SALEM, Ore. — Salem-Keizer Public Schools announced Thursday that it plans to cut over 400 positions within the district, the majority of them teachers.
The second-largest school district in Oregon is preparing over $70 million in budget cuts, the "largest in over a decade." Staff reductions total 392.75 FTE, full-time equivalent positions — 1.0 FTE equals one full-time staff member.
The district estimates 231.4 full-time positions set to be reduced would include elementary, middle school and high school teachers, instructional mentors and program associates, while 114.25 full-time positions include graduation coaches, instructional assistants, school-based health assistants and other staff. Eight full-time positions include administrators.
"Over 400 positions will be lost," said Superintendent Andrea Castañeda in a press briefing Thursday afternoon, adding that the district expects at least 800 transfers between departments and within the school system. Some positions will face reduced hours, not full elimination, she clarified.
Castañeda, who has long criticized the state's education funding system, called these round of cuts the result of "a pretty broken funding formula."
In late March, Salem-Keizer teachers reached a tentative agreement with the district on a new two-year contract, avoiding a strike. The teachers union and district leaders bargained for nearly a year on a new collective bargaining agreement, with the biggest sticking point over teacher workload.
During bargaining, members of the teachers union said they believed too much funding was going toward administrative positions.
Castañeda said Thursday that district employees will be notified by Wednesday, May 17, a day where school will be closed for a planned staff meeting.
Salem-Keizer will hold Monday and Tuesday board meetings for public comment, and on Tuesday, the board is expected to take action to "accentuate the layoffs of over 400 positions" and "trigger about 800 bumps in system," Castañeda said. That process will take a full month because of the scale of the shake-up.
These reduction choices will be based on seniority, as well as protected categories, such as dual- and multi-language, mental and behavioral health, and special education programs, Castañeda said. She added library services are also not part of the planned reductions or cuts.
Some staffing reductions include special education and graduation coaches, though Castañeda reiterated that she was unsure of which specific programs will be cut. The district did not consider the option of consolidating schools.
The cut to graduation coaches comes at a time when Salem-Keizer is struggling with chronic absenteeism. Last year, 48% of students were chronically absent district-wide, meaning they missed at least 10% of school days. Graduation coaches work with families to ensure students are in class as much as possible. Last week, they told KGW they need more staff.
"We really hope we're getting the bulk of this over," Castañeda said, continuing, "These are valued, trusted adults in young people's lives...an incredibly intimate and painful reduction."
In a statement responding to the proposed cuts, the Salem Keizer Education Association (SKEA) said though they anticipated employee cuts as COVID-19-era funds end, they "do not agree with many of the choices the District is making."
"Before and after the pandemic, the District had been spending more than our budget should have allowed. Many of these expenditures went to District level staff and projects at the expense of our schools all while student enrollment was declining," SKEA said, in part, in an emailed statement.
"... These cuts represent the District’s priorities," the organization continued. "The bulk of the cuts are coming from classroom teachers at a larger percentage rate than administrators, managers and other staff at the District level, not in schools.
We are disappointed by our District leaders not prioritizing student facing positions. We believe the choices will harm our schools and ultimately our students."
Castañeda said in Thursday's press briefing that the district has briefed Oregon lawmakers on the cuts throughout the process.
Salem-Keizer is among many Oregon and Washington public school districts that have announced large budget cuts for the 2024-25 school year, including Portland, Vancouver and Evergreen.