New tax adds 28 positions to PSD
By Terry Murry on Friday, March 18th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax is devoted entirely to public education, going straight to the state’s Student Investment Account. Pendleton School Superintendent Chris Fritsch said the district’s Student Investment Account is now fully funded, realizing about $2.2 million a year.
“We’ve added with those funds 28 positions that we wouldn’t have had if that act had not passed and that tax had not passed,” Fritsch said.
The funding has reduced class size and provided social and emotional support for Pendleton’s students.
“We’ve added six elementary classroom teachers,” he said. “We’ve added three mental health support specialists at the elementary level. We’ve added five instructional aides to help support with social and emotional learning. We’ve added a middle school counselor and a middle school dean of students. We’ve added four more instructional aide positions at the middle school. We’ve added three instructional aides at the high school. We’ve added a couple of a special education teachers.”
Fritsch said the corporate activity tax is producing more revenue than was originally projected.
