Beaverton School District is projecting a $42.1 million budget shortfall for the 2027-28 school year. The gap is projected to reach $60.1 million by 2029-30.

Superintendent Tony Smith is scheduled to present long-range planning recommendations to the school board on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The meeting comes after seven straight years of enrollment decline and a structural deficit where spending outpaces state revenue.

The district has not identified which schools face boundary changes or cuts, including Bethany-area high schools Westview, Sunset and Mountainside. But the scale of the shortfall means families across the district should expect changes to programs, staffing and facilities.

During a September 2026 work session, Chief Financial Officer Jessica Jones recommended the district spend about $20 million per year from its reserves over the next three years to cushion the blow of cuts. Even with that drawdown, BSD would still need to find roughly $22 million in reductions from its general fund for 2027-28, about 3% of the total budget.

"Over the last several years, costs have gone up and total staffing has gone up, while our number of students has come down," Jones said, according to a district post. "This means we need to continue aligning our spending with the number of students we serve, while protecting the educational experience we provide."

Reserves alone won't fix it.

BSD holds nearly $168 million in reserves, significantly more than other districts in the region, according to district figures. But Jones warned that the structural deficit and continued enrollment decline mean the district cannot keep relying on reserves to bridge the gap. BSD already cut $11.1 million in spending during spring 2026 and drew $16.6 million from reserves to cover that year's shortfall.

Enrollment stood at 35,351 students as of Sept. 30, down 916 from the prior year and down 5,278, or 13%, from the 2019-20 peak of 40,629. The district attributes the decline primarily to lower birth rates. This year's kindergarten class has 2,144 students, a 26.3% drop from 2,909 in 2019-20. BSD projects enrollment will fall by another 3,000 to 7,000 students over the next decade.

The projected shortfalls by year: $17.3 million for 2026-27, $42.1 million for 2027-28, $46.3 million for 2028-29 and $60.1 million for 2029-30. Those figures could shift depending on Oregon economic forecasts, State School Fund levels and collective bargaining outcomes.

In an Oct. 1 public post, Smith wrote that the district's "financial outlook will require difficult choices" about programs, staffing, facilities and resources. Smith started as superintendent on July 1 after serving as deputy superintendent of Denver Public Schools.

At the September board meeting, the board, led by Chair Justice Rajee, directed Smith to review the district's Long-Range Planning Guidelines, adopted in March 2026, covering enrollment forecasts, school boundaries, building conditions and finances. Smith's recommendations and a proposed timeline are on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.