Springfield School Board — January 12, 2026

0:00 Today I was On Thanksgiving With Liberty Justice. And then I'm gonna read the Land Acknowledgement. So we acknowledge that we, we acknowledge that we are in the traditional homeland of the Kapu people, specifically the community that was known as Chien. The area that we now now call Springfield Kapu. People who have lived in this region since time immemorial were illegally dispossessed of their land and forcefully removed to what are now the Grand Ron and Cel Select reservations over several years, but most notably ENT treaties between 1851 and 1855.

0:47 The Kapu are now members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Run and the Confederated Tribes of Salis Indians and members of the Kapu still live, work, study, and thrive in this area and continue to make important contributions here in Springfield. Across the land we now refer to as Oregon and around the globe. This information is shared out of a responsibility to prevent the erasure of native culture, heritage and people, and to ensure a quality contemporary education for future generations. Uh, we're moving towards the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve Move approval? Um, second, second. Move, move items

1:32 When we get to the, yeah. Okay. Um, so moving a second, do we have any discussion or any items that we wish to pull? Um, I wanna pull, um, presentation three B. Okay. And that is one second. That's the proclamation, um, regarding school board. Mm-hmm. Recognition. Okay. Um, so that's three B. And then are there any other items I actually wanna pull, um, for development six B, I'll second that. So, um, are we okay to,

2:18 ooh, somewhere else? Okay. Um, are we okay to approve, uh, the agenda with the removal of sections three B and six B? We need a new, how does that work? We do new, a new motion for that. Yeah. Yes, I second That. Okay. So all those approved of approving the agenda, all those who approve the agenda with the removal of those two sections, Aye. Aye, aye. Okay. Uh, so we will remove those two sections from the agenda

3:06 and we will move on to student board representative communication. Um, we'll start with Will limit Leadership Academy. It looks like there's two of you this evening. You get to do it first or in lieu of Caden. All right. Chair and members of the board. My name is Cor Lament Leadership Academy. L Lament Leadership Academy will be hosting its parents, student and student associate parents Student Associ Association winter form on the 30th with the Winter Wonderland theme. A a is also participating in the Oregon Battle of Books

3:52 for the first time, providing cadets with the opportunity to engage in a statewide academic competition focused on literacy and teamwork. WA is currently offering open enrollment for all grade levels. Our school serves students who benefit from a structured military style educational environment that emphasizes discipline, leadership, accountability, and academic growth. Additionally, wa a has re recently conducted a food drive that supported four families, each consisting of 10 or more individuals demonstrating our commitment to service and community support. Finally, WLA recognizes Cadet Cadets of the month selected by their leadership teams for exemplary performance character. December's recipients will receive a Papa's Pizza gift

4:38 certificate and their photos will be displayed on campus. Believe that is all. Thank you for your time. Thank you. We have any questions for our WLA reps? No. All right. Thank you. Move on to Thurston High. Is Isal? Yes. Yep. My name is Hunter Murphy. I'm the a SP President representing Thurston High School. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Our MLK Celebration and Unity Assembly is on January 13th. Our Black Student Union has recruited talented artists and guests to help us honor Dr. King's legacy. Students have prepared images and reflections in their English

5:23 and Freshman learning team classes and will be displayed around campus. In preparation for M MLK Day, Our Day of Joy event concluded with shopping and delivery 20 plus Thurston students on campus volunteered to shop and deliver gifts to our future. Thurston cults our amplification of Teagan Merits. GoFundMe has brought about more support Teagan in her family. She recently returned to Oregon after specialized care in Chicago and continues to recover and make a special and made a special appearance to support our girls wrestling team at the Sutherland Invitational. Our a SP leadership elections wrapped up with the new a SP Communications

6:08 and Assemblies Director being chosen as well as a freshman class President and vice president. Congratulations to our new Student Leaders Leaders. Our annual advisory deck, the Halls competition wrapped up the week before winter break. Nearly every class Festively decorated their classroom for the holiday season. The Winter Wonderland event hosted by a SB was a big success. Over 150 students are estimated to have attended our free movie and cup of hot cocoa event. Our winter sports are officially underway with boys and girls basketball and wrestling among many of the sports offered at Thurston. Good luck to our athletes. On another amazing season, THS wrestling had a tournament over winter break.

6:54 Our girls won the championship at the Sutherland Tournament. Go Colts. Our seniors got important graduation information. It's hard to believe seniors are entering their final term of high school. Aspire College application and FAFSA workshops were held Friday to, to continue to support seniors in submitting applications, in preparing for their next steps after high school. Thank you. Thank you, hunter. Does anyone have any questions for Arthurton rep? I just wanna make a comment. Um, thank you to the students who have embraced Tegan and her situation. Um, I know it means a lot to the family

7:39 and, uh, it's also really, um, heartwarming that Tegan made the effort to show up at the wrestling tournament. 'cause I know that was a big part of her life. So if you'll extend the thanks, um, to those folks who, and the whole Thurston community who are doing that. Thank you. All right, moving on to our Springfield High Ref. Good evening School board members. Um, winter Sports earned full swing and continuing to make an impact this season, the Varsity Girls basketball team secured a championship win at the Las Vegas tournament. While girls JV earned an impressive win against Cascade Girls Wrestling had a strong showing placing third at a Coqui holiday sendoff tournament.

8:25 Cheers. Also ramping up for its first competition of the season, which took place at Thurston this past weekend, the 10th and the 11th. The team has been practicing hard and is fully committed to showcasing their skills, teamwork, and beautifully choreographed routine. Freshman class elections are now underway, doubling our election candidates from last year. We are gearing up for fun school-wide campaigning. Once elected freshmen will get an inside look at how leadership runs and supports our school. This is also a great opportunity for freshmen to share their opinions, voice their concerns, and help represent their class. Our college and career center remains very busy as college application deadlines Approach five UO Sale mentors are supporting the SHS students through

9:13 about 150 scheduled appointments in daily drop-ins. Over a hundred seniors have already submitted their FAFSA and for the 2025 and 2026 school year. In addition, our college and career specialist, Katrina Stowell, started the EC MC Scholars Program. This program will support 30 juniors and seniors with college prep classes and award each students a $6,000 scholarship. Upon graduation, Winterfest and Dressup Week are just around the corner from the 19th through the 23rd. Dressup week will begin in full swing with fun themes such as Wednesday we wear pink glow big or go home and meme day to wrap up the week. The Winter Fest dance will be held on Saturday the 24th in

10:01 the Commons with a gella theme. The evening is shaping up to be a stunning and unforgettable night. Springfield High School is proud to celebrate Sophia Gonzalez, whose poetry was recently published in the 2025 holiday edition of a national high school poetry collection. Sophia's work Reve reflects her creativity, voice, and dedication to her craft, and we are so thrilled to see her talent recognized at the national level. Congratulations to Sophia on this outstanding accomplishment. Our student leadership program is partnering with school resource officer Matt Newton to invite government officials to speak to our leadership classes to align with the topic of women and leadership. We had city manager Nancy Newton and Springfield Police, Jamie Rech speak

10:48 to our leadership classes about their jobs and answer questions after. Lastly, finals are fi fast approaching. Students are staying focused, and our wonderful amazing teachers at SHS are supporting students to be able to finish strong this semester. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions for Springfield High rep. All right. We will move over to our Gateways highway rep. Hello everyone. I'm Aiden. Hi. I am the board rep for Gateways High School. As a leadership class, we planned a countdown to winter break with fun activities and spirit weekdays. We have also been working on a campaign video showing good and bad examples of the rules and expectation our school has.

11:35 This was a fun way to get students together in groups and involved with bettering the school. The second year cosmetology students have been working hard to complete all their practical work in each field of practice, to work towards efficiency and attention to detail in order to sit for their state board in May. A few things coming up is we have a William Lane Day on February 6th and a mentor meeting on February 3rd with the first year students. The salon is open to the public Monday through Friday, 12:30 PM to 3:05 PM We encourage the public to come in and support Gateway cosmetology program. The second year students also have their avantgarde presentation on May 21st from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM industry partners, parents first year cosmetology students

12:21 for 2027 and 2028 grad. The graduating year staff, administration board members, and the public are invited to attend as a school. We are starting our sources of strength group. The first training date is on January 21st. We are also preparing for finals at the end of quarter two. The leadership class is planning our quarter two assembly, where we'll celebrate attendance grades and RISE awards. Thank you. Any questions for our gateway rep? All right. Last but not least, a three. Um, good evening. Uh, this will be a pretty short report, um, because we had just returned from our three week long break jumping headfirst into J term.

