Lincoln County School District Adjusts To Budget Cuts

Lincoln County School District is preparing to cut about $5 million from its general operating budget next year, driven largely by a steady decline in student enrollment that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Lincoln County School District Superintendent Dr. Majalise Tolan said the district has been losing roughly 100 students per year for several years. Because state funding follows students, fewer enrollments mean less revenue, forcing reductions across the system.

Those cuts are hitting both classrooms and administration. With 11 buildings spread across the county, Tolan said the enrollment decline is spread thinly across many schools rather than concentrated in one community. That pattern has led to classroom-level reductions, especially in smaller elementary schools, as well as cuts to some elementary administrative positions and district office roles.

Tolan emphasized that the district’s top priority is preserving a full school year. Some districts around Oregon have balanced their budgets by cutting instructional days, but a recent executive order from the governor now prohibits using the calendar to balance budgets. “We really worked hard this year to make other reductions so that we could protect the school day,” Tolan said, adding that the new executive order will force districts statewide to rethink how they approach reductions.

The superintendent linked the enrollment decline to broader demographic trends: lower birth rates, fewer people moving into Oregon than leaving, and an estimated statewide loss of about 30,000 students during and after COVID. While homeschooling and private schools do affect district numbers, Tolan said homeschooling has long had stable “pockets of strength” in Lincoln County rather than being a new, sharply rising factor.

On staffing, the district reduced 19 teaching positions but did so almost entirely through attrition: retirements, resignations, and unfilled vacancies. Midway through the year, the district began holding some openings vacant and restructuring internally, using those savings to help close the $5 million gap.

Even with reductions, some positions remain hard to fill, including special education teachers and school psychologists. The district continues to rely on its “Grow Your Own” programs to build staff capacity, including a recognized teacher pipeline and an internal administrative cohort that meets every two years. This coming year, the district is also launching an ESOL (English as a Second Language/English language development) endorsement cohort for current teachers.

Tolan stressed that recent budget cuts are separate from the school bond voters approved last year. Bond dollars are restricted to facilities and capital projects and cannot be used to pay for classroom teachers or general operations. “Although we’re seeing reductions, we’re also seeing major improvements in the district,” she said, noting that bond funds must be spent as promised to voters and cannot be diverted to cover the operating shortfall.

Grants and community partnerships are playing an increasingly important role in maintaining programs, especially summer learning. In prior years, Lincoln County School District received more than $1 million in state summer learning funds and offered K–12 programming with field experiences for older students.

This year, with less money available statewide and Lincoln County scoring relatively low in the state’s funding formula, the district scaled back its request to just over $500,000 to improve its chances of receiving the full amount. The resulting program will focus on K–6 students, early literacy, and hands-on learning. The district will partner with Neighbors for Kids and Yachats Youth and Families Program, among others, to deliver services.

Tolan said the decision means fewer options for middle and high school students compared to last summer, but she was concerned that a larger request might have left Lincoln County without any grant at all. Community partners are also under new pressure. The state now requires that partner organizations meet many of the same guidelines imposed on school districts in order to participate in certain grants. Tolan said Lincoln County is fortunate to have long-standing partners—from libraries to literacy nonprofits—willing to adjust their programs to meet those standards so that students do not lose access to services.

She described those partnerships as essential to the district’s ability to respond to funding shifts and continue providing enrichment, particularly during the summer months.

As Lincoln County School District heads into another year of “reduction mode,” district leaders say they will continue balancing demographic and financial pressures with efforts to protect instructional time and maintain programs, even as the landscape of grants, regulations, and enrollment keeps changing.