South Eugene High School ends outdoor education program amid budget cuts

South Eugene High School is ending its Integrated Outdoor Program next school year, shutting down a 21-year class that blended English with outdoor pursuits for juniors and seniors. Created in 2005 by Jeff Hess and Peter Hoffmeister, the course sent students into snow, river and desert settings instead of keeping literature and writing locked in the classroom.

What disappears with IOP is more than a field trip schedule. The program page says students read and write around each outing, then build skills that include backpacking on snowshoes, rafting, kayaking, Leave No Trace, orienteering, spelunking, water acquisition, rock climbing and survival structures. It was designed to deepen students’ connection to the natural world and to influence their lives, hearts and minds. South Eugene’s site also says the IOP Outdoor Leadership CAM helps seniors meet the Extended Application graduation requirement, which makes the cut hit students who relied on the program as part of their academic path, not just as an elective.

The loss is tied to Eugene School District 4J’s broader budget crisis, not a standalone decision at South Eugene. District materials say 4J is reducing spending for the 2026-27 school year by tens of millions of dollars, after projecting more than $23 million in reserve spending this year and seeing reserves fall by roughly $30 million the year before to keep current programs and staffing in place. The school board approved final budget reductions to close a projected $30 million shortfall, while later district updates and local reporting described the gap as larger, with estimates climbing into the $40 million to $50 million range as the picture worsened.

The pressure has already reached staff numbers across the district. More than 170 employees received layoff notices, including more than 100 licensed educators, and one local report said the cuts represented about 7 percent of the regular workforce. District reduction summaries do not list a replacement for IOP, leaving South Eugene without a program that has long served as one of the school’s most distinctive hands-on offerings. For Peter Hoffmeister, who has taught at South Eugene for two decades and built much of his work around climbing and wilderness instruction, the end of IOP closes off a piece of the school’s identity as well as a classroom experience.