Eugene School District 4J

The proposed staffing reductions are roughly proportional across all employee groups, including managers, administrators, professionals and supervisors. The district’s proposed budget has personnel staffing reductions of 65.80 FTE (full-time equivalent) positions:

• Licensed — 46.0 of 1,104 total FTE, or 4.2% of this year’s general fund licensed staff (licensed make up about 49% of all 4J employees)
• Classified —12.8 of 986 total FTE, or 1.3% of this year’s general fund classified staff (classified make up about 44% of all 4J employees)
• MAPS/unrepresented — 7.0 of 177 total FTE, or 4.0% of this year’s of general fund MAPS/unrepresented staff (MAPS/unrepresented make up about 8% of all 4J employees)

"Administrators" in 4J usually refers to staff members who are not part of the licensed or classified groups: managers, administrators, professionals and supervisors (MAPS) and the unrepresented employees including directors and executives. There are 177 of these positions (55 principals, 28 instructional, 69 operational and 25 unrepresented), making up 8% of 4J’s employees.

The “reserves” consist of several separate accounts, including contingency, unappropriated funds, and rollover funds from the previous year. In the current 2024-25 budget, the district initially had about $75 million in reserves. The district budgeted to spend about $29 million of that for this current year. In the proposed 2025-26 budget, the district will be spending an additional $23 million of the reserves. This will leave an estimated $23 million left in reserves going into the 2026-27 year. School board policy requires reserves of at least 8% of the general fund budget, or about $21 million.

We build the elementary staffing on class size maximums, doing our best to avoid blended grade classrooms when possible, and using the needs index when applying the class size maximums by school. Our needs index is a composite index that sums up a school's demographic population considering Community Eligibility Provision (formerly known as Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility), Special Education identification, English Language Learner identification, and Student Mobility. Except in a few cases, schools were provided enough classroom staffing to have single grade classes. As a general guideline we targeted class size of no more than 25 students in K, no more than 26/27 in first grade, no more than 28/29 in second grade and no more than 30 in all other grades. Other resources (which may or may not include FTE) are also allocated to buildings based on enrollment and other factors, including factors related to the needs index. Funding for those other resources come from a variety of sources and can be dependent on state formulas, funding availability and other factors that vary year to year.

Secondary staffing is based on the total number of students enrolled or projected and the number of students per grade level. As a general guideline, we try to keep core subject class sizes to approximately 27:1 in middle school and 30:1 in high school. As with elementary, the needs index is used when looking at class sizes and/or allocation of resources. Other resources are allocated to our secondary schools in the same manner as our elementary and vary year to year and by school.

Some schools receive additional funding through Title and other programs that other schools may not. Not all licensed FTE are classroom teachers. Some buildings have been staffed at higher rates in recent years supported by federal pandemic relief funding that is no longer available, and the district (after maintaining staffing using reserves) must now align spending with current enrollment and revenue.

Title I funds provide additional support to schools serving high percentages of students from low-income backgrounds. Allocations are determined on a per-student basis, using eligibility data from the Community Eligibility Provision (formerly known as Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility):

• 60% or more eligible → $1,450 per student
• 50%–59.99% eligible → $1,375 per student
• 35%–49.99% eligible → $1,275 per student

While the Oregon Department of Education recommends funding schools with poverty rates of 40% or higher, our district has chosen to include schools at 35% and above. Schools below the 35% threshold did not qualify for Title I funds under our current model. If your school qualifies for Title I funding, the distribution will be divided up for each building qualified based on the above allocation. 

Third grade reading is absolutely a priority in the district, along with high school graduation, high school completion, student attendance, and student mental health, etc., and all of the other initiatives that were prioritized at that time. We are continuing to support students being proficient readers by third grade through our new curriculum adoption and implementation. We have added instructional coaches to each elementary school that support the improvement of classroom reading instruction for each classroom. We are also piloting high-dosage tutoring in our highest-needs elementary schools. The funding from the Oregon Department of Education has not increased at a rate that matches the staffing cost increases over time. We initially funded each section of first grade with three hours of educational assistant time. In recent years this was reduced to two hours per classroom. This year we were unable to maintain this level of support for our first grade classrooms.

This year, the district is spending almost $30 million more than its revenue and is using reserves to balance the budget. The current proposed budget (as of April 4, 2025) uses about $23 million more in reserves to help fill the revenue gap that has continued to grow. This use of reserves can't continue indefinitely. The reserves would be emptied after another year and, without further reductions, the district would still have spending above its shrinking revenue. Board policy requires reserves of at least 8 percent of the budget. Over the next few years 4J must align its spending with its declining enrollment and revenue

Since 2021-22 the district increased staffing 37 percent, enabled by one-time federal pandemic relief funds. Those funds are expended and can't be renewed. District enrollment has continued to decline, which means less ongoing money from the state which makes up the bulk of 4J's revenue.  

Birth rates in our region have been slowly declining, entering kindergarten classes have been smaller than exiting senior classes. Also, high housing costs and low availability make it challenging for young families to move into 4J’s boundaries. 

District reserves grew in previous years when federal pandemic relief funds were available, and other district spending was less than projected while other incoming revenue was higher. 

The district is using almost $30 million in reserves this year and has proposed using around $23 million in 2025-26; that spending rate can't continue and reserves would run out. Like a savings account at home, once reserves are spent, they are gone unless you find a way to to save more money to replenish them. A sound budget means spending within the amount coming in, while keeping some savings for emergencies. Reserves, or contingency, is more important than ever with uncertainty about the future of federal funding. If some funds don't arrive as expected the district will need those "savings" to pay its bills. 

Of the cuts in the April 4 proposed budget, 80 percent are outside the classroom. 

The district listed the Wells Fargo building for sale in June 2024. Proceeds from a sale could offset future budget cuts. 

It doesn't. The six executive jobs in 4J include a chief of staff, a chief of operations, and assistant superintendents for instruction and access; student support services and well-being; equity, inclusion and belonging; and administrative services. These six employees oversee the district's core functions, and the positions have existed in various titles in 4J for more than 25 years. Compared to other districts in Oregon of similar enrollment (within 3,000 students), one has 10 executives, two have nine and one has seven.