Superintendent warns federal title funds delayed; district may face multi‑million shortfall

Superintendent Ken Richardson told the David Douglas School District Board on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Education has delayed release of several formula Title allocations, leaving the district without funds it typically counts on for staffing and programs.

Richardson said the withheld funds include Title I‑C, Title II‑A, Title III and Title IV (A and B). He described the sum of those specific Title allocations as about $1,250,000 and said other allocations, including state early literacy and SIA funds, remain unresolved. “If we did not get any of that money…we're about 3.23 300000.0 dollars upside down,” Richardson said, characterizing the figure as a round‑number estimate.

The superintendent said federal appropriations had become available in early July but that state education officials were awaiting federal guidance and accuracy checks before releasing allocations. He described district staff efforts to supply data to the Oregon Department of Education and said the district is in meetings at the state level to communicate impacts.

District administrators are drafting contingency scenarios that vary by how much of the delayed funding arrives. Richardson said one immediate option would be to reduce the board’s contingency allocation — “I'm taking a million out of contingency to flow this for the year” — or to identify other savings to avoid additional staff reductions. He said further reductions would be possible if the district receives none of the expected funds, while partial receipts would reduce the scale of any cuts.

Richardson told the board staff would prepare tiered budget packages for review in August and promised to keep the board and public informed as allocations become clearer. He also said the district had received unofficial notices that a Title IV‑B allocation and a 21st Century grant update may be forthcoming, but cautioned that those notices were not official guidance.

Board members asked administrators to engage educators, classified staff and families as contingency options are developed. Directors also asked for clarity on which programs and positions would be affected under different scenarios. Richardson said the district would present options and recommended actions once state and federal figures are finalized.