Oregon schools have some of the shortest school years in the country. And when budgets are cut in the middle of a year, sometimes school boards make those school years even shorter.
Under an executive order issued Thursday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek wants to stop that.
FILE — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek at a ceremony where she signed $30 milllion summer school funding bill. It was about $20 million less than she had advocated state lawmakers pass.
Courtesy of Gov. Tina Kotek / Oregon Capital Chronicle
Kotek’s order outlines several steps to keep school years intact, even as administrators and school board members face rising costs, insufficient revenue and limited options to balance the budget.
School districts including Portland and Reynolds voted earlier this year to shorten their school years to deal with mid-year budget cuts.
The governor’s order prohibits the Oregon Department of Education from issuing “waivers” of instructional time requirements — which ODE has routinely approved over the years when school districts in difficult financial situations have requested them. Kotek is also calling on school districts that have already approved instructional time reductions below minimum requirements to restore the time by the start of the 2027-28 school year.
Kotek’s order also seeks two broader changes to instructional time guidelines. One would no longer count certain uses of time as “instruction.” Under current state regulations, schools can include “non-classroom activities” as instructional time, including time teachers spend receiving professional development and meetings they have with parents. The order also spurs the State Board of Education to “immediately prioritize policies that prevent any further reductions in student instructional time due to budget or operational pressures.”
This story will be updated.
