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PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — Portland Public Schools says it will use pandemic-related federal relief money and state education funds to limit staff layoffs and school impacts, in light of a projected 8% drop in student enrollment. The teachers union is telling a different story, saying the district will likely cut 120 teaching positions.

The school district announced Wednesday, Feb. 16, that it expects to lose 3,400 students by the 2022-23 school year. PPS said it’s using one-time federal money to “strategically maintain more than 40 student-facing positions next year.”

“What we are seeing in Portland is being felt across the state — and country,” said Renard Adams, chief of research, assessment and accountability at PPS. “Pandemic conditions have led to a precipitous drop in enrollment nationwide. Our analysis shows a variety of factors at play, including declining birth rates and individual choices families have made during the pandemic.”

District leaders indirectly acknowledged that many families ditched traditional public school during the pandemic, opting for homeschool or online academies. Others just never enrolled their youths in the district, as evidenced by the large decline in kindergarten and lower grade students.

Huge loses in lower grades

In Portland, the biggest declines are at the elementary level. PPS logged a 20% drop in elementary school enrollment over the course of three years.

One thing that likely won’t change? Enrollment levels at the high schools.

PPS said most elementary schools won’t see major changes in their homerooms. The district is aiming for no more than 15% impact at its K-5 schools, regardless of enrollment changes.

For students who receive special education, PPS plans to reduce staffing by about half a dozen student-facing positions.

No layoffs or school closures are planned, but PPS does expect to lose 7% of its teachers due to attrition.

“PPS is not projecting a decline in enrollment that would lead to closing a school entirely,” Ariane Le Chevallier, communications adviser for PPS, said by phone Wednesday. “For the past two years (during the pandemic), we have not decreased any staffing. We kept the staffing levels the same. However, we’ve seen a 21% decline in enrollment over the past three years. A lot of that is in kindergarten, K-5.”

Le Chevallier said at schools with low enrollment, some teachers may be reassigned to other schools.

While the district stressed the staff it plans to keep, teachers are calling attention to the expected loss of 120 teaching positions.

“Next year, we expect PPS to have more funding than we have ever seen. So we were shocked to learn this week that instead of taking this opportunity to invest in smaller class sizes and direct supports to students, PPS is planning to cut approximately 120 educators from schools,” a Feb. 16 message from the Portland Association of Teachers states. “While PPS wrote to PPS families today about ‘maintaining’ 40 positions, they did not mention the 121 elementary and middle school teacher positions they plan to cut from classrooms across the District. They also failed to mention that there is no budget shortfall necessitating ANY cuts from schools.”

PPS officials said the district is trying to prioritize keeping classroom sizes small, by funding 14 additional homeroom teachers in K-5 schools, but didn’t touch on the number of positions likely to be cut.

n an effort to maintain positions, PPS will use federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) money, which districts received during the pandemic, as well as Student Investment Account dollars, which are state monies created by the Student Success Act.

School counselors won’t be cut, and the district plans to hire 10 more full-time art teachers, while using general fund monies to supplement declining money from the Portland Arts Tax to keep four and a half full-time positions for arts teachers across nine schools.

“While we are forecasting fewer dollars to operate schools generally as a result of declining student enrollment, we also are grateful to have targeted state and one-time federal investments to limit the impact of this enrollment change school districts all across Oregon are facing,” said PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero. “Fortunately, these one-time dollars will maintain our commitment to advancing key staffing priorities, including making progress towards our class size goals, a continued focus on direct student supports, and growing access to arts education.”

Guerrero plans to bring a budget to the school board for consideration in late April, with final board approval expected in June.

This story has been updated with additional reporting since it was first published.