13:08 J term is a month long, um, uh, term that is focused on one specific class. Some of the most popular subjects this year include rock climbing and chocola hearing. Um, A three passed their accreditation for coa and got valuable information from our stakeholder groups about our positive and active culture and environment. We also got feedback on how a three needs to improve as well. Mainly focusing on developing a system to collect math data, focusing on developing a single professional development plan that is more in tune with educators needs. I would also like to finish this statement with an appreciation for our teachers. Um, without them and their passion, these classes, especially j terms and may terms that are there fueled by their specific passion would not be there.

13:54 Um, and my personal appreciation for them and my stance with the teacher's union. And Thank you. Do we have any questions for a three rep? All right. I know this was probably a little bit more than you all are used to in terms of the audience. So you all did phenomenally, uh, really appreciate the presentations tonight. You are, as always, are welcome to stay. If you have other things, um, that are pressing, you know, feel free to go and do that. But again, super appreciate you all. Thanks for being here.

14:49 Cool. Feedback is real. Um, I love that. Absolutely. Love that. So, we're moving on to our public comment session. Um, public comment is typically allotted for 25 minutes. We have one additional person, so we're gonna be right around then, depending on, uh, how long everyone speaks. So I don't necessarily think we necess we need to extend the amount of time we have allotted for public comment, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Um, so this portion of our, of our agenda is for public comment. The board provides three ways for community members

15:34 to share public comment, written, public comment in person, oral public comment, and virtual public comment. Written. Public comment is received via email. Public comment received via email for this evening has been reviewed by the board and has also been posted on the district's website. The deadline for submitting a request for oral public comment was today at two. Those who requested an opportunity to speak this evening we're notified by the board secretary about the request time permitting. The board may also hear public comment from individuals who signed up in person at the administration, the administration office before the meeting. We do have two of those, uh, requests. We encourage groups with a common purpose to speak to designate a spokesperson. If your comments will be covered by a group spokesperson, please indicate so. When your name is called, I wanna remind those members

16:21 of the public who have identified a desire to make comments that our policy provides for a limitation of three minutes per person. The board will not hear comments regarding any school personnel, whether named or implied any complaints regarding a particular employee must be processed through the procedure, set forth in board policy kl, which requires that complaints be submitted in writing to the superintendent. This procedure must be followed before there's any board involvement with such issues. A compliment involving a staff member should be sent to the superintendent who will afford it to the employee, their supervisor and the board. And again, speakers are reminder, reminded that their public comments will be limited to three minutes. Let me know when you are ready.

17:10 Technology. Hold on. Okay. Okay. Um, so our first, uh, speaker this evening is Sarah b. Hello, folks. I think you know me at this point. Um, the topic I wish to speak about tonight is community engagement. I look most forward to the public comment agenda item at these meetings because I feel a lot of pride that pa and the passion of community members voices when they resolve to speak publicly about, about something. It's not easy. It begins with an observation or experience, turns into curiosity and is nurtured by contemplation and investigation.

17:58 And then it crescendos right here in front of a microphone. After stepping away from the microphone, many of us feel there are words have been politely received in person, but we wonder about the actual value of our statements beyond fulfilling the board's obligation to provide us time to speak. The concern, observation, suggestion, or challenge that we've worked hard to articulate and share is passed over with a nod and it seems to just fall off the table after that. Although we are initially offered a chain of command to address questions and concerns when link after link of the chain doesn't provide closure, we turn to Face u our school board established to ensure community control over public education. Our SBS community shares the goal of excellence and the education of our children.

18:44 For community to function well as members must have a strong sense of connection, inclusion and support of purpose. Successful communities encourage engagement, address concerns, and solve problems. Successful communities are successful teams. Authentic team building requires humility. The people who have benefited from their positions at the top of a hierarchy must drop status signaling and commit to a deep respect for every team member's expertise. When the people at the bottom of the chain bring forward concerns in a dysfunctional team, it comes with huge risks because the people farthest from positions of authority have the most to lose. Those who spend the least amount of time behind desks know best and firsthand what's missing when needs improvement.

19:31 And they have creative ideas about how to improve leadership that does not listen to the bearers of bad news will oversee projects that won't benefit from these important insights. The best news is bad news brought early, early enough to fix. When people share problems with the system, that's a gift. When people care enough to ask a question, sign a petition, raise a red flag, or speak at a board meeting, that is a gift to the mission. Best practices and quality management require every team member to report problems. But it must be easy, safe, and rewarding for all team members to be heard. In order to operate as intended. Team members should be encouraged and empowered by being proactively invited to the table, not left.

20:16 Wondering if anyone took the time to investigate their concerns. Community members who come to the board for affirmation are the canaries in our education, coal mine, urgently aware of potential problems. I encourage board members as well as everyone gathered here today, to view our community's engagement in the education of our children as a powerful and valuable tool. Thank you. Thank you, sheriff. Thank you, Sarah. Not sure if you heard that with the applause. Wanted to make sure you, um, the next person on our list is Laura Farley.

21:01 And I'm hoping I'm pronouncing last names correctly today. Please correct me if I aren't, if I'm wrong. Okay. Okay. My name is Laura Farley and I'm a teacher at Springfield High School. I've spoken at previous board meetings about the toxicity emanating from upper management. I shared results from our exit committee in which every respondent declared that they did not feel supported by upper management.

21:46 I even shared data from ODE that showed that since 2019, the district has continued to cut certified and classified positions, which are the lifeline to our students, while adding more and more administrative jobs. Then we begin this school year with the district wasting time and upwards of $35,000 on spurious formal complaint and investigation against a board member, which could have been handled with a conversation about policy. Now we have upper management proposing a resolution that will eliminate over 25 certified positions at the middle and high school levels and the district office, which would, you know, could go into effect at the end of the month, huh? About three weeks from now. It is obvious that those in upper management truly have no

22:31 idea what life is like for teachers and students these days. If they did, they would find other ways to balance the budget. Please consider that if this resolution passes, you will be responsible for destroying the lives of educators who will be fired, excuse me, laid off the lives of educators who are losing beloved colleagues. And let's not forget the most important lives that will be negatively impacted our students. Our students will lose trusted adults who have put in countless hours to create meaningful lessons and inviting and safe spaces for them. Not only that, but our students will be crammed into classrooms losing that one-on-one connection. It takes time to develop trust and to create a rapport with our students, especially our students who are living in one of the most terrifying times of their lives.

23:16 With the impact and looming threat of ice terrorizing our communities to cut positions, midyear is unconscionable. Shame on day. Who shall not be named? Why didn't the district impose a hiring freeze this past school year? Why did the board even approve this budget? Why is upper management choosing to cut costs with this highly disruptive and quite frankly, cruel action? Why not balance the budget by cutting programs like, oh, say avid, which other local districts have cut past administrations balance the budget with creative solutions like having furlough days to protect our staff and students. Why isn't this administration doing the same? I implored the school board to reject this callous and shortsighted resolution

24:01 and to demand that upper management find ways to balance the budget that won't destroy our school communities. Thank you. Thank you, Laura. Um, I appreciate the applause. I wanna make sure that we have time for everyone. So just acknowledging maybe slightly less, just, just slightly.

