Superintendent announces millions of dollars in budget cuts for Salem-Keizer

SALEM, Ore. (KPTV) - The superintendent for Salem-Keizer Public Schools says the district will have to make $70 million worth of cuts for this school year.

Right now, the district is addressing the first $30 million in cuts, which Superintendent Andrea Castañeda says will not impact students, but the other $40 million in cuts, which will come later in the school year, will impact students.

It’s not entirely sure what that impact will look like, but that is how the superintendent framed it Wednesday during a video message where she detailed the first $7 million in recommended reductions.

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The announcement comes just days after Portland Public Schools teachers ended their nearly month-long strike over financial issues with their district.

“I need to be clear: that Salem-Keizer Public Schools’ financial situation is significantly worse than Portland. Although we are close in size and we serve a community with far greater and complex need, Portland Public Schools receives $115 million a year in funding that we do not,” Castañeda said. “This budget message is scary and it’s hard to say, it’s hard to hear, but we can’t change the truth. We have to take action. We’re entering a period in which we need to make do with less and we are creating the plans to do so.”

Castañeda says the district will share another set of proposed budget cuts Thursday, and by the end of next week the district will share the entire package.

Here is some of what the district is proposing, at least for right now:

There will also be a reduction in district purchasing, including investments in technology.

A suspension in the purchasing of new district vehicles.

A reduction in conference travel programs, like Avid and dual language instruction.

This is just a preliminary understanding of where the money for the budget cuts could be coming from, but the district should release more by the end of next week.

The announcement comes a day after Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced her plan to address school funding in the next Legislative session, which doesn’t start until 2025.