The Tigard-Tualatin School District cut roughly 21 positions this spring, reducing theater classes and teaching staff at Tualatin High School.
The TTSD board approved the reductions at its April 6 meeting to address a budget shortfall initially estimated at $5.5 million. That gap has since grown.
TTSD Communications Director Alexander Pulaski told Tualatin Life the deficit could reach $7.2 million after revisions to state and local funding projections.
Nineteen of the eliminated positions were instructional. The district cut 34 positions total and added 13, Pulaski said, for the net reduction of 21. About 15 of those fell at the elementary level and six at the secondary level.
Students pushed back.
Max Harden, a Tualatin High student, wrote in The Wolf, the school's student newspaper, that the cuts felt disrespectful to students and appeared to target staff and theater while sports funding continued. "It was theatre and staff this year, but one can only wonder what will remain when these cuts continue to be made," Harden wrote in the Aug. 24 opinion piece. He also questioned the district's purchase of phone lockers he described as unused.
Board Chair Jill Zurschmeide defended the vote at the April 6 meeting, saying the cuts were something "the grownups in the room have to do."
Staff cuts were projected to recoup $3.2 million of the shortfall.
Another $912,000 came from reductions to partnership contracts, transportation and supplies. The board said it would address the remaining $1 million through additional program review.
Superintendent Iton Udosenata said most cuts would be absorbed through attrition, with very few layoff notices going to staff.
At the board's April 20 meeting, Udosenata acknowledged that complaints about the small number of administrative reductions were "fair" and said the board planned to reexamine administrative staffing. He noted the district had already reduced executive and cabinet-level positions in prior years.
The district's proposed 2025–2026 revenue was about $178 million against expenses exceeding $180 million, with salaries accounting for roughly $88 million.
Chief Financial Officer Jessica Seay warned at a board meeting in May 2025 that the district could no longer rely on reserves to sustain operations.
Hazelbrook Middle School learning specialist Riley Shotts urged the board during public comment on April 6 to increase pay to honor staff members' work.
TTSD data and budget analyst Scott Burich told the board at the same meeting that members of the Oregon School Employees Association were struggling.
This year's reduction was smaller than last year's, when 75 full-time-equivalent positions were affected, Pulaski said.
Regular TTSD board meetings are held at the district Training Center, 9550 SW Murdock St. in Tigard, and are live-streamed on the district's YouTube channel.