24:49 Um, so the next person that we have up on the agenda is, or up, up on the speaker's list is Pauline Fam. Good evening board members. My name is Pauline Fam and I've been a special education teacher at Springfield High School for eight years. Full disclosure, I can hardly do math and even my students know to avoid it with me. So I recognize that managing a district budget comes with enormous pressure and responsibility. I'm truly grateful that you are taking on this stress for our community. What I am an expert in is student learning. I work with students every day, and as a sped teacher, it's pretty much every

25:34 single minute of the day. So I see firsthand how staffing decisions affect their success, their sense of safety, and their ability to learn. When schools lose teachers, especially mid-years, they lose stability. They lose trusted adults, consistent support and the relationships that help them feel safe and successful. At SHS, many of our students depend on these relationships, especially students with disabilities. Students experiencing mental health. Our multilingual learners are students dealing with challenges outside of school. Last year, we lost seven teachers, and we're still feeling the impacts of that loss. I listened to many of our students cry about losing, um, trusted adults and wondering how they would stay motivated once those relationships they

26:20 depended on were gone the next year. I'm reliving that experience right now as students anxiously wonder who in our teacher community will be gone in the next few weeks. Every year, we conduct a student voice survey. Last year, of the 747 students who responded, 79% said they have at least one trusted adult at school. I can't imagine what it will be like for them if that one trusted adult is is suddenly taken away. Midyear and last week's budget committee meeting, many of our schools were considered to be operating below full functional capacity. I'm not sure what standards were used to define that capacity 10 years ago. And again, I'm not a finance or building expert, but as someone who has worked with kids for 18 years, I can say this, our world is not the same

27:05 as it was 10 years ago, and neither are our students. Their needs are greater now than ever before. We're dealing with rising mental health needs, behavioral challenges, dysfunctional home lives, food insecurity, housing instability, political volatility, misinformation, ai, social media, six, seven. And we're still recovering from COVID v's. Impact on learning and attendance. So how are we supposed to build meaningful relationships with students when class sizes keep growing in smaller classes? I can check on students with, um, one-on-one, provide targeted feedback, provide accommodations and differentiates differentiation that helps students succeed in overcrowded classrooms. That level of individualized support becomes nearly impossible. How do we support kids who need extra help when we're stretched thinner each year?

27:51 Adding just a few more essays to my current workload is a difference between surviving and having the time to truly support a struggling student. How do we offer students flexibility and choice and their schedule with fewer teachers? When staffing is strong, students can choose their electives that match their interests, access support classes, or take courses that fit their learning needs with fewer teachers. Those options become limited, and it's harder to place students where they learn best. I don't have the answers to the budget, but I know that cutting classroom teachers mid-year is not the answer. It can't be the answer after all, at Springfield High School. It's every student every day. I truly believe that. And I hope you do too. Thank you for listening.

28:41 Thank you, Pauline. Uh, the next up is me drying. How bad did I but that name so bad that, oops. Oh, no. Okay. Hello? Uh, not too bad. Okay. Good to know. Thank you. As parents, we send our students off to school every day. And their safety and wellbeing are in the hands of SPS staff. These people aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. They're community members who play a huge role in our children's day to day. We trust them to be there to support our kids in school and in life. The district's proposal to cut staff doesn't just affect our community members whose jobs are on the line.

29:27 It has cascading effects on the classroom affecting the instructional continuity that our children rely on to learn class sizes. Who's teaching those classes and how long those people have, have had to adequately prepare. So with that in mind, I wanna ask a big question. Why are SPS administrators so comfortable making decisions that they know will harm our children? Why don't SPS administrators ever look to their own part of the budget for necessary reductions? Not only have administrators failed to put forth a reasonable budget that accounts for the needs of our children and our community, they've increased their own ranks by 25% since 2020. In a context of 15% enrollment decline,

30:14 and a 12.5% existing decrease in teaching positions, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this administration lacks accountability. And when faced with difficult conditions, is all too willing to sacrifice our children's wellbeing over their own. We need leadership with integrity. We need leadership willing to make sacrifices, not just sacrifice others. Fiscal responsibility doesn't just mean balancing the budget. It means ensuring that student success doesn't suffer under your decisions. It's holding some amount of responsibility for the public good. Is that too much to ask? Why? When there are myriad alternative approaches like furlough

31:00 days, canceling conference travel, postponing curriculum adoption being offered by people on the ground, are SPS administrators considering such a disruptive and harmful approach? Why wouldn't less disruptive approaches be considered? First, I'm a professional that works in the union world, and I've been at bargaining tables with public employers across the state, and I have a pretty good idea why this is happening right now. If student success is truly the district's guiding principle, then all other budget cutting avenues should be thoroughly examined before reducing teaching staff. And if I, as a parent and community member have anything to say about it, I say chop from the top.

32:05 The echoes are, are like, thank you, me. I think that's how you pronounce the name, hoping that's how you pronounce the name. Um, next on the list is Violet Lloyd. Today I will speak about transparency around budget cuts. Hi, my name is Violet Lloyd and I attend Springfield High School.

32:50 I'm a very involved sophomore spending a lot of time in choir, theater and leadership. The budget issue will not only affect me, but all of my classmates not only will be taking away a teacher's job, but you'll also be taking away from students' learning, taking away a trusted guardian for students due to financial issues. This issue could have been prevented in the past if we were more prepared. Nobody's job should be sacrificed for issues that could have been prepared for the decision to cut. 27 teachers from schools will leave us with even less support than what the teachers are already able to provide in their overwhelming workload. Teachers and students will have to lose the classes. They love to cover the classes left behind. This isn't fair to students or teachers.

33:37 Students have to look at their schedule for next semester with a grain of salt because who knows if they'll, the classes that they love will even exist next semester. There hasn't been a lot of transparency through this whole process, and that is very frustrating. Teachers have to deal with the burden of not knowing what is really happening, and that is not okay. Transparency is very valued at Springfield High School, but sometimes it feels like it's a little cloudy outside our school. I feel that when a decision is this big is being made, it's very important to make sure to, to be as transparent as possible, especially when it comes to a decision that can cost people their jobs. I feel as though this entire process has been very foggy and scary for teachers to go through. Um, it's been very foggy

34:22 because there hasn't been any transparency throughout this entire process. One of the hardest things to go through is to try to be a teacher and try to care about your students. When none of this is working, we can't cut a bunch of, we can't do this trying. What I'm gonna say. The idea of 27 teachers being cut is not only terrifying for teachers, is also terrifying for students. Teachers are more than just teachers. They give us support to students, and they make sure that they have what they need to succeed. I made it through some very challenging times in my life, and during that time, it was so important for me to have the extra support. Cutting 27 teachers, especially with the short amount of notice, would be absolutely heartbreaking for the students and teachers.

35:07 In conclusion, I'm very disappointed. This entire process has been so draining for our teachers. I believe that there has to be a better way to cut money than losing the best new teachers we have. Thank you for your time. Thank you, violet. Uh, next up is Matthew Brant. Hey, good evening everybody. Um, I just wanted to take an opportunity to, um,

35:52 come and speak tonight. I have only been in this community about 15 years. My wife and I, we moved up in the end of 2010. So we've never truly felt like natives, but, um, but I look back on it now, 15 years is a long time. My wife opened up a preschool program, uh, 10 years ago, 11 years ago. We've got kids that we've helped raise that are in all of these elementary schools from Douglas Gardens, T-D-S-T-M-S Do Rios. We've got, uh, even Summit Guy Lee. All of my friends and family member are education minded folks. We've got, uh, teachers, educational assistants. Everybody that we know and work with are directly impacted in some fashion by the way that this board rules.

