Eugene School District 4J has a complicated budget season ahead. As it prepares for another round of budget reductions, officials project a structural deficit of $30 million to $35.5 million for the 2027-28 school year.
At its Oct. 21 work session, the school board authorized Superintendent Miriam Mickelson and district staff to begin planning reductions in force. The resolution does not approve specific job cuts yet, but sets the stage for decisions that may unfold over the coming months.
“Given the size of the projected deficit and our declining enrollment, as superintendent, I cannot promise that school based staffing will be unaffected,” Mickelson told the board.
The district navigated a similar process last year, eliminating more than 260 jobs as it worked to address a projected $30 million shortfall. Officials say the latest deficit reflects continuing financial pressures, including declining enrollment, rising costs and the loss of temporary federal pandemic funding.
Interim Director of Finance Bob Blyth said the district added about 600 full-time equivalent positions between 2020 and 2025. Many were intended to provide additional behavioral support, reduce class sizes and help students adjust to returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But some of that expansion relied on federal pandemic relief funds that have since expired.
“Obviously, that’s not sustainable over the long term, especially as those federal dollars went away,” Blyth said.
The district’s enrollment has also declined by around 600 students this year. Blyth said Oregon schools are seeing enrollment declines statewide, but 4J is losing students at a faster rate in percentage terms.
The district began the current 2026-27 school year with a $16.4 million gap between projected operating revenue and expenditures. It balanced that budget using a one-time relief that included a $10 million transfer from its facilities reserve, $2.9 million in revenue from building sales and a drawdown of its fund balance.
Blyth said those measures cannot continue to fill the gap year after year.
The district is also changing how it tracks its finances after last year’s budget process. Blyth said one lesson was the need to revisit assumptions regularly as costs and revenues evolve, rather than leaning solely on an early forecast.
“Another thing that we learned from last year is that we cannot stop looking at things every single month,” Blyth said.
He said the district will continue updating its projections and will report significant changes to the board. Mickelson also said finance and human resources staff are working more closely to ensure staffing decisions are reflected accurately in the budget.
For 2027-28, the size of the projected deficit depends partly on how much funding Oregon allocates to public schools. Blyth said, under one scenario–a tentative 8.5% increase in the state school fund–4J projects a deficit of about $30 million. Under a more conservative 4.5% increase, the shortfall could reach $35.5 million.
Uncertainty around the state’s next two-year budget cycle complicates forecasting. This year’s gubernatorial election could also delay the release of the governor’s funding proposal, leaving districts with less time to make decisions, officials said.
4J plans to approach reductions in two phases. In December, Mickelson expects to bring proposals involving possible high school bell schedule changes, leadership positions and district department reductions. In February, the district expects to consider school-level staffing reductions, including adjustments tied to class sizes and declining enrollment.
Mickelson said the district’s guiding principles are to prioritize direct student services, align staffing with enrollment and limit one-time fixes. The district plans to hold listening sessions and gather feedback through surveys as it develops its budget proposal, which is expected to go before the budget committee and school board for approval in May or June.
