Ballots are processed at the Washington County Elections Office in Hillsboro, Ore., May 21, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Three of Oregon’s largest school districts had measures on the May ballot to either establish or renew levies in their communities.
Portland Public and Eugene appeared to have gotten a “yes” from voters. But others weren’t so lucky.
According to initial results this week, voters in the Bend-La Pine School District are rejecting a new tax levy that district leaders say is needed to maintain class sizes and staffing, add career technical education programs and more.
Bend-La Pine administrators warned voters before the election that if the levy didn’t pass, they’d have to eliminate up to 180 positions over the next two years, and average class sizes would likely increase by four students. They said counseling and support services would be stretched thin, and there would be a 30% reduction in building budgets.
Scott Maben, director of communications for the district, told OPB it’s too early to say if the school board will go back to voters any time soon.
“Superintendent [Steven] Cook will discuss the outcome of this election with the board at an upcoming board meeting,” he wrote in an email Wednesday, “possibly June 18.”
Maben said the district needs time to analyze the results of the election and listen to feedback from voters who did not support the levy request. He said there may be a variety of reasons it didn’t pass, and they want to look into that closely.
However, he acknowledged it wasn’t close. Results as of Wednesday morning showed about 57% of the votes cast were in opposition.
“That’s a clear message that voters are not in favor of adding a local option levy in our district at this time,” Maben said. “We certainly are disappointed in these results, as we believe the priorities we had identified for levy funding are important and deserving of additional investment.”
Local taxes have become a key source of funding for many Oregon schools. That’s especially important this year as districts across the region face tens of millions of dollars in budget deficits. Educators are losing their jobs, and in some cases, entire schools or districts are at risk of being closed.
It’s often easier for districts to renew existing levies — such as those in Portland and Eugene — than to introduce a new tax. In some parts of the state, passing taxes to support schools may fail repeatedly before a district is able to win the support of a majority of voters, as happened in the small Gervais district this election.
Maben said leaders in Bend-La Pine are also focusing their efforts on securing adequate state funding for the 2025-27 biennium.
“We are already deeply engaged in communicating with state leaders regarding the challenges of meeting the needs of our students with the current state of education funding in Oregon,” he wrote. “We will intensify these efforts as we approach the next legislative session.”
Maben said the future financial difficulties caused by the failed levy are separate from current budget conversations.
The school district has already built its proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year, which, like many districts across the state, reduces staffing and other spending. That budget will go to the school board next month for final approval.
The budget for the upcoming school year eliminates close to 60 positions across the district by eliminating vacant positions — rather than through layoffs. Maben said additional cuts may be necessary for the following 2025-26 school year as a result of the vote, but those conversations will be part of the budget process starting next January.