36:37 Um, and one of the things we've always talked about ourselves is how come we never really step up, make some changes ourselves, get ground roots movements going. Um, you've heard a lot tonight. Everybody here is very passionate about this upcoming budget proposal. Uh, it's clearly inspired a lot of people, um, to be here, voice their opinions. I don't think I can adequately express what it means that other people haven't already. What I wanted to focus on, though in my two minutes left here, was how do we solve the problem? And I think a lot of focus has been on how do we slash the budget in a way that's least impactful? And I thought I would take the time to change the narrative a bit and say, how do we raise funds? Why, why are we focused on cutting when we could use other

37:25 tools at our disposal? Right now, the economy in general, there's a lot of uncertainty coming from the federal top that has led us to be in a position where we just can't rely on state and federal funds. We're clearly tied to state funds. We have tools in our toolkit. There is a local levy option. It's a nuclear option within our kit. I see a ton of community members here. We could fund this ourselves. The the board has the ability to make a referral, to put it on the ballot that we could raise funds and let the community support our system. There's no reason we couldn't make a levy option. I go to school, I volunteer. Classrooms are overloaded. Man, losing teachers is not gonna help. It's a vicious cycle. If we lose teachers, we lead

38:12 to oversized classes. Oversized classes lead to behavioral problems. Behavioral problems lead to bullying. Bullying leads to parents feeling like their needs aren't being met. Kids don't feel like they're supported. They unenroll unen enrollment leads to budget shortfalls. Why don't we shore up the budget? Let's meet the union with what they want. Put the option out there. Levies are not evil. It's, it's only 50 cents to a dollar extra per thousand dollars assessed value. The average person in this town has a $207,000 assessed value home. To raise the budget, what you need would only cost the average family maybe $35 a month. We could support the community ourselves and shore this up. Let's explore the options.

39:09 Thank you, Matthew. Uh, next up Savannah Griffin. I'm assuming they're out there. Does someone want to peek out there? Savannah Griffin. And it's not a virtual one, correct? No. Okay. Okay. We will circle back in case they're otherwise indisposed at the moment. Um, Kai Fireside.

39:58 Good evening. Thank you. My name is Kai Fireside. There are some folks in this audience tonight who are neither educators nor parents. Uh, at least I think that word is plural. I think I'm not the only one. Maybe I'm the only one. I'm an archeologist. I have no children, but I live in Springfield and I pay taxes, and I'm happy for those taxes to go to educating this community. I cannot imagine going to a school where a bunch of teachers get cut in the middle of the school year. That sounds horrifying. I kind of remember high school and it kind of sucked. And I was lucky that a teacher who was not terribly overburdened with giant class sizes saw

40:46 that something was wrong and helped me out. Or I might not be here tonight. I would like you to know that the taxes I pay should go towards teachers. I'm happy to pay more taxes. I don't know what's going on with the budget in this town. The city's talking about cutting the library, the school district's talking about cutting teachers. I want to live in an educated community. That's it. I wanna live in an educated community. I think that's so important. I hope you guys do the right thing. Thank you. Yes.

41:37 Thank you Kai. Uh, Joe. YI. Okay. My name's Joe. Uh, I have the privilege of sitting here as a soon to be married to a, a teacher here in Springfield, uh, that teaches at this once. Great district. I, I, I'd like to start by saying, uh, shame on the board. Every one of you as a whole for your bad faith negotiations with the teacher's union. Uh, the tone, uh, that you've set and said to the community that it's somehow the teachers in

42:23 the union's fault, uh, for not accepting your, your contract that doesn't have cost of living adjustments has added, uh, contract hours without added wages. Uh, a schedule that forgets teachers or human beings with lives, oftentimes children other volunteer responsibilities and requires them to work more than they're compensated for. Knowing at the beginning of the year, you were going to experience a budget shortfall, being afraid of public outlash and kickback, and not telling the community how much the shortfall was one of only two districts in the entire state to not share their shortfall with the public shame.

43:08 A midyear RIF proposed of 27 certified teachers. This is deplorable, frivolous administrative spending, including, but not limited to keeping on an admin staff on paid leave without explanation, while not working as a principal. Shame the reported resolution that fires, sorry, lays off As many as 27 certified staff will raise class sizes by approximately 15 students to somewhere near 42 per class. That's sickening. Can't learn in that environment like the person before me. I wanna live in an educated community. The resolution offered does not provide that. Encouraging the public to have one person speak

43:53 for their entire group and stifling our public voice. Shame. All in all, the board's behavior and secrecy breeds a landscape of mistrust, anger, intentions that continue to erode the fragile, fragile public trust in public education. You don't think you make it hard enough for the voters to vote for education bills and levies when you do stuff like this. What do you expect us to do? How do you expect us to support you when you won't look in the mirror to find the money we need for our education, for our students? And you cut the teachers, the people providing education. It's sickening.

44:44 Thank you. And one more try for Savannah Griffin. Give it a second. Nothing. Okay. Was, was that not Savannah that spoke before this? Oh no. Okay. That's, no, No. I know Gerald. Uh, yes. I didn't touch you. Hi, fireside. Hi. Good. Hi. Last one that spoke. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Um, so that is the end of the public comment session, and we will move to consent agenda.

45:35 I was gonna request a poll item. What was it? Forget, uh, the, um, business meeting. Uh, a one The Meeting minutes? Yeah. Okay. Uh, can we, do we have a vote to approve the consent agenda? Uh, with the removal of the meeting minutes? Move to approve. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Passes. Um, director Cole, what are your, uh, Yeah, just on the, um, business, the meeting minutes from the, uh, December 8th meeting on page four, there was a discussion, um, talked about, it says Director Cole raised concerns about reduction in the

46:22 ending fund balance and the lack of corresponding reduction in ending fund balance. I think that was actually asking about the trend, and I'd asked about getting that modified. I was asking question about that and whether or not it was a trend that we had a reducing pending fund balance. And I was hoping to get that corrected as well as, um, the director yancy's response. So along those lines, I guess I do have a, a concern about how, um, this gets, um, documented. Um, in the past, um, the, the board minutes have gotten revised in the packet online. And so we have different versions of the document floating around. Like we get hard copies that have one, uh, copy of the minutes.

47:08 And, but then online, if you go to look, it would be the changes. And so there's, um, seems like it's a problem if there's different versions of a document floating around, I would like to see if we could, um, do something to, to manage that. And I don't know if that's, you know, leaving the packet as is, you know, so, or, or, or some sort of version control or something. Because to go back and look at things is, Is there a way to like put version one or amended or next something? Yeah, if they were noted that they were red, made red lining in the document or something. Be just, because if there's nothing, how would someone know that it's a different document that, you know?

47:54 So, great question. Uh, one of the things that we try to do when we make an adjustment or an edit to the minutes is notice, notice that in the documentation, one of the things that I would remind you is that the minutes are draft until they're approved. And then once approved, they are posted online as approved minutes. So the approved minutes are posted online, But I, I, it's been my experience that then the, the, uh, minutes in the packet get changed as well. There's online, uh, the board packet, so we'll get our board packet, you know, that's, that's correct. The day before Friday. And then if you open up the link after that for the board packet, the minutes have changed in the board packet as opposed to just online where it says the

48:40 approved meeting minutes. Hmm. So you want us to be more clear about edits that are made that are updated in the board packet? Packet? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. We hear you. Okay. Um, so those changes have been made. Um, do we have a motion to approve the minutes as amended? Move approval? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passes. Brief recess. Good to go? Yeah. Okay. Alright. Um, so the next on the agenda is the, uh,

49:27 five B action and reduction in force. And I'll turn it over to Todd to start. So, uh, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to start. Uh, you do have a, uh, resolution in your board packet that includes, uh, high level, uh, background information. You've heard from community members tonight with additional information. We've shared information with you. Uh, I do want to provide Mr. Yancy an opportunity to talk a little bit about, uh, how this relates to the budget. And so he's prepared a presentation for you to review with the board prior to the board considering an action. Thank you, Jeff. So as we get ready to, um, present this

50:14 and to discuss this resolution, um, you know, excuse Me. Um, Brett, is it possible, do we have copies of this presentation or not yet? Okay. You do not. Um, I was working on this up until this meeting. Okay. Um, based on the meetings that we had this evening. Okay. Um, so we understand that obviously these events reflect differing perspectives and very strong feelings about the impact of the financial decisions on staffing and programs. Our goal in presenting this timeline that you're gonna see is to clearly and respectfully document the sequence of communications and actions and to support the ongoing dialogue grounded in shared facts. I heard a lot of public comment about transparency,

51:01 and I believe what you're going to see through this presentation is clear representation of transparency. People tend not to pay attention until we get to this point. And so I want to, I wanna just go back and talk about this. So this goes back to March 10th, 2025. We were entering negotiations and we had a, an executive session with the board. And while I can't go into the details of executive session, what I can say is that coming out of that, the board established bargaining parameters. They established an assumption that those parameters would necessitate staff reductions.

