Marysville Message

Unfortunately, the district financial outlook is not good. Across the district and at Marysville we will be forced to have many staff reductions, even though the district has used some of the reserve funds to cover as much of the deficit as possible.

At this time the 24-25 budget will include $30 million in cuts. Since 90% of our budget pays for the costs of operating schools, the impact on schools is unavoidable.

Marysville, like all schools in Portland Public will be facing multiple staff reductions next year.

At Marysville we will need to reduce the number of support services and staff that help outside of the classrooms. I would appreciate hearing from families what things at school are most important to you. We will be facing hard choices, as every position at a school supports students, but we will do our best to maintain positions that are most beneficial to student development. Please complete this short survey to share your thoughts with us.

Thank you for your time and support.

Not everything is all doom and gloom. We do have many opportunities for joy at Marysville this month.

Upcoming events

• Monday, February 19 (President's Day) is a make up instructional day.
  
• Oregon Battle of the Books Saturday 2/24/24
• The Marysville OBOB tournament is quickly approaching! It will be held on Saturday, February 24th at Marysville. The warm welcome is at 9am, so make sure to be there early to sign in your team. We wish the teams the best of luck and may the odds be ever in their favor.
• SURJ Workshop At Marysville Saturday 2/24/24 9am -12:30 pm
• Am I a “Nice White Parent”? Let’s Talk Race, Part 2
• An anti-racism workshop for parents who want to end racism in schools.
• Marysville Black History Month Evening Celebration 2/29 5-7pm

• Book Fair sponsored by Third Eye Books

• 82nd Ave Improvement Public Comment
  

• Affinity Group Information Tables

• Student performances

• Dance and Drumming Performances

• Food

• Black History Month Scavenger Hunt Participation Prizes
• During our Black History Month celebration, we will be hosting Third Eye Books for a book fair! If you would like to make a donation to buy books for our students in need, please send a Venmo to Ms. Tucker (@Catherine-Tucker-1) before February 29th.

• Throughout the month of February, Marysville students have the opportunity to complete a history scavenger hunt. If you would like to participate with your child this slide show contains all of the posters with the information for the hunt. This year we will have small prizes for participation and we encourage everyone to give it a try. Link to the Scavenger Hunt Sheet or ask for a copy in the school front office.

The state legislature could make a difference by allocating more money to the school district to help cover the cost of living increases that district staff will receive. The state has already provided this cost of living increase to other state workers, but did not budget it for educational staff.

Please encourage state officials to make up the difference in funding for our students to avoid drastic school cuts. Below is a draft letter that could be sent. Here is a link to a slide presentation for more advocacy ideas.

Or Join other families from around the state in a rally at the capital On Monday, February 19, the district has scheduled a student and Board day of action. They will begin the day at the Reed in Salem at 9:30 AM to discuss the legislative session and prepare for meetings with legislators, attend a floor session, and meet with lawmakers at the Capitol from 1:30 - 4:30 PM about the Board’s legislative priorities. If you have questions about this day of action, please contact Lisa Merrick, our liaison for governmental affairs.

Recipients:

1. Hon. Governor Tina Kotek

2. Dr. Charlene Williams, Director of Oregon Department of Education

3. State Legislators

1. Sen. Michael Dembrow (retiring – but Education chair)

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1723

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR 97301

Email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov

Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/dembrow

1. Rep. Khanh Pham (HD 46 - SE Portland, running for Senate seat; open House seat)

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1446

Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-274, Salem, OR 97301

Email: Rep.KhanhPham@oregonlegislature.gov

Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/pham

1. Cc:

1. School Board

2. PPS Superintendent

3. Oregon Education Association/Portland Association of Teachers

4. Oregon School Boards Association

5. OPB

6. Oregonian

7. Willamette Week

Message: Urgent Action Needed To Increase Oregon’s K-12 Funding

To Whom It May Concern:

As a parent of a student at Marysville within Portland Public Schools, I am writing to request you urgently take steps to increase state funding for K-12 education in Oregon. The Marysville School community has become focused on the poor state of school funding and the negative impact underfunded schools have on all of our quality of life.

Our schools face aging facilities, large class sizes, racial disparities in educational outcomes, unprecedented student mental health challenges, and continued learning loss and upheaval from the COVID-19 pandemic. Historic inflation also means that housing prices and living costs are placing incredible burdens on students and their families, plus teachers and other school staff.

School funding in Oregon has suffered since the passage of Measures 5 and 50 in the 1990s. The amount Oregon spends per pupil is well below the national average, and several thousand dollars per year less than neighboring Washington state spends. And with federal pandemic funding sources no longer available, schools continue to make do with far less than Oregon’s own Quality Education Model says is needed to provide sufficient resources.

We understand that school funding is complex, but do not let that complexity lead to complacency! There are actions you can take now to tackle this essential issue for our state.

We ask you to take immediate action to address this crisis in school funding:

1. Acknowledge that Oregon has historically underfunded the K-12 school system, leading to school systems that lack basic supports needed for our kids

2. Immediately create plans for legislation during the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions to address known shortfalls in state funding

3. Build the political consensus that constitutional kicker reform must be part of the longer-term solution to Oregon’s school funding problem

4. Create a new office within the Oregon Department of Education to ensure that school funding is best used to address the numerous shortfalls in our schools through improvements that directly benefit students in the classroom.

5. Elevate the voices of students, parents, teachers, school staff, parent-teacher associations, and other community stakeholders whose ideas about how to fund schools better should be valued.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue and your current and future efforts to improve school funding. Our children, our community, and our whole state are counting on your success!