The Eugene School District 4J Board of Directors held a virtual meeting on Wednesday, December 1st to discuss how to include student voices in the board meeting and to select representatives from the Oregon School Board Association on various topics.

Board Chairman Judy Newman stated that they hope to vote on a plan that includes student representatives at the next meeting on December 15 so that the proposal can begin immediately after the winter break. 

Newman submitted a two-part proposal for the 2021-2022 school year. The first part states that the student representatives of the board of directors who have been elected by their respective high schools will face the board of directors in January. The second part states that the board of directors will meet with student kin groups, which are student groups with common goals, such as the Black Student Union, which meet once or twice at work meetings so that students can give their opinions on issues that are important to them. The plan also stated that at the end of the school year, the board will meet with a student advisory group to expand the number of students in the 2022-2023 school year.

The second part is the focus of the discussion, because board member Laural O'Rourke said that she was “disheartened” to hear the proposal because she believed that the affinity group would attend the board meeting.

"It almost suppressed the voice of the affinity group," O'Rourke said.

Board member Maya Rabasa said that one or two meetings with kin groups are too few, and students should have the opportunity to attend board meetings if they wish. 

However, board member Mary Walston pointed out that in the case of limited seats due to the pandemic, adding 10 people to the board meeting would cause logistical problems. Board member Martina Shabram pointed out that for most students, the board meeting time is not convenient.

O'Rourke also pointed out that there was no student's voice in the conversation about including the student's voice. "We have been talking and inferring what they will say," she said. "But as a teenage mother, I know one thing, I'm usually wrong. At least they told me that."

O'Rourke, Rabasa, and board member Alicia Hays volunteered to revise the proposal.

The board of directors voted for two representative positions for the Oregon School Board Association. They voted unanimously to elect Linda Hamilton, the current member of the Board of Directors of the Lane Education School District, to join the OSBA Board of Directors on behalf of Lane County. They also voted unanimously to elect Judy Newman, the current chairman of the 4J Board of Directors, to the Legislative Policy Committee.

The board of directors also heard about the update to clarify the language in the district’s mandatory reporting policy. If any school employee suspects that anyone they know is abusing a child, or any child has been abused, they must report it to the Oregon Department of Public Service or law enforcement. 

They also listened to a proposal to authorize a community welfare contract, which will allow the board of directors to increase the contractor’s family health insurance requirements in the Kamas Elementary School reconstruction project. Both proposals will be voted on at the meeting on December 15.

Newman, the chairman of the board of directors, proposed a new speech guide for board members to shorten the meeting time, which usually exceeds three hours. Newman suggested that board members keep their comments within three minutes, and consider whether their views have been raised before submitting them again.

However, after the fierce exchange between Walston and O'Rourke, when Walston pointed out in Labasa's board comment that Labasa had left over time, these rules were not implemented at the meeting. . O'Rourke called the interruption "too rude." These rules will be discussed at the meeting on December 15.

New holidays with reduced workload for teachers

Although this was not the main topic of discussion, board members all mentioned concerns about teacher burnout. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the board of directors held a short special meeting with the sole purpose of choosing a new day off for the students, so that the teachers would have time to take a break and catch up with the schedule. After two hours of discussion at the meeting on November 17th and failing to find a solution, the board asked Interim Superintendent Cydney Vandercar to propose a date for the rest of the school year.

Vandercar proposes to give students a total of three days of vacation. The timetable also reschedules teachers’ non-student work days and professional development days. Van der Ka said that the Eugene Education Association and the Association of Managers, Administrators, Professionals and Supervisors helped her draw up a timetable over the weekend.

The proposed dates include two dates that are less than a week old: on December 6, the elementary school is closed, and on December 7, the middle school is closed. Students in all grades can now rest for two days. The board of directors voted unanimously to revise the calendar and all proposed dates.

Students will also be on vacation on January 21. Vandercar's proposal pointed out that these three dates may be difficult for working parents because child care services will not be available in the area.

The 4J Board of Directors will hold a meeting at the 4J Education Center on Wednesday, December 15th at 7pm. Due to limited seats, community members who wish to participate must apply for the meeting on 4J’s website before 5 pm on Monday, December 13.

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