51:47 The board considered multiple scenarios and reached consensus on the parameters provided to the district's bargaining team. And this was back in March. In April, we had another executive session. We and the board reaffirmed the previously established parameters, again, acknowledging that the parameters would result in staff reductions. Then in May, we proposed the 2020 5 26 budget. It was presented to the budget committee following three work sessions where we talked about this. We presented that budget with a 0% cola, but also including a 3.75% increase in pay for all eligible employees. A majority of the teachers, a majority

52:32 of the classified staff members, receive this 3.75% increase on an annual basis. And we pres, we budgeted that and we awarded it in September. I, so I know this is stuff that we're all really passionate about, the board and the general public needs to hear this information. And so I'm, I am gonna ask that everyone try to just maintain no talking at this point so we make sure that we're hearing everything that is being said. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. An opportunity was presented for the budget committee and the public we're required by law to provide public comment. And we did have some public comment to ask questions

53:19 and seek clarification on what was provided and no questions were raised. The budget was then moved for approval by Director Nicole DeGraff, and it was seconded by director Ken Cole. The motion passed with unanimous approval on June 9th. We then came back to the school that was the budget committee. So the budget committee remember is, is 10 people representing the community. We then came back on June 9th for a formal adoption. Again, we presented this including a 0% COLA and a 3.75% increase in pay for eligible employees. Another opportunity for the budget committee to comment and the public to ask questions or seek clarification was provided. No questions were raised. The adoption was moved by director Ken Cole, and it was seconded by Director Jonathan Light

54:05 and was adopted unanimously at that point. The district now has our budget. We have our appropriations. We know that by law we can't overspend those appropriations. We held executive sessions on August 11th, September 8th and November 10th. Across all of these executive sessions. There were no changes made to the established parameters with the understanding that the parameters would require staffing reductions. So, shared information and, and all of this is recorded if people are interested in watching these. On April 8th, the district and the Springfield Education Association began bargaining on April 24th. The district shared its concerns about the potential need

54:50 to reduce staffing levels in connection with any financial agreement requests information about what were the Springfield Education Association's priorities on July 16th, we had that direction in those parameters for all employees in the organization. So on July 16th, the district and the OSCA, the Oregon School Employees Association reached a tentative agreement that included a 4.15% cola. And in order to support that agreement, commensurate staffing reductions were made. Because it was early in the summer, we were able to do that through attrition. Prior to the start of the school year, again, the budget included 0% cola. On August 27th, the SEA bargaining chair expressed concerns

55:36 that the district appeared to be linking staffing reductions to proposed increases in the COLA and categorize the district's position as threatening. Okay, on August 28th, the next day, the district and the Springfield administrators and confidential counsel reached an agreement that included a 2.7% cola. So the administrators took less than a cola knowing that they had to have commensurate staffing reductions that occurred. Folks, the same way the OSCA reductions occurred. It occurred through attrition, it occurred through positions that weren't filled. So now fast, we've been going through bargaining. Fast forward to December 19th, the district administration notified SEA leadership,

56:22 and this is by contract that a reduction in force process would be presented to the school board tonight for implementation and approval. On January 9th, the local media outlet, a local media outlet, reached out to the district for a reaction to a claim about this budget adjustment being a manufactured crisis. The information I've shared with you tonight is transparent enough to see that this isn't a manufactured crisis by the superintendent or by me or by anybody. This is following our budget appropriation and the parameters that were established by this school board, clearly understanding that there would be reductions in force necessary. As a matter of fact, that same local media outlet on June 10th, and this is, I, I got this out of the, out of the, uh, outlet today, quote, budgets,

57:08 cuts do not account for any cost of living adjustments that the district might make during teacher contract negotiations, which are continuing. If the contract increases teacher salaries, these expenses must be added to the budget and will likely lead to more staffing cuts according to Yancy. That was a quote. So again, I think that the purpose in me sharing this, Jeff, you can go ahead and stop sharing, was to reemphasize, and I understand this is emotional. I've been here a very long time and I've been through major reductions way worse than this, Folks. I've been here for 24 years. I was here during 2008.

57:53 I'm sorry, Madam Chair. Can I present without interruption? I I, we did not interrupt during public comment. Can I please present without interruption? Yeah, I really, Or can you please ask people to leave so we can have this conversation? If we're gonna continue to have interactions, I am gonna have to ask folks to leave and I don't wanna do that. I want us all to listen to this and to hear the information so everyone is on the same page of where we're at. I don't wanna have have folks leave, so I need to just have you all be quiet for right now while we're listening to this. Okay. Thank you. Thank You. So again, this is dealing with a situation that has already been dealt with with two of our employee groups.

58:39 And now because we don't have the authority to overspend our budget and we have a 0% cola, we are asking the board to adopt this resolution that was presented, um, to you previous to this meeting. Whereas Springfield Public Schools has identified an estimated $2.34 million budget deficit for the current school year due to insufficient funding to sustain current licensed staffing levels. And whereas Springfield Public Schools is required to comply with OS 3 4 2 9 3 4 and applicable collective bargaining agreements when making decisions related to reductions in force, be it therefore resolved that the Springfield Public Schools board director authorized the implementation of reduction in force, effective January 30th, 2026, in accordance with state law and collective bargaining agreements. And I would turn that back over to you as chair. Okay.

59:28 So there's a recommendation to implement a reduction in force that's being presented for our approval. And this resolution is included in our board packet. We've heard the presentation from, um, Mr. Yancy, what are the questions that you all have at this point? Am I allowed to, can we start with that or do we have to have a motion the table before we discuss, do a discuss. Okay. So we need a motion on the table to approve the reduction as of force as presented. I move to authorize implement implementation of re reduction in force effective January 30th, 2026. And then we need a second, and then we can go into discussion at that point.

1:00:13 I'll second so we can have discussion. Thank You. Um, so we have a motion to second on the table and now I will open it up to discussion. So, um, director Yancy, I, my understanding was that, um, we shared the, the parameters with, um, SEA, the board parameters during the initial, um, negotiations. Is that correct? Not, we shared, not during the, in, we shared a dollar amount and asked them to provide us with priorities, um, because we didn't want to assume there, they had a number of requests. If you go back and watch the, the videos, they had a number requests in it. I think it totaled $19 million. And we have obviously parameters of 2.34 million. So we asked them to provide us with priorities so

1:00:58 that we could better align and, and work with them to meet their needs. And so yes, that was shared, uh, early on in negotiations. Could you re I guess I'm confused. 'cause you said we gave them a dollar correct value, but not all the, that was not all the parameters. Right. Gave Them a dollar value. Okay. Based on the parameters the board gave us. Okay. So we did not enter that with a strict cost living adjustment and insurance increase. Um, because we had an a list of things that the SEA had proposed that totaled over $19 million. And we, our, obviously our two plus million wasn't gonna address all those things. So we asked them for priorities because we didn't want to assume that one thing took priority over another.

1:01:43 Yeah. So were there things that we asked for that were not in those, the board priorities or, I'm sorry, I, I guess I need clarification. Well, uh, that were, were there things that we asked for that were not strictly based on the, the budget, the dollar value or the parameters? We did not, did not, we Did not. We had, we had parameters clearly established by the school board and we can't exceed those parameters. And so we went to them obviously with parameters that we can't exceed. And, and so that's why we asked for under help and understanding what their priorities were. I, I guess were there things that, um, we asked

1:02:28 for changes in the contract that were not specific to the budget, the, the dollar amount, or was it all everything we asked or was, or we didn't ask for anything other than just we didn't, we just provide that. I mean, and, and obviously we, this has been a, it's almost a year now, so this has been going on for a while. It's been a, a ongoing conversation. So the district didn't necessarily ask for anything. We're obviously in a collective bargaining conversation. Okay. Director quality. Cole, do you have additional questions? Um, just something else that occurred to me. Uh, typically in our budgets, um, we, we don't spend everything in every fund or function.

