A special fundraising campaign organized by Lake Oswego parents, facilitated by the Lake Oswego Schools Foundation parents and approved by the Lake Oswego School District, aims to restore lost PE teaching positions. (Submitted by LO Schools Foundation)

So many elementary school memories are made in PE class.

Physical education is an important part of all K-12 education, but especially for younger students. But budget cuts for the 2025-2026 school year currently threaten a significant chunk of PE time for Lake Oswego elementary school students.

A special fundraising campaign organized by Lake Oswego parents, facilitated by the Lake Oswego Schools Foundation and approved by the Lake Oswego School District, aims to restore lost PE teaching positions.

“It came to our attention and our children’s attention that they were going to be cutting physical education at the elementary level. I have a son and daughter that currently are at Forest Hills. Both of them were really upset, especially my son, who feels he is the most successful at PE out of all the academic curriculum at school. It was a grassroots effort from concerned students and parents,” said Lake Oswego parent Lauren Lopez.

The goal is to fundraise $400,000 by June 30 to restore elementary school PE positions previously cut by the district for the coming school year.

Last year, the school district announced an estimated $10 million in budget cuts, primarily through elimination of teaching positions including certified PE teaching positions at all of the district’s elementary schools. These cuts will result in 30% less PE instructional time for the 2025-26 school year.

This decrease in PE instructional time is a serious concern for many parents.

“Behavioral incidents generally go up when the kids aren’t moving and get to express things with movement,” said parent Gretchen McClaughry. “Next year, with these cuts, the behavioral specialist is turning into a position that is shared, because basically three positions are going into one for next year. So the behavioral specialist is also the reading specialist and the student support specialist, so she’s going to have a lot on her hands, especially if these kids aren’t able to have PE and get energy out and work through things in a physical way.”

Elementary school students rotate through four specialist classes in Lake Oswego schools: music, library, hands-on science and technology learning in the Makerspace, and physical education.

If the fundraising goal is met, it would equate to a 50% increase in PE time or one full-time PE specialist at each primary school.

The Lake Oswego Schools Foundation is coordinating the initiative because part of its role is to specifically back community-funded teaching positions.

However, the campaign doesn’t guarantee that specific teachers will be recalled to their previous school roles, due to how layoffs are negotiated in collective bargaining.

Foundation Executive Director Whitney Woolf said that the initiative enables the foundation to direct energy toward a common, unified goal.

“If all boats can row in the same direction, we can actually get somewhere. If we start rowing in different directions, we go in a circle,” said Woolf. “We want to support parents however we can.”

As of Tuesday, May 6, the special campaign has received 109 donations amounting to $38,000.

“We know that our district is facing the shortfall due to inadequate state funding, so knowing that we really wanted to look at alternatives that we could work with the district, and that they would allow us to formulate so that we could possibly fundraise to save the certified teachers at every elementary school and increase those minutes,” said Lopez.