Introductory Comments
Interim Superintendent Cydney Vandercar reported that the district had significantly reduced the number of students on the waitlist to enroll in 4J’s two online learning programs, Eugene Online Academy and K–5 Connect. She briefly discussed 4J’s student enrollment for the 2021–22 school year.
The superintendent also discussed how the district is preparing to help families get their younger students vaccinated. Pfizer/BioNTech reported earlier in the week that clinical trials demonstrated its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in children ages 5–11. Federal regulators must review the data before deciding whether to authorize an emergency use of the vaccine for younger children.
Superintendent Vandercar said some volunteers would be returning to help out in school buildings after an absence of more than 18 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. She reported on the recent parent information webinar on 4J’s health and safety protocols, and on the district’s extensive hiring needs, including for school bus drivers, educational assistants, custodians and nurses.
Board Chair Judy Newman noted how the expanded religious accommodations policy, which the board adopted in October, was taken to heart in considering the calendar for the current school year. The district pushed back the first day of school so it didn’t interfere with students’ observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. (While as a public school district 4J does not close schools for major religious holidays, it seeks to avoid scheduling one-time important events that can’t be made up on such days.)
Chair Newman praised the Oregon Department of Education’s passage of its resolution encouraging solidarity and support for student identities, encouraged community members to read it and take it to heart, and suggested the 4J board consider drafting and adopting a similar resolution or official statement by the elected body.
Items for Information (no board action is expected to be taken)
• Received an update on the return to school with full-time, in-person learning: District staff discussed the return to school in-person this fall and 4J’s protocols to track students, conduct contact tracing, and identify students who must quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure. They also outlined some of the steps the district is taking to fill numerous jobs, particularly among classified staff, including bus drivers, food service workers and educational assistants.
District staff reported that more than 900 students have enrolled in the district’s two online learning programs, Eugene Online Academy and K–5 Connect. Most students who requested online learning have been accommodated and the programs’ waitlist, with more than 300 students at its peak, is now under 40 students.
• Received an update on school safety systems: The district has created a campus safety team, with two team members assigned to each of 4J’s four high school regions, to respond to calls for service. 4J will continue to call for assistance by Eugene police officers when needed. District staff also discussed new initiatives to reduce youth suicide and showed a video that provides a summary of its ongoing efforts. The district has hired a suicide prevention coordinator, the first such position created by a K–12 school district in Oregon. 4J also has launched Sources of Strength, an innovative program that uses peer leaders to work with students to reduce suicide in a school population.
Items for Action
• Approved items on the consent agenda: The board approved various personnel actions and awarded the contract for the building control systems at the new North Eugene High School. The vote was unanimous.
• Approved a resolution requiring individuals to follow health and safety protocols including wearing masks when attending school board meetings in-person: All individuals ages 5 and older attending an in-person public meeting of the school board, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks covering the mouth and nose. On Aug. 11, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a statewide indoors mask mandate for all people over the age of 5. The board resolution ensures a local mask mandate would remain in effect if the statewide order is rescinded at a later date. The resolution would take effect upon board approval and would expire on June 30, 2022, unless rescinded or extended. The resolution gives the board chair authority to modify the mask mandate and order additional health and safety measures based on guidance from public health authorities. The vote was unanimous.
• Revised board policy to allow dogs on 4J-owned grounds at specific times and under specific conditions: The district currently prohibits dogs on district and school grounds at all times, unless an exception is granted by the superintendent or designee such as the district safety officer. Under the proposed revisions, the district would permit people to bring their dogs on district and school grounds during non-school hours when school activities are not underway, so long as the canines are leashed and attended to at all times and do not cause annoyance, injury or property damage. Dogs would be prohibited on district and school grounds between the hours of 7 a.m.–5 p.m. on school days, during school- or district-sponsored events and activities, or if access is restricted by the superintendent or their designee. The vote was unanimous.
• Considered allowances in instructional time for the 2021–22 school year: Oregon Department of Education rules set a minimum number of instructional hours that all K–12 students must receive each school year, depending on grade level. 4J school schedules normally meet these requirements without any allowances.
Under the state rules, a local school board can approve counting toward this requirement a certain amount of non-instruction time that is supportive of instruction: up to 60 hours of recess in grades K–3, and up to 30 hours each for professional development and parent-teacher conferences in grades K–12.