1:03:13 We add, have we looked at how much we typically have remaining at the end of a year and how much? Yeah, so it's a, it's a really good question. And, and we covered this at the budget committee work session last week. So we started this year with a 20 point, a $20 million carryover. We're projecting at the end of this year to reduce that to $13 million, which means that we're spending 7 million more this year excluding this settlement than we spent last year. So we're drawing down our reserves by $7 million. And obviously this is important because as we begin to build the 2020 6 27 budget, we are starting with a $7 million hole that we need to fill

1:03:59 or make adjustments to reconcile. So in in our board packet, we have the, an the financial, you know, projection. So can you point I guess where we're projected to overspend because it, as it shows our expenditures, um, all are less, you know, a hundred percent or less. Yeah. So if you, if you see the total revenue in that, that includes the $20 million beginning fund balance, that's a revenue source. You see how much we're spending and you see the ending fund balance projection, that's 13 million plus some change that shows that we're, that the $20 million is included in revenue and we're spending that down. So obviously we don't have the authority to overspend our budget,

1:04:45 but what we're showing in that financial statement is that we're spending $7 million down out of reserves. So I guess I'm, I'm at a loss to what, I don't understand what you're asking. Are we gonna overspend our budget? No, I'm just trying to understand. Uh, you talked about that, um, this is an expense issue and Right. But we're projecting underspending what's in the budget. Right? Right. Without the settlement right now, without, but you add that settlement in and I believe we'll be overspending those areas. That's why we're asking for this adjustment. Yeah. The, so the, well, the financial statement you're looking at right now Yeah. Does not assume any of this in there because we haven't reached a

1:05:30 tentative agreement at this point. So it's just for, I'm trying to make sure I'm understanding. So with, without the, without settling with SEA as it stands right now, we're already gonna be 7 million. We're gonna spend $7 million out of our reserves this year. That, and it doesn't include any, correct. That's correct. Any of the decision. That is correct. Does That factor in, um, the other two? It does. Okay. Yeah. 'cause we've settled with them and we've already made those commensurate reductions. Okay. So it offset In the budget. Okay. Director Cole, do you have any additional questions at this time?

1:06:16 Um, not a question, just a feels like we're between a rock and a hard place that we're, we're trying to balance, um, what we do for the kids this year versus, you know, future classes of kids and how they're impacted and, um, I'm not sure there's a, there's a win here. There's, there's not a win in budget reductions. I mean, we've, we've been down this road several times and nobody wins in budget reductions. Yeah. It's very difficult. It's very emotional. It's very impactful. There is absolutely no question that we're all on that on the same page there. I guess, uh, yeah.

1:07:04 Can you speak to how much the revenue is impacted? Um, I know that we get revenue based on, because the enrollment this year Yeah. Is lower. So we're, we get revenue based on, we're assuming revenue from last year based on enrollment being higher. Yeah. Um, so does the, the that we, the unanticipated decrease in enrollment this year does not affect the revenue. It does not affect this year's revenue, but it's gonna be an additional large reduction next year. Okay. 'cause we're, we're, we're projecting over 250 kids down again for next year. So we continue to decrease, um,

1:07:51 lose kids at a rate much faster than the rest of the state. Yeah. And That's about $11,000 per student. So the math is, it adds up to a, to a large number. Can we stop the side talking please? Thank you, director Cole, any additional questions? No. Okay. Who, who wants to go next? I don't have any questions. Okay. Vice Chair Langworthy. Um, having more information in advance would have been helpful to, to find out other options.

1:08:38 Um, but, uh, I, it's, uh, this is a really challenging place 'cause uh, I'm, I'm not given much information. I found out on Thursday, January 8th, and four days later, I'm asked to vote on a resolution to eliminate 27 certified FTE in the middle of the school year. Um, you know, I, I always have asked and always will ask for more information, um, before proving, you know, especially this, this is asking to approve any mid-year reductions. Um,

1:09:23 sorry, I'm just taking a minute. Do you want me to come back to you? Is that okay? Um, Yeah, you can come back to me. Okay. Sorry. No, you're okay. We, we point of order. I we can't, I'm so sorry, sir. We, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm really sorry. I, yeah, what do we,

1:10:13 I'm sorry that, yeah, I actually do have a question. Um, uh, so there's mentioned a supplemental for appropriate transfer. What is that? Yeah, so supplemental budget is a budget that you would go to if the board is receiving revenue in excess of 10% of any fund, that's when you do a supplemental budget. It's in Oregon budget law. The district is not receiving additional revenue in any funds. We're trying to, to spend within the appropriations established in the adopted budget. So that isn't applicable in this case. Okay. And we're, like I said, we're just finding out about this. I'm definitely just finding out about this. Um, I just, and so was there, was there, um,

1:10:58 are there any other options? So, just a point of clarification, There were multiple executive sessions, and I believe you were in attendance at those director worthy, so I don't want, I don't want to be, uh, it put on me that I hadn't shared information with you because those, that information was shared. Um, and thank you for, for letting me say that. Um, other options as far as, um, solving this issue, I think as Director Cole had pointed out any other options is, is, um, we were operating under the parameters, the given by the board and the ensuing reductions. So we're living within those parameters. If you're asking us

1:11:43 to no longer live within those parameters, I think we're gonna have to counsel with, um, our attorneys to find out what next steps would be, because I can't break budget law. Um, I, and I, I, I won't break budget law. Sure. Um, and so, uh, I heard there mention of a levy. What would that, um, So local levy is something that the board would ask the community to support. Um, there's a hand, there's probably a, a dozen districts in the entire state that have local levies. Um, this would be done during the election process, and you would go out to the community and ask them for additional support for their schools. And it would be very designated for specific things. Um, I would have to check with local Elections law

1:12:29 to even know if we are too late to put that on a ballot, um, or what that would look like. And then it would be a matter of going to the public for a vote, and it would then levy additional taxes on our community to support the items that we identified that that local levee would support. Hmm. And that wouldn't, if, if we were able to put it on, um, for this election cycle, that it wouldn't even start taking place until after May or when Oh, oh. It would not even start taking place until over a year from now. Okay. Because it's levied through taxes. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. Vice Chair, Langworthy, any additional questions?

1:13:15 I'm gonna move on for now. Okay, thank you. And also, um, I, I do wanna clarify, uh, yes, I do remember mentioning things in executive session. I do remember mentioning things. I just didn't know it was like this. Thank you. Um, I just have a few thoughts. Um, I don't really have any questions. Um, I have spent the time, I've been on the board visiting, um, all but two schools officially. I've come and had glimpses of a lot of classroom things, thing, uh, seeing issues, seeing room clears, seeing, uh, music classes, Spanish, English classes. Um, I have had, I've just, I've seen a lot that you go through.

1:14:01 And then I, I just wanna say to the educators and families and, um, students here, ICU, and you're not just a number on the spreadsheet. This is very, um, difficult. I've been on the other side giving public comment before, and I know how weird it is to give comment and not have conversation back. So, um, and we keep order that way. Um, you know, last March, um, when, uh, chair Konza asked Brett Yancy, will there be, will this mean adjustments for the classroom ratios, all that? And he said, yes, next year we will have less staff. And I just knew then what that was going to mean. And I took it very serious. Knowing from then till now, um, that my heart just really goes out to everybody affected.

1:14:47 I knew the consequences. My kids are on our district schools, and they have, they share some of your, your same anxieties. Um, I received many thoughtful emails. The board has received many thoughtful emails. You guys have asked questions that I have asked this whole time myself, whether it was furloughs. Um, what about reserves, admin, other costs, pers increases that we know are gonna keep increasing till 2035? Um, what are the other expensive, I, we've all asked what are the other options? Um, and my understanding grew. The, the further, um, this last year went on, I've revisited multiple meeting recordings, budget, commuting, uh, read so many transcripts. I've done a lot of hours of research. Um, my understanding is this isn't,

1:15:33 this is solely about stewarding funds within a budget shortfall. And I feel like this, um, situation is part of a larger problem. I saw state level a lawmakers hold, uh, many meetings to, to talk about changing the funding formula. And they basically, you know, throw their hands up. Like they don't know what, what to do. Um, so this leaves districts like ours and impossible choices. Um, we've seen it with neighboring districts. We're not, we're not the only ones that are dealing with this. Um, I've seen the district staff ameliorate things, whether it's our fleet, um, how, how, for lack of a better word, pays for itself. Um, the, the per site account, how that lowers our, um, our debt. So I will continue to advocate for sustainable funding solutions, um, so

1:16:20 that decisions like this, um, um, don't have to be made. Um, and that I do know students deserve stability and our educators deserve, um, a lot less uncertain uncertainty. Thank you, director Degra. Um, I wanted to just get some, some things clarified because of the questions that we have been asked and the, the emails that we've received and the items that were mentioned during public comment tonight. So a lot of folks were, have been asking about like, what other options have been looked at. What else have we put on the table? Um, what are the other things that we, we need to address?

