along with nearly half of their maintenance personnel.
The only staff increases Coos Bay has seen have been in education support professionals (such as instructional assistants) to meet the growing number of students with disabilities. Coos Bay schools average 16 percent special needs students -- 5 percent higher than the state contribution of 11 percent which typifies the average number of these students statewide.
They will eliminate 14 days of school between this school year and the next.

Corvallis School District 509J -- Also a declining enrollment district, Corvallis has eliminated 198 teaching staff since 1990, a 43% cut. They’ve made difficult program changes and reduced operating costs:

Corvallis has eliminated 48 classified personnel and 12 administrators.
During the same time period, enrollment has dropped by about 455 students with more than 6,700 students currently in the district.
Funding for current textbooks has been nearly non-existent and they’ve reduced operating costs for both building maintenance and district administration.
To further contain costs, Corvallis has closed three schools - two elementary and one middle - and another elementary will close at the end of this school year.
The district attempted to make up some of the financial losses by floating a local option levy in 2004, but it was unsuccessful.

Josephine County Unit/Three Rivers School District -- Covering 1200 square miles, Three Rivers provides critical education services to a widespread population. The large rural district has to contend with many cost drivers outside of its ability to control:

Three Rivers has cut nearly 140 teaching positions since 1994-95.
Three Rivers buses traverse 8750 miles each day to transport approximately 5600 students. Compared to last year, the District has spent between 49 cents and $1.01 more per gallon of fuel this year than last year. On an annual basis, that means a net cost of perhaps $150,000 or more spent on fuel than was budgeted.
Their general fund budget has increased just 9 percent in 10 years, an amount that is eclipsed by inflation and other cost drivers. The total general fund expense in 1995 was $33.6 million; in 2005 it was just under $36,000,000.
At the high school level, many programs that keep students engaged have been reduced or eliminated due to cuts. Vocational classes have been reduced at all three high schools and electives classes reduced at the middle schools.