Final two of four public informational sessions set for Wednesday, Thursday nights

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

A budget crisis didn’t stop Ashland schools Superintendent Joseph Hattrick Monday night from vowing to turn a fiscal corner within a few years with the community’s help.

“While the picture we painted may be grim, I’m confident we can address and solve the problems facing the district,” Hattrick said.

He spoke Monday night before an audience of about 50 parents and school staff at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre during the first of four public outreach sessions this week.

The Ashland School Board is scheduled to meet Dec. 12 to discuss some of the preliminary proposals to deal with the budget hole, such as potentially cutting the number of school days this year.

Some of the schools already have extra days in their calendar beyond what is required by the state for instructional time.

Each day of school costs the Ashland School District roughly $150,000, Hattrick said.

In the current school year, the district is looking at a $1 million hole, but it wants to find ways to cut $2.2 million to provide a financial cushion going forward.

Hattrick said that if the district does have fewer instructional days this year than the state requirement, he doesn’t expect it to continue into the 2025-2026 school year.

One of the main reasons for the financial difficulties is the district has increased staffing even though enrollment has declined by 300 students, a lopsided situation that arose during the pandemic.

The current financial situation was delayed by temporary dollars flowing from the U.S. Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which helped schools through the pandemic.

A graph showing the disparity between staffing and enrollment was displayed during Monday’s public outreach.

Hattrick, who was aware of the financial woes of the district before taking over as superintendent July 1, said he wants to do more than just turn the corner on this budget crisis. He wants to end an ongoing cycle of budget crisises and get the district on a more sustainable path.

“I really believe in the power of community,” Hattrick said. “If we do this together, we will be successful.”

He said he anticipates short-term cost-cutting efforts with an eye to developing a more longer-term budget.

Hattrick said he previously worked for a district that had a budget crisis, but it was turned around in four years, ending with strong reserves to better weather lean times.

“We have to get out of this system of instability,” he said. “I want this to be the last time we talk about this.”

An unstable budget situation affects the community and staff working at the schools, Hattrick said.
“I understand what this does to a school district, what this does to a community,” he said.

Hattrick said the district will need to do a better job reaching out to families who no longer have children enrolled in schools.

Some of the parents who took their children out of the district expressed frustration at the online school efforts, Hattrick said, while others had negative perceptions around substance abuse at the high school.

One audience member asked Hattrick if more draconian efforts were being considered, such as closing a campus.

“Everything is discussable at this point,” Hattrick said.

Another person wondered if services could be farmed out to a third party to cut costs.

Hattrick said third-party providers generally cost the district more than the services provide by staff and would also require approval from the union.

An audience member wondered if the district could make cuts in the special education department.

Hattrick said the district can’t cut special education because it’s a federally mandated program.

Other special programs, such as nutrition services, receive grants but also require financial support from the district, and Hattrick said an effort will be made to reduce the district financial support where it can.

Responding to a question about who’s to blame for the budget situation, Hattrick said the district has identified why it is in this situation.

But, he said, rather than finger pointing, he preferred to look ahead to solving the financial crisis.

“We have to get off this roller coaster,” he said.

Another audience member cited low morale at the high school.

Hattrick said he thinks the budget and the relationship between staff and students are strongly related.

If the budget crisis can be solved and the district finds itself on a sure financial footing, he said it will have a positive impact on morale.

The district currently has already been more cautious about hiring staff, requiring strong justification.

If someone resigns from a position, an evaluation will take place to determine if that position really needs to be filled, he said.

Many of the district credit cards, used to buy supplies and other items, have been taken away, he said.

He said these few little tweaks have already changed the trajectory of going deeper into the hole.

Other “system’s changes” will be done over the next year.

Ultimately, Hattrick said the district will develop a plan to end the cycle of financial instability over a multi-year period.

Audience members and the district welcomed Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s proposed $11.4 billion budget for schools, an increase from the current $10.2 billion.

Hattrick said the district didn’t have enough information yet to determine how that increase might affect the district’s budget shortfall.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].