1:17:05 Um, you know, there's been suggestions of furlough days, there's been suggestions of, of delaying curriculum adoption or, or getting new textbooks. Um, so I, I was just hoping that we can walk through like what those would look like if those are options, if those options have been weighed, what the next steps would be. Um, yeah. So yes, all of those options we've, we've discussed and we've weighed, and I will start with furlough days. Um, furlough days are not a thing that the district or the board can just simply implement that impacts other employee groups. We have settlements with other employee groups. Um, and so we would need to, if, if we try

1:17:53 to implement furlough days, I'm confident we would get an unfair labor practice filed against us if we wanted to demand to bargain. That's a process that's gonna take at least 90 days, um, potentially longer. Um, looking at other solutions in the budget. Um, the caution about managing a budget, and this is what has put Springfield, if contrary to what people believe, this is what has put Springfield in a very strong financial position over decades. We are very conscious about not spending one time resources

1:18:38 on ongoing expenses. We live within our means. And when we are projecting to exceed our means, we make those adjustments so that we can continue living within our means. Um, and so that's how I will, that, that's all I will, um, answer about that. It's, it's, we, we have, we have looked at all this and for the, for the financial health and strength of this district, both this year and in the future, I believe we need to continue living within our means. And we've operated and bargained in good faith under the parameters given to us by the school board, understanding what the re resulting reductions would be.

1:19:24 If reductions are not approved tonight, what does that look at? What does that mean for the future for our licensed staff? Does that mean As I, as I mentioned, um, chair kanza? Um, we would need to consult with legal counsel. I think there would be legal ramifications Folks Essentially that Yeah, that's where I'll stop. Okay. And we have our attorney here. And, um, I would just lean on, lean on any counsel. Sure. So, uh, Because the parties are in mediation, you're exchanging proposals in mediation.

1:20:12 That is a somewhat confidential process. They have presented a proposal to SEA based upon a certain percent cola that would result in the need to reduce staffing. And that's the piece that you are being asked to present tonight or to approve tonight, is to allow for that increase that's being discussed in mediation. And so, because it's already been put on the table, if the district withdraws an offer that's already been made, that's the problem. That's, that's the reference. So there's another attorney that's, that's representing the district in that. So I won't speak to the specifics of that, but that's, that's what he means when he says you, you need to discuss it with legal counsel because it could be seen as regressive bargaining if you do not approve the

1:20:58 reduction in force proposal tonight. And then I understand another ramification is the value of doing this now is just the timing piece with the semester. And so the further you get in mediation, you don't have a settled contract, you're not able to make those reductions in a way that it's very impactful. Everyone understands that, but it's not as impactful as another time in the school year. Thank you. Does anyone have, So once the, the contract is agreed to, that would mean effective immediately, then the reductions in staff would happen. So this reduction in force, um, has a date referenced at the end of January.

1:21:43 So the reduction in force would occur at the semester break. The Resolution says January 30. Yeah. So that's, that's the natural break. But what I thought I heard was that this reduction in force is based on The, this reduction in force is based on the parameters that we're bargaining under, provided by the board, The inter mediation, what's happened. Yep. We've, the offer's been submitted. Do we have any additional questions? Um, Brett, would it be possible to get your presentation like printed for us to Of course.

1:22:29 Okay. Um, I can have that done tonight. Before we leave, I actually wanna take a five minute recess. We've been doing this for three and a half solid hours, and I need to use the restroom. So we're gonna take a quick five minute recess and then we'll come back to this. Um, please get up and stretch, move around folks sitting for very long is not super healthy. So it is 8 31. We'll be back about 8 36.

1:32:45 Jeff, I good. Are there any Folks just go, okay, we have any additional questions or are we ready to move towards the vote? Anything else? I'm prepared to vote. Good. Okay. Uh, we'll do a roll call. Vote for this. Um, I'll start with you. Director light. My vote is no. Okay. Uh, direct director Cole? My vote is yes. Director Langworthy.

1:33:31 My vote is no Director. Degra? Yes. And my vote is also, yes. Um, so yeah, we're, we'll move forward with the implementation of a reduction in force, effective January 30th. The next item on the agenda is the action, uh, on information discussed in executive session. I don't have that printout. Do you have Nicole? Do you have that language by any chance?

1:34:16 Um, no. I, I, I gave it back. I The motion that's on. It's okay. Oh, Not that one. The one from executive session. Oh, we're That from the letter that we had from executive session. Okay. Um, I move to the board. Declined to hear the complaint reviewed in executive session and authorized the board chair chair to draft a response to the complainant. Stating the same.

1:35:01 Thank you. Do we have a second? We'll, second. Okay. Uh, we'll do a roll call. Vote for this director light. Yes. Director Kool. Yes. Director Degra Director or vice chair worthy? I'm, can I get clarity on what we're voting on? Yeah. Can you repeat that, Ken? Yes. That I move that the board declined to hear the complaint reviewed in executive session and authorized the board chair to draft a response to the complainant. Stating the same. Thank you. Vice chair worthy. Um, I, I vote to not hear this. So you move to approve. To approve the question. To approve. Sorry, please. No, you're fine.

1:35:46 Um, I will also, um, vote yes on that. Um, so that passes four to one. The next item on the agenda is to accept the annual comprehensive financial report. Um, and we'll turn it back over to Director Yancy. Thank you. Uh, the annual comprehensive financial report for the 2020 4 25 year has been completed and it's, it's gone through the audit process. Um, normally we would come in December to present this to the board, but due to the federal government shutdown, everything was delayed, including getting our single audit back from the feds. And so that's why we're coming tonight. Um, we did have the opportunity to provide a subcommittee meeting, which included Director Cole,

1:36:33 director to Graph and budget committee member Nancy Cameron. Uh, and we reviewed this in great detail, um, answered their questions. Um, it's, you know, the summary is, it's a, it's a clean audit. Um, it's done at a, at the GFOA, um, financial excellence level. Um, there was, there is a management letter that I, uh, included in the accompanying report for the board members. And having said all of that, it is recommended that the board directors accept the audited financial reports for the 2020 4 25 year as presented by the firm of Clear Trail CPAs. Um, do I have a motion to accept the audit audited financial reports for 24 25 as presented?

1:37:19 Uh, yeah, I move approval. Okay. Second, Do we have any discussion on this? Uh, just like to say that congratulations again to staff for, you know, long history of, uh, excellence on the, as recognized by the certificate on the report. So, Wonderful. Thank you. Um, oh, sorry. Sorry, go ahead. Um, it was interesting to me to just be in that, uh, room learning a lot of, a lot more background and context. And I feel like every, um, department has to deal with, um, new state pronouncements and more workload or more, more reports and mm-hmm. Um, so that was interesting, hearing it from them and just, um, seeing them do more good work again with the audit.

