Outdoor School 2026-27: See What’s Changing Following 20% Statewide Reduction in Funding

Posted May 7, 2026

In 2025, lawmakers made a 20% cut to Oregon Outdoor School funding for the 2025-27 biennium. We had hoped for a legislative fix during the 2026 short session. Legislative sessions that take place in even calendar years are often used to make legislative corrections. Unfortunately, that did not pan out.

This school year, we were able to draw on reserve funds to minimize cuts. Unfortunately, we will not be able to sustain the same programming next year. 

We hosted several listening sessions earlier this spring with classroom teachers, Outdoor School staff, school district leadership, student volunteers and elementary parents. Program decisions driven by cuts at the state level were grounded in the values uplifted in these sessions:

• Equity in Access: Community members and families should not be expected to pick up the costs for attending Outdoor School. This opportunity needs to be accessible to all, regardless of resources.
  
  
• Safety and Supervision: We considered a split-week model, meaning two back-to-back overnight sessions for six days in a row for about two months in the fall and two months in the spring. Listening session participants were concerned this would lead to staff burnout and poor supervision by fatigued educators.
  
  
• Student Leader Participation: Our ability to recruit high school student leaders will be impacted by the model. Specifically, running programming at four sites instead of five will likely benefit our ability to recruit adequate numbers of student leaders, but running the split-week model would likely make it more challenging to attract student leaders.

Next year, schools will have the option to select a 3-day program or, at a higher price, a 4-day program. We will only operate at four sites instead of five and with 20 fewer employees. We will no longer host our program at Camp Arrah Wanna in Welches, Oregon.

Outdoor School Funding Update: Help Shape What Comes Next

Posted Feb. 11, 2026

Since 2017, every 5th or 6th grade student in Oregon has had the opportunity to attend Outdoor School, a multi-day immersive science education experience. 

Last year, the Oregon Legislature cut the Outdoor School budget by 20%. This year, we weathered the worst of this storm by using one-time reserve funding and making modest reductions to programming. We do not have reserves for next school year.

We will not be able to provide the same level of Outdoor School programming next year as we have in years past. We invite you to attend one of the following virtual listening sessions to help inform our planning. Please RSVP at: bit.ly/outdoorschoolistening

• Thursday, Feb. 12 (6:30 - 8 p.m.)
• Monday, Feb. 16 (9 - 10:30 a.m.)
• Monday, Feb. 23 (1 - 2:30 p.m.)

We are hopeful that Oregon lawmakers will partially restore the cuts made last year with House Bill 4112.  If you are interested in advocating for this program, visit friendsofoutdoorschool.org to learn more about how to take action.

More Information and Context

Posted Sept. 26, 2025

This past spring, the Oregon Legislature reduced statewide outdoor school funding by 20% for the biennium. The decision, based on a recommendation from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, was finalized late in the legislative session without input from school district leaders or outdoor school providers such as Northwest Regional Education Service District.

Oregon State University Extension (OSUE), which holds the statewide outdoor school contract, has now shared specific reduction levels for each participating district. The impact to individual schools varies, with districts facing cuts between 10–25% depending on student demographics. Large and small districts alike will feel the effects. For example, Beaverton School District’s maximum funding from OSUE for 2025-26 is $462,905 less than last year, while Claskanie School District will see a reduction of $8,379. 

Our Response

To help ease the burden on schools, NWRESD is lowering the per-student outdoor school fee from $842 to $700, a 17% reduction. While this step reduces immediate costs for districts, it also means NWRESD must absorb significant losses. This will result in:

• Reduced staff working hours between fall and spring outdoor school seasons
• Lower program levels for students
• Drawing down approximately $700,000 in one-time program reserves
  • Without legislative action to restore funding, these reserves will not sustain outdoor school long-term, and the impact to school districts will be substantially more painful in future years.

Commitment to Student Safety

Despite these challenges, what we will not do is compromise on student safety. We remain committed to maintaining supervision ratios and other critical safety measures to ensure students continue to have a safe and meaningful outdoor school experience.

We will continue to advocate for the funding to be restored. But in the meantime, we are working with the 26 school districts that participate in our program, including 13 from our region, on how to navigate this funding reduction this year. 

Frequently Asked Questions