January 4, 2022 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  Guests attending the meeting will be introduced.

Description:  This is an opportunity for the audience to address the Board on topics either on, or not on, the agenda.  There will also be opportunities for the audience to comment on specific agenda items as the Board addresses them.

Description:  The Lane ESD Board of Directors has agreed to implement a consent agenda.  All items in the consent agenda are adopted by a single motion unless a member of the Board or the Superintendent requests that such item be removed from the consent agenda and acted upon separately.  

Generally, consent agenda items are matters which members of the Board agree are routine in nature and should be acted upon in one motion to conserve time and to enable the Board to focus on the other matters on the agenda.  

Back-up materials for consent agenda items are included in the agenda packet as needed.  Minutes of this meeting will reflect action on each item.  

If any board member wishes to withdraw any consent group item, it will be moved to the appropriate section of the agenda.   

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD adopts the consent group as submitted and listed below.
 

Description:  BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD accepts the Financial Report for December 2021.

Description:  According to Board Policy BBF, the Board may act to accept money or property donated for the use or benefit of the ESD and use such money or property for the purpose for which it was donated.

The Drinking Gourd Elementary School, founded in 1990 by Trisha Whitney, was a small nonprofit elementary school serving grades K-5 in Eugene for thirty years. Trisha passed away in 2018, and the nonprofit has sold its property and is ready to distribute its assets to other nonprofits with missions that resonate with the passion and mission of the Drinking Gourd School and Trisha herself.

The name of the Drinking Gourd School reflected the African-American name for the Big Dipper, which points to the North Star. The song "Follow the Drinking Gourd," sung by enslaved people who were constrained in their communication, contains clues for escape. Trisha chose the Drinking Gourd name for her school because it spoke to her of taking risks for freedom and sharing knowledge...and because it represents a powerful piece of history that many Americans do not learn in school.

Trisha believed in understanding each child's individual needs, and so the program met each child on their own level. This meant that children were at their challenge level in each area, not bored, not frustrated; that asynchronous development in different areas was accommodated without stress. True individualized education eliminated competition and jealousy, and enabled a classroom culture of mutual encouragement and support Children with special needs thrived at the Drinking Gourd. From learning disabilities to the autism spectrum to extreme giftedness, their leaming and emotional differences were celebrated and gracefully accommodated.

Miracles of progress abounded, and Trisha had a special place in her heart for children with special needs. The Drinking Gourd program was dedicated to anti-bias, culturally inclusive education: empowering children to embrace their own backgrounds, to respond to differences with joyful curiosity, and to recognize and respond to bias in all forms. Trisha integrated diversity in culture, race, family structure, physical ability, and religion into her curriculum, using books, music, art, drama, and persona dolls (her book, Kids Like Us: Using Persona Dolls in the Classroom, is still deservedly popular). Drinking Gourd students learned about activism in history and the present, taking away powerful messages about standing up to injustice for themselves and others.

Children at the Drinking Gourd learned peaceful conflict resolution from the earliest ages. Empathy, deescalation skills, and steps for resolving conflict were part of daily classroom learning. On the playground and out in the community, you could hear children as young as six calling for a huddle, reminding others to listen in tums, and finding a solution that all could accept. Peace education also included helping children to find alternatives to violence in their play and imagination games, and learning about historical nonviolent justice movements.

Trisha believed that theater, music, and visual art are essential parts of life and learning. She integrated all of them into the daily program, and used them to teach academic subjects and social skills. