Ongoing budget unknowns delay 2025-27 budget process to June 26 meeting

Medford School Board members on Thursday filled a vacant board seat and reviewed ongoing concerns about potential funding shortfalls that could impact the 2025-27 district budget.

Board members voted to appoint Sunny Spicer, executive director for the Oregon Center for Creative Learning, to fill the open board seat.

The vacancy was created when board member Michelle Atkinson announced her resignation May 5, due to an impending move. It was a topic of concern during the recent May 20 special election when candidates for three board seats voiced concern with outgoing board members who were tasked with helping to fill the position.

Current board member Michael Williams agreed with candidates, stating that incoming board members should be part of the process; Williams abstained during Thursday’s vote to appoint while all others voted in favor.

District officials said the appointment was handled according to district policy.

The process to seek applicants yielded eight candidates, of which seated board members ranked their “Top 3” prior to the Thursday work session.

The three finalists were Spicer, Ilex Brandenberger and Rhonda Nowak, who were interviewed on Thursday. Each board member asked a predetermined question, with Wright noting that only provided questions — which candidates were also provided in advance — could be asked.

On Friday, Spicer, whose term will run through June 30, 2027, said she hoped to bring her 25 years experience in “advocating for children and families and working to create better opportunities for education.”

“My goal as a member of the School Board is to help drive positive community engagement, work collectively with the entire team to improve outcomes and strengthen education in our community,” Spicer told the Rogue Valley Times.

“We have a number of successes to build on. And we have issues to address — from declining attendance to lower test scores. I’ve watched this community come together and accomplish amazing things — and am confident we can do that for our schools.”

Delayed budget approval due to funding unknowns

During an update on the 2025-27 budget process, Brad Earl, assistant superintendent of operations for the Medford School District, told board members that the district was still navigating some unknowns in terms of revenue forecasts.

Earl suggested postponing adoption of the budget until the board’s final meeting of the school year — June 26 — and said the latest state Economic and Revenue Forecast had indicated Oregon lawmakers will have approximately $755 million less to allocate over the next two years than previously expected.

Earl said the upcoming budget would need to include reductions beyond those already under consideration.

Variables contributing to increased cost and decreased revenues include a high number of incoming kindergarteners with special education needs, which will increase special education investments, and lower than anticipated Student Investment Account (SIA) funding than expected.

Additional information is posted on the district website. 

Thursday’s meeting minutes are also posted online.

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.