Lieuallen 

JOHN DAY — Projected sharp increases to retirement benefit costs have led to the layoff of Grant School District’s secretary and the Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School principal.

Superintendent Mark Witty said Public Employees’ Retirement System Tier I and II rates will change from the current 8% of payroll to 23% for the 2025-27 biennium. Rates for the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan, or OPSRP, will also rise, from 6% to 20%.

The rise in rates will result in $880,000 in additional PERS costs, Witty said at the Nov. 20 Grant School Board meeting. Those additional costs will leave the district with a $980,000 projected budget shortfall unless more funds are allocated to schools by the state.

Poor performance of PERS investments for the 2023-24 school year, increases in payroll and the sunsetting of the district’s side account created in 2002 were all contributors to the rise in rates, the district said in a recent press release.

Witty said the district has options in the wake of the increased rates. The first is to create a new side account that could help offset the rising PERS rates.

Side accounts require investment and are risky, however. If the investments in account pay off, the district has extra funds to work with in the event of a PERS rate increase. If they lose money, the district is out some or all of the money that was invested and still has to adjust to increased PERS rates.

Grant School District has had its own side account since 2002. The account was refinanced in 2012 and has saved the district more than $3 million in PERS costs so far. 

Witty said the district has studied the risks with financial experts and would only create another side account in the presence of acceptable risk.

The next option is to borrow money on the bond market and invest that money in an effort to reduce PERS rates.

“This type of bond doesn’t have anything to do with taxes,” he said.

The third and final option is to advocate for the Legislature to increase the amount of current service level (CSL) funding in the state school budget. The CSL is the main source of state school support.

Witty said that every $100 million added to the CSL represents around $63,500 in funding to the Grant School District. Witty added that the board should not expect that the state will add enough funding to the CSL to cover the district’s projected budget shortfall.

“You’ve got to give everybody the same amount, and the state isn’t going to give enough to everyone to cover our 14% rate increase,” he said.

The layoffs of Grant School District secretary Janet Myers and Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School Principal Justin Lieuallen will amount to approximately $110,000 in savings to the district this year and $250,000 next year. 



The motion to lay off the two district employees was passed unanimously by the Grant School Board, but none of the board members were happy with the need for the move.

“It’s not fun,” said board member Jake Taylor, adding, “It’s probably not the last (layoff).”

“We’ll manage this in the best way possible in order to keep as many programs for students as we can,” Witty said.

Lieuallen’s departure made way for the transition of Special Education Director Shanna Northway into the role of Grant Union principal. The district made the announcement in a press release, saying that the move came as a result of the PERS-inspired layoffs.

Northway will remain the special education director at Grant Union, though the district will rely on other staff members to help manage the special education department’s daily functions.

“I am truly honored to step into the role of principal at Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School,” Northway said in the press release announcing her hire. “This school and community hold a special place in my heart, and I am excited to continue working alongside our dedicated staff to support and empower every student.”