As a $50 million budget cut looms over Portland Public Schools, principals across the district have to make some tough calls about next school year. What programs will be cut? What will the impact on students be? Who will lose their job? At Benson Polytechnic High School, the pressure of those difficult budget decisions falls on Principal Curtis Wilson Jr. “These are very hard decisions,” Wilson said. “It’s the one part of the job that I just don’t like.”
Earlier this school year, PPS gathered all principals together to announce how many full-time equivalent (FTE) employees each school would have to cut in order to balance the budget. “We all just sit and we just wait for our number,” Wilson recalled. Benson’s initial number of FTEs to cut was four, but the school is in a unique position; while the district’s enrollment is declining overall, Benson is one of a few high schools whose student population is growing. Principal Wilson noted that the junior class “is going to be huge next year,” jumping from 190 to 280 students. “That’s 100 more students that are gonna need math, science, and English.” Because those core classes are graduation requirements, Benson has to cut more than just four FTEs to have enough to hire new teachers. “Now, our FTE reduction is six.”
Principal Wilson’s job is to navigate those cuts while minimizing the impact on BPHS. Thankfully though, he’s not alone. “I don’t make these decisions in a vacuum,” Wilson said. “I have a great team.” Wilson meets with Vice Principals Joe Mitacek and Sara Callies, the latter of whom he described as “the brainchild behind our schedule,” and said, “Her opinion is very, very, very important to me.” In the end, Wilson has to make the final call, but his team presents him with all of the information and options he needs. “Some of the suggestions, I just say no, it’s not gonna happen, I’m not gonna cut that person,” he said. “Go back to the drawing board, figure some things out. Let’s look at Plan B.”
Those plans use a few strategies to minimize the impact of budget cuts. “For us, we’re always trying to find the human aspect and not just come in and tell people ‘you’re gonna be unemployed,’” Wilson stated. Despite losing six FTEs, Benson only unassigned two staff members — Makerspace Instructor Daniel Menche and one other teacher — thanks to a process the principal called piecemealing. “Instead of being full-time, maybe you go .75. Which means we get .25 [FTE] back,” he explained. That means combining classes for some teachers, or reducing hours for other staff, who Wilson noted will keep their health benefits because their hours are only partially reduced. “That’s critical for people that work here.”
It also means few staff members will leave the Benson community entirely. “They’re still in the building,” Wilson said. “Most people will never know about the individuals that are reduced to .75 because they’ll still be here every day.” To those staff, Wilson made a promise. “In a couple of years, if we get all past this, we will bring you back [to full time].” When it comes time to have those difficult talks, Wilson said “it’s about humanizing that conversation,” and that he tries to “be as personable as possible.” He also tries to focus on staff who have job security in Portland Public Schools through “bumping” rules, which allow them to replace less senior staff. “We actually went toward individuals that we knew they could probably land somewhere else.”
Principal Wilson confirmed that, apart from the Makerspace, no majors, electives, or other programs at Benson are being cut — at least not yet. “We’ve trimmed as far as we can trim. There’s nowhere else we can trim,” he said, warning that, if the budget crisis continues, “everything’s on the table next year.” Wilson stressed that, as a technical school, Benson tries to prioritize its CTE programs as much as possible, but even those aren’t completely ruled out from cuts anymore. “That’s our bread and butter here, but we’re just running out of things to cut or to reduce.”
If further cuts happen, the programs with low enrollment will be first on the chopping block. “If there’s a class of five students, we’re gonna look at that,” Wilson said, adding that he’s told CTE teachers to promote their majors. “You gotta make sure kids want to come to your class.” As he enters his 14th year as principal this fall, Wilson has only had to cut one major so far — Architecture. “That was a hard decision,” he recalled. “We wanted to keep it going, but it was a numbers game. The numbers were just too small in the class.”
Before making any major decisions though, Wilson also takes into consideration the legacy a given major has, and its future potential. He noted that a middle schooler who considered going to Benson because of a specific program might not come if that program is cut. “So again, even if we start thinking about CTE, the odds are pretty high that it will not be cut.”
For Principal Wilson, budget cuts are an increasingly stressful part of his job, and at the same time, an increasingly important part too. “It’s the job that I have to do as the principal of the school,” he said. “It has to be done because if I don’t do it, someone above me will come in and do it, who has no connection with anyone in this building.”
