PHOENIX, Ore. – The Phoenix-Talent School District is in a financial bind because of last year’s wildfires.
In Oregon, each student brings in a certain amount of money. Because of the Almeda Fire, the school district lost around 350 students, which equates to roughly $3 million.
Legislation that was supposed to pass would’ve allowed districts to use their enrollment numbers from the 2019-2020 school year, but that didn’t happen.
Phoenix-Talent School District Superintendent Brent Barry said, “I just can’t imagine if this doesn’t come to fruition in the legislative session. It’ll be a devastating effect on our students, our families, our community, our staff, and you know we’re just holding out hope.”
District leaders in fire-affected areas say they budgeted for the funding they were told they would have. Now that is not coming through, districts could be hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars in debt if the legislation isn’t fixed.
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