1:38:04 Wonderful. Um, so we have a motion to second on the table. Um, I'm just gonna just say I or NA on this. I don't know that we need to roll call, vote for this. Aye. Does everyone approve of this motion? Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. Uh, none opposed? So the audited financials are approved as presented. Um, the next item on the agenda is a recommendation to appoint an EEAC member to the budget committee. And this is being presented for approval. Background information is provided in our board packet for review. Um, did everyone have an opportunity to review that to this document? And so we would be appointing, um, Patricia

1:38:51 or Patty Gutierrez to represent the district's educational equity advisory committee to serve as a member of the Springfield Public School Board, um, public Schools Budget Committee in position three, effective January 12th, 2026 through December 31st, 2028. Um, so I would need a motion to approve that, and I will make that motion to approve, um, to approve Ms. Gutierrez as our budget committee member. I'll second Thank you. Any discussion on this matter? Just, uh, bless her for willing to be served on the budget committee. She, Uh, was physically here at our first budget committee meeting and, uh, was very interested in the process. And, um, we interestingly also had a student interested in serving on

1:39:40 the budget committee, but unfortunately they are not yet the age of majority, so they could not, They can, they can attend the meetings, right? They Could, they could. And the meetings encouraging them to do though. Yeah. Thank you. Um, so, uh, we have a motion to second to appoint, um, Ms. Gutierrez to the budget committee. Um, all those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right. None opposed. So that motion passes. Um, and then we are moving forward with, um, our discussion with Superintendent Tony Scurto from Lane ESD. So while they are coming up to the front, it's my honor to introduce Superintendent Scurto from Lane Education Service District and board member Vanessa Truitt,

1:40:27 who is not only a board member, longstanding board member with Lane ESD, but she's also a Springfield parent and a longtime community member here as well. So, uh, it is, uh, always exciting to have them come and join us. Uh, this will be the last time that superintendent cdo, uh, presents to you because he is retiring at the end of this year after a long career in Lane County and California. But my connection with Superintendent Scurto has been in Lane County, uh, when I became a superintendent, he was at Pleasant Hill School District as a superintendent and now at Laney sd. So it's, it's always a pleasure to see Tony here in the audience. And I just wanna say from me to you, um, best wishes in retirement.

1:41:12 You have had a great career here in the county, and thank you for being here tonight. Well, Thank you, superintendent Hamilton. Those are kind words and, uh, I could echo some back, uh, for the time we've spent. And, uh, and I really appreciated the, uh, collaboration and kind of the regional outlook. We came from some smaller districts. You're in a bigger one, and the Lane County has been very, very, very, uh, very good place to be and, uh, appreciate it very much. So thanks for all your cooperation and help and support. Uh, I'm here tonight though to talk about a local service plan, as you guys have seen me before. And it's an annual kind of ritual, but it's also an annual requirement that the component school district boards in the county, uh, actually have to approve a local service plan. Tonight I'm coming forward asking for you for approval of the second year of a two year plan.

1:41:58 So that would mean that this plan would go into effect in the year 2020 6, 27. So we've already approved 25, 26, we're in the middle of this year, but we're looking ahead a year. And, uh, the, uh, statute requires component school boards to take, make a decision by March one. So I'm aware you probably will not make a decision tonight. Hopefully I can just present some things. You have a chance to look at it and ask questions either tonight or between now and the time next time you meet, we take action. Uh, there's not a lot of change between this year and, and, or actually this next plan and the current year. Uh, the largest thing that we do in cooperation with the Springfield School District is, uh, special education services. We, uh, coordinate and cooperate on running, uh, life skills classrooms.

1:42:43 And those classrooms, uh, I have to say are are delight if you get to stand in 'em. Um, I was fortunate today that I got to witness, um, the Insta Ballet working with our students at Hamlin Middle School. Oh, that's awesome. And so it's, that just got back to reminding me of, of of the good work that, that we're doing together. And I say together because the Springfield School District does, has been a longstanding cooperative with us in terms of the Life Skills Consortium. Um, so that is probably the biggest thing we do, is also a, an umbrella that started last year over, uh, uh, career technical education programs. Uh, you operate your own programs in Springfield school districts supported by Lane ESD, but we've also gone beyond that in the last few years in terms of offering what we call the Lane Career Academy,

1:43:28 where you've got students that are actually on the factory floor at the Hope Factory making modular homes. I think this year there are nine Springfield students. Um, so there's been an increase, and I think there's also a couple dozen, at least a dozen, maybe more students involved in what is now emergency, uh, services, emergency services that, um, are, are, have to do with fire and, and emergency medical services and also behavior pathway programs starting up. So that, that's part of this package that, um, we're looking at in this next year. The one big change is that you'll see some things in there that are underlined, and that is due to the fact that many of our programs are funded by things outside of the state school fund, meaning grants. And some of those grants happen to be federal grants or state grants.

1:44:13 And the uncertainty behind those has led us to underline those programs with the understanding that if the federal or state money is not there, we don't have the funds to run those. And so that's why you see those underlined. That'll be a decision. You can make a decision by Mark March. We may all love the plan, but we may not be able to implement some of it because of the funding comes outside of what, what we control. So, um, we, we also run technological tech, tech technology services, school improvement services and admin services. Um, those admin services primarily for our smaller districts. That's included in the plan. And as I mentioned, uh, we have to till March one to, to make a decision on that. So I'd be happy to answer any questions you have particular, particularly about the plan tonight or over the course of the next few weeks.

1:45:00 Wonderful. Do we have any questions at this time? We will, we will likely have questions that we will send you. Sure. And I'm gonna let, uh, director Truitt Please. I, my last, uh, kiddo graduated a year ago, um, from Springfield Schools. And it was just very touching to walk up the stairs tonight and see the EAs, the, um, instructors that, um, have worked with my kiddos over the years and all of you dedicated people. Um, I'm very thankful. My youngest, um, just got back from the Peach Bowl.

1:45:45 He's in the U of O marching band and he, um, Mr. Bridges was, um, his band teacher at, uh, Springfield and, um, very instrumental in, um, helping my son get through the COD years. And, um, very, very thankful. My oldest that graduated from Springfield, um, was formerly nonverbal until about eight or nine. And now after a couple of years of taking music at Lane, he is, um, we're going to do a piano tuning, uh, school. So they have a program out of, um, Seattle. And it's mostly virtual

1:46:30 and figured with all the musicians in our life, we would figure out, you know, uh, a job for him. So, uh, we're excited about that and very thankful that, uh, Springfield Schools, um, made it possible. Love hearing that. Thank you. When they're done with their piano tuning school, let me know. I have a piano that probably needs to be tuned. I got you down. Um, I just have one question. Um, I didn't think to ask this earlier, but, um, with the programs that are underlined, could, could, could we email somebody about what the impact for those programs would be? 'cause it says potential cuts, so you don't know, but I'm just curious for future advocacy. Yes. Um, the ones I'm thinking of that are in there, um, the ones that are state level mm-hmm.

1:47:15 Uh, there's definitely, um, contacting local representatives, um, and, uh, folks in the Oregon legislature because the decision rests with them at this point. Mm-hmm. And so we'll be looking at hopefully being able to pull some reserves to keep those programs going. One, one of the ones I think that stands in the foremost in my mind is the Ran the Region Educator Network. Mm-hmm. That, um, is designed to, uh, it, it does some mentoring. It also does, uh, provide professional development for teachers and through, throughout the county, and actually Len Benton Lincoln, the region we share with. So I think, uh, the advocacy would be at the Oregon legislature there. And then our, our federal slate of folks is, is another folks to hit, to hit when we talk about potential, uh, cuts that would come perhaps after September, I think, in our migrant ed program and some others we're, we're concerned about.

1:48:02 Okay. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for that. All right. All right. Well, thanks again for the time. We appreciate it very much. Thanks for your work effort. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. And we're moving towards the end of our meeting. Um, I'll turn it over to Superintendent Hamilton for superintendent communication. So I think you have all of the updates from me, so I don't want to, uh, have the meeting go any longer than necessary. So I'm going to go ahead and hand it back to you for board communication. Okay, thank you. Um, so we'll open up to board communication, um, director Light nothing. Director Cole, I don't have anything. Director Degra. Um, I just wanna mention

1:48:47 that SEF has our Jazz and Bubbles and books, um, event next Sunday, January 18th. Um, at the Tavern on Main, the tickets are on the SEF website and that we currently have, um, we're currently accepting applications for the grant funding through April 1st. Thank you, Mr. Langworthy. Okay. And I don't have any comments, so we will adjourn this meeting at 8:58 PM Thank you.