Lee Family Bulletin - March 20

Lee Families,

We have been informed that we are slated to receive fewer funds than this current year. I have met with our staff and received some recommendations for how to use our funds. I also met with the Site Council and received more recommendations. Ultimately, the drop in funding means we've had to make some hard choices.

We made a budget plan that includes one administrative assistant instead of two, one First Grade classroom teacher instead of two, one kindergarten assistant instead of two, no community agent, and three fewer Classified positions in other areas. These changes involve valuable team members that have supported our students and families in many ways. We will have to adjust the way we do our work to make up for this loss.

In the priority list, we maintained supports for our most vulnerable students and families, and we worked to maintain the aspects of our operation that ensure safety and academic growth continues.

These were hard decisions and I appreciate everyone who took the time to give feedback to help me make informed decisions.

The cuts come as a result of a couple of reasons: a drop in school enrollment and expected cuts for school funding at the federal level, plus an increase in the cost of employee salaries and benefits. Fewer students are expected to attend next year - a total of 240 as opposed to the 265 that we currently have. Last year it was predicted that we would enroll 290 students this year and we fell short of that by about 30 students.

These cuts are happening across Portland Public Schools. Many schools are having to blend classes in order to save funds. Some will combine students from 4th and 5th grade and adapt their teaching so that they can save money for a reading interventionist or another crucial role. We chose to fund one of the two teachers lost so we wouldn't have to do that. Currently, we are able to maintain students in single grade levels.

Because we currently are expected to have 27 students in First Grade next year, it's not enough to give us a second teacher. We hope that a few more students will enroll between now and the start of school, enough to trigger a second class. Typically schools like ours are expected to have a maximum of 30 students in each First Grade class. So we're very close to that.

You have probably seen Remind messages from our district office giving you options for how to advocate for increased funding for schools. We hope you will take the time to do that as your voice matters to elected officials who make decisions around school funding. Share the impact of budget cuts to your school.

Please reach out if you have any questions or wish to speak to me directly about these matters. You can find me at the front door most mornings at the start of the school day and you can email me at avelazqu@pps.net.

Principal Velázquez

Please remember that students are unable to use their cell phones at all during the school day. Phones must be turned OFF and put AWAY during school. Phones that are in use during the day will be collected and returned to students' parents/guardians after the school day.