The board discussion centered on the benefits and drawbacks of authorizing such allowances, particularly given the superintendent hadn’t asked for the allowances and recommended the board not authorize them at this time, noting that if allowances were later needed due to hazardous weather or other reasons, a specific authorization request would be made for the needed number of hours for an explicit reason, for transparency to the public.
A motion to authorize to allow up to 30 hours of professional development to count as instruction time with their use to be determined by the superintendent failed on a 3–4 vote, with board members Laural O’Rourke, Gordon Lafer and Maya Rabasa voting yes, and board members Alicia Hays, Mary Walston, Martina Shabram and Judy Newman voting no.
• Approved board goals for the 2021–22 school year: The board sets goals each year. The board approved eight goals for the 2021–22 school year, twice the number set in preceding years, noting that not all goals may be achieved this year. The vote was unanimous.
The eight goals are:
1. Conduct a thoughtful national search that results in hiring a permanent superintendent.
2. Complete a comprehensive and timely evaluation of the interim superintendent’s performance.
3. Perform the board’s fiduciary responsibilities in a timely manner by participating in the budget committee process and appointing new members to vacancies.
4. Establish the next steps of the board’s multi-year All Students Belong Initiative including setting the goals and setting and implementing the workplan for this year.
5. Create a plan for the North Eugene region that includes where Yujin Gakuen and Kelly schools will be located.
6. Decide on and/or create an equity lens for the district and use it for all decision making (working with the Equity Committee).
7. Identify and implement climate change initiatives; begin the process of inventorying what the district is already doing and then make a plan.
8. Create a comprehensive district-wide communication policy that emphasizes transparency with stakeholders and the community.
• Approved a nomination for the Oregon School Boards Association’s elections: The board nominated Board Chair Judy Newman to serve on the OSBA Legislative Policy Committee. The vote was unanimous.
Items for Future Action (board action is expected at a later meeting)
• Considered revision to the board policy on graduation requirements: The board is considering updating its policy on graduation requirements to reflect changes in state law and to allow for the issuance of 4J honorary posthumous diploma certificates for students who predecease their graduation date.
Specifically, the proposed policy would reflect two recent changes in state law. The first change eliminates the Essential Skills proficiency graduation requirements for the next three academic years, through the 2023–24 school year. The second change requires students to earn four credits of language arts to graduate rather than four credits of English.
The proposed policy also would allow the district, at the request of a parent, to bestow an honorary diploma certificate to a student who was close to graduating but died before completing graduation requirements. Oregon law prohibits school districts from issuing a high school diploma to a student who has not met the state’s graduation requirements. To be eligible for an honorary posthumous diploma, under the drafted and proposed policy, the student must have attended a 4J high school, completed their junior year, been enrolled in 12th grade at the time of their death, and been on track to meet graduation requirements. Board members directed district staff to returned with a revised policy that includes students who died while enrolled in 11th grade and removes the requirement that students be on track to graduate to receive the honorary diploma.
• Discussed the process to appoint budget committee members: The budget committee, made up of the seven school board members and an equal number of community representatives appointed by the board, review the annual proposed budget submitted by the superintendent, listen to community input, and approve the proposed budget for consideration for adoption by the school board. There are three vacancies on the committee the board will fill this fall. Residents interested in serving on the committee should apply by Wednesday, October 13, at 5 p.m. The board will interview budget committee applicants in a work session on October 20 and vote to appoint three applicants to the committee on November 3. The board requested some changes to the application in an effort to draw a larger, more diverse pool of candidates.
Postponed Agenda Items
Due to the late hour, the board moved an agenda item to its next regular meeting on Oct. 6:
• Item for Future Action: Consider Approval of Board Working Agreements
Public Input
The board heard public comment both in person and virtually via Zoom. Four people, both in person and virtually, spoke about face coverings, vaccine mandates, standardized testing, and a remembrance of former 4J superintendent Thomas Payzant who died in July, among other topics. To request to speak to the school board, either in-person or virtually, community members may complete an online request form by the Monday before the next regular board meeting. Community members also may send comments via email to board@4j.lane.edu.
Agenda and Materials
Sept. 22 work session and regular meeting materials
Sept. 22 work session audio recording
Sept. 22 regular meeting audio recording
NOTE: This is a quick summary of the topics and actions at a meeting of the school board. This document is NOT the official minutes of the school board. Official minutes are posted after they are drafted, reviewed and approved by the board. Audio recordings of meetings are typically posted within two days after the meeting.
School Board Meeting Schedule & Information
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