The Portland school board on Tuesday approved the district’s 2019-20 budget, which includes a $694 million general fund and a few key tweaks to Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero’s original proposal.

Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Le told the board an increase in projected state funding and the closure of a charter school, among other things, bolstered the general fund from the $687 million originally proposed.

The budget resolution passed 6-1, with board member Paul Anthony the lone vote against it. His contention was that the final budget lacked literacy supports for struggling students.

“I couldn’t agree to that, especially if we’re going to be a data-driven district,” Anthony said after the meeting adjourned. “We know perfectly well that if kids aren’t learning to read, kids are going into high school not being able to master core material. We have to address that.”

The budget was approved with little pushback from the school board, save for a lengthy debate on whether to pull back district officials’ initial proposal to create 19 blended fourth-fifth grade classes or further boost elective offerings for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at needier schools.

Here are five takeaways from the district’s adopted budget for the coming school year:

The district has $7.4 million more to spend next year than originally estimated

When Guerrero submitted his initial budget proposal in late April, the state’s largest school district was anticipating what officials said was a $17 million shortfall.

Instead, Portland Public Schools will have $7.4 million more in its coffers for the coming year due in part to an increase in state education spending for the coming year that will provide Portland Public Schools with about $1 million and a separate $3 million State School Funds reconciliation from last year.

The closure of a charter school will contribute another $600,000 to that windfall, according to district budget documents. The district’s original projection for the 2019-20 beginning fund balance was also off by $1 million, which adds that much to the general fund.

About $3 million in needed spending — which includes $1.5 million in facility maintenance — left the board to consider how to spend the other $4.6 million.

Fewer fourth and fifth grade classes will be blended than proposed

The largest point of contention among board members Tuesday arose during conversations about how to allocate 24 teaching positions spared by that windfall.

Board member Julia Brim-Edwards pushed for an expansion of electives in middle school grades at some of the district’s historically underserved K-8 schools including Lent and Creston.

District officials initially pledged to add five positions for that reason. Brim-Edwards wanted to raise that number.

“We have schools, effectively, where kids don’t have electives,” she said.

Board member Amy Kohnstamm advocated for reducing the number of blended fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms — district officials had proposed 19 such blends in late April as a cost-saving measure — and staff to reduce class sizes.

In the end, board members struck a compromise.

The district will only create four new fourth-fifth blends next year and will add four full-time teaching positions dedicated to reducing class sizes. The district will add another two teaching positions to expand electives in some K-8s, putting that total at seven.

“There are definitely some sacrifices here but we are calling out that we need more equitable offerings in our middle school grades and we are acting on it,” Kohnstamm said.

Students will finally have a climate change curriculum, four years after it was promised

Back in 2016, the Portland school board approved a resolution directing district officials to develop social justice and science curriculum addressing climate change. It never materialized.

Dozens of students flooded a school board meeting in mid-May, demanding the district follow through on its promise. Chief Academic Officer Luis Valentino has recommended setting aside $200,000 to begin work on the curriculum.

Of that, $130,000 will be dedicated to the hiring of a student success program manager overseeing the initiative. Another $40,000 will go toward training the district’s teachers with smaller sums funding materials and substitute teaching plans.

Cleveland’s, Wilson’s and Jefferson’s wireless networks are older than the iPhone 4

Three of the district’s high schools — Roosevelt, Franklin and Grant — have been modernized in the last few years. Another two — Benson and Lincoln — are in line for renovations while Madison goes under the knife this summer.

But the three high schools so far left out of those efforts are outfitted with internet technology so old it would cost $1.5 million to update.

The wireless networking technology at Cleveland, Wilson and Jefferson is 10 years old — built around the time Apple launched the iPhone 3GS — and is “already far beyond end of useful life,” according to budget documents.

Upgrades to those systems didn’t make the cut in the district’s adopted budget, spokesman Harry Esteve said.

The district is setting aside $150,000 to manage foundation money and chase private donations

Next month is the last that local nonprofit All Hands Raised will manage the money raised by the district’s 42 school foundations. Instead, Chief Engagement Officer Jonathan Garcia will oversee a new nonprofit that will manage those funds and chase private donations.

The district will hire a school resources associate, which comes with an $80,000 salary. Garcia in a funding proposal writes that New Seasons is contributing $55,000 toward the position.

The remaining $70,000 will be split between funding community engagement efforts, hosting student engagement events and other expenses.