2026-27 Budget Survey Results and Summary

At the beginning of this month, we shared our proposed budget reductions for the 2026-27 school year to address our budget gap. We then held two public engagement events and launched a survey to ensure we heard from our community about these important decisions.

We are frequently asked how much of our budget goes to schools and classrooms and how much goes to central office services. The video below provides a clear breakdown of how our current year’s general fund is used to operate our 65 schools and serve our 37,000 students.

Survey summary

We are grateful for the dozens of people who attended our in-person events and the 2,000 people who completed the survey.

This is who we heard from:

• Parents/guardians: 40%
• Staff: 23%
• Community members: 8%
• Students: 5%
• Unidentified: 24%

Survey Results

Our proposal recommended reductions to our central office budgets first to shield schools as much as possible. Most people agreed with this approach:

Yes: 67% 
Not sure: 20% 
No: 13% 

Our proposal recommended reducing school staff in alignment with declining student enrollment, rather than reducing programs and services. The results were split:

Do not agree: 49% 
I don’t like it, but it makes sense: 31% 
Agree: 10% 
Unsure: 10% 

Our proposal also included an investment in elementary grades to reduce the number of blended grade classrooms. Most people agreed with this recommendation:

Yes: 68% 
Not sure: 19% 
No: 13%

Survey feedback

Our proposed reductions align with many of the themes in the survey.

We are putting students at the center and are maintaining the programs our community tells us matter most.

We are maintaining our financial commitment to mental health, music, fine arts, CTE, athletics, and other extracurricular activities that foster a sense of belonging and drive student engagement.

We are reducing district-level administrative costs first.

Our proposal includes a $9 million reduction to district-based services, absorbing 40% of the total proposed reductions. This includes reductions in our staff and staffing expenses, contracted services, supplies, and changes in equipment upgrade cycles.

We are not increasing our published student-to-teacher ratios.

The vast majority of our budget is dedicated to schools. Because the proposed $14 million in school-based staffing reductions align with declining student enrollment, we can maintain our published student-teacher ratios.

We are investing in elementary literacy.

Like many districts, financial constraints require Salem-Keizer to blend elementary grades together. We are proposing to invest in elementary literacy by eliminating blended classrooms for kindergarten and first grade. Offering straight kindergartens and first-grade classrooms will help support early literacy.

We are maintaining our investment in mental and behavioral health.

We agree that students' needs have increased even as enrollment has declined. We are continuing our commitment to mental health services through staff like social workers and school psychologists. We are also maintaining our investments in behavioral health, including our newly opened Behavioral Health Center.

We are protecting instructional time that our students need and deserve.

Furlough days and four-day weeks mean less time in classrooms for students. Our district and school board took a firm stance that protecting learning time is in the best interest of improving our student outcomes.

We are investing in high-quality instructional materials

Research has shown that high-quality core instructional materials and training across our entire system help prepare students for success in school and beyond. Our staff and students deserve updated, modern materials that keep our district on pace with districts across the state.

What happens next

We are continuing to evaluate the implications of the proposed reductions. We are engaging our schoolboard in discussions and in March, we’ll share more information about the school-level impacts. In May, we’ll kick off our official budget committee process when Superintendent Castañeda presents her full proposed budget for the 2026-27 school year. You can learn more about our district’s budget on our website.