On Tuesday, voters in Portland overwhelmingly approved the district’s proposed $179 million school budget, which will be accompanied by a 5.68 percent property tax hike.
Nearly half of registered voters in the city cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election. Held during an off-cycle election, the previous budget referendum saw just a ten percent turnout rate.
The now-approved budget will result in a roughly $200 annual hike on a median-priced $566,600 home.
[RELATED: Portland Teachers Union Urges Voters to Reject Proposed School Budget]
While the comfortable approval margin for this year’s budget keeps with the pattern established in prior years, this was not necessarily a given going into the election.
Almost immediately after the Portland City Council unanimously agreed to put the proposed budget on the ballot, the Portland Teachers Union urged its members to reject the plan, citing concerns that it prioritized administration over in-school positions.
Although there was originally talk of cutting 20 positions from the budget, several were restored before the proposal was finalized.
A half-time guidance counselor and a half-time Latin teacher were added back to the budget, but six educational technician positions were still cut in the final draft. Reductions were also left in place for the district’s central and school offices.
Many of the remaining cuts are to positions which are currently vacant.
[RELATED: Portland Residents to Vote on $179M School Budget Carrying Over 5% Property Tax Hike]
At the meeting where councilors approved sending the budget to the ballot, Superintendent Ryan Scallon said the district struggled with making difficult tradeoffs and that “the challenge of this budget is one of managing both fiscal stewardship and experiences and outcomes of our students.”
Union president Dowdy, however, argued at the time that the budget did not reflect the needs of students and that educators were “unsure if Portland voters are aware of this.”
A flier stating the union’s position reads: “Who loses from the misplaced priorities of this budget? Students!”
[RELATED: Portland Teachers Union Reverses Course, Now Urging Voters to Support Proposed School Budget]
This marked the first time in Portland’s history that the teachers union did not support the city’s proposed budget.
Very soon after, however, Portland and the teachers union were able to come to an agreement that prompted the organization to reverse its position, as district leaders vowed to add back five educational technician positions next year, as well as make an effort to reduce administrative costs.
Both the union and the school district then released statements explaining the understanding that had been reached. The teachers union then updated its messaging to be supportive of the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming school year.
Voters approved the proposed budget by a margin of 78 percent Tuesday, with 15,149 ballots for and 4,313 against the plan. 628 ballots were left blank.
