Proposed FY25 Budget Centers Students, Invests in Schools and Is Aligned to the District’s Emerging Strategic Plan
Superintendent Ryan Scallon presented his recommended $161 million school budget proposal for the 2024-2025 school year to the Portland Board of Public Education this past Tuesday. The theme of the Portland Public Schools FY25 budget is “Centering Students,” summarizing the essential priority of this budget.
The budget addresses significant fiscal challenges with strategic reductions and restructuring. It would raise the school portion of the property tax rate by 6.85%, adding about $191 (approximately $16 per month) to the annual tax bill of the median-priced home ($375,000) in Portland. This tax rate increase is significantly below the 17.41% that would be necessary to replace all the $19.4 million in lost revenue and increasing expenses that the district faces.
As the superintendent has been sharing with the Board and the Portland community for several months, fiscal year 25 (FY25) is shaping up to be a very difficult budget year, with unique fiscal challenges such as the loss of about $9.4 million in federal COVID relief funds, relatively flat state funding and increasing expenses. Scallon explained to the Board that the recommended budget required some painful trade-offs to address those challenges, but that the reductions in the budget have been made as far away from students as possible. However, he said, “This budget is not just about cuts. It includes strategic investments to enhance student mental health, and maintains or increases enrichment programs, such as art, music, gym, library, environmental literacy and foreign language. It also retains our current number of multilingual teachers and maintains sports and extracurricular programs, which are key to motivating many students to keep working hard in school and achieve their goals. In other words, this FY25 budget is centered on our students.”
The FY25 budget proposal is aligned with the district’s emerging strategic plan and marks the first time that the district has presented a comprehensive budget of all revenues and expenses. The $161 million budget consists of a local budget of $153.3 million and an additional $7.7 million in additional funds, such as grants and federal Title I funding.
The Portland Public Schools community is encouraged to stay engaged and involved in the budget process. Please read on for information on how to do that. We value your input!
Community Helps Talbot Community School celebrate Read Across America Day
Mar 7 2024 Guest readers were invited from the community to read in classrooms at Talbot Community School during Read Across America Day on March 4. Staff members read to students too. Readers included Talbot Principal Terry Young; retired Talbot teacher Jen Rogers; Talbot Community School Coordinator Kristin Rogers; Riverton Library branch manager Meghan Gilliss; Riverton Park Community Policing Coordinator Johanna Rozzi; CPort Credit Union President Gene Ardito and CFO Kelsey Marquis; and Slugger and Rylee Day from the Portland Sea Dogs.