We are grateful for the support, flexibility, and care our staff, students, and families have shown during this challenging time. Navigating uncertain budgets is never easy, and your continued partnership means a great deal to all of us.

As we shared earlier this spring, our school district is planning $4 million in budget reductions for the 2025–26 school year. These reductions include position impacts across all employee groups.

It is important to know that these plans are based on what we understand right now—current projections for state and federal funding, enrollment trends, and available resources. These factors could shift in the months ahead. If additional resources become available, we may be able to restore some positions or services. Likewise, we may need to make additional adjustments if funding decreases further. Our goal is to plan responsibly with our current information and build a stable, sustainable future for our students and schools.

We know this news is difficult and unsettling. Our schools and staff are the heart of this community, and we are committed to being transparent about where we are, why these changes are needed, and how we are moving forward together.

Why Reductions Are Needed

Like many school districts across Oregon, Hood River County School District is facing a budget shortfall due to rising costs, declining enrollment, and flat state funding that has not kept pace with inflation or the growing needs of students. In recent years, we have used state and federal grants and financial reserves to delay reductions and invest in student support. These investments included maintaining small class sizes, strengthening instructional support for teachers, building strong partnerships between schools and families, increasing direct academic and behavioral support for students, and expanding access to social-emotional and mental health care.

These decisions were the right ones for students—but our ability to continue this spending without additional state funding has ended. We must align our staffing and programs with available resources to ensure a stable and sustainable future.

How We Are Making Decisions

Our priority throughout this process has been protecting students and the classroom experience. Wherever possible, we are avoiding layoffs by:

• Not filling positions when employees retire or resign
• Shifting staff into other roles they are qualified for
• Redesigning how some services are delivered

We also take a thoughtful, student-centered approach by reorganizing roles and adjusting services based on enrollment and need.

District-Level and School-Level Reductions

We are reducing positions across administration, licensed, and classified groups. These changes include:

• Instructional coaches: These educators support teachers with curriculum, instructional strategies, and student learning goals. We are eliminating the school-level positions.
• Family engagement specialists: These staff members help build connections between school and home, especially for families navigating language or cultural barriers. We are eliminating these elementary-level positions.
• School psychologist: These professionals provide support for students’ mental health and academic needs. We are reducing our team from four to three school psychologists.
• Student services licensed staff: These staff members support students with special needs, academic interventions, and behavioral services. We are reducing our team from two to one and shifting some responsibilities to school-based teams.
• Teacher mentor/design coach: This role supports new teacher mentoring and instructional coaching. We are reducing this role, and mentoring will now be supported by remaining district-level instructional coaches.
• Executive director position: These district-level leaders oversee various departments. We are reducing the executive director team from five to four, and responsibilities will be redistributed among the remaining leaders.

Classroom Staffing Reductions

We are reducing classroom teacher positions based on enrollment trends and our class size ratio guidelines. After the reductions are made, we anticipate the following average class sizes across our school district:

• Kindergarten: Average class size of 18.70
• Grades 1–3: Average class size of 22.2
• Grades 4–5: Average class size of 23.9
• Middle school: Average class size of 25 
• High school: Average core class size of 30

These projections help guide staffing decisions while keeping class sizes within our target ranges. Even with these changes, our average class sizes remain below the state average and lower than many comparable school districts.

At the elementary level, we will continue to offer programs such as physical education (PE), library, music, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Middle schools will maintain a variety of elective options such as music, band, PE, drama, and STEM. At the high school, students will still have access to a wide range of electives, including health and PE, performing and visual arts, communication/leadership, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways.

We will also continue to have student support specialists and interventionists at all schools. These licensed staff are critical in helping students who need extra academic or behavioral support.

Cascade Locks Elementary

At Cascade Locks Elementary, our smallest school, we will shift to a multi-age classroom model next year. Classes will be combined as follows (with projected student to teacher ratio):

• Kindergarten/1st Grade (22)
• 2nd/3rd Grade (17.3)
• 4th/5th Grade (21)

This model is commonly used in small schools across Oregon and allows for strong relationships, individualized learning, and a consistent learning environment. We are committed to supporting this transition through training, planning time, and ongoing coaching for staff.

Moving Forward

We know these changes impact people—students, educators, and families. These are not decisions we take lightly. Every step has been made with compassion, care, and a focus on our students' well-being. We are grateful for our staff's dedication and our community's support.

If you have questions about what these adjustments mean for your school, please contact your principal or me directly. We are here to listen and provide any clarity you need.

Thank you for standing with us during this time of transition and for continuing to support the students, staff, and schools of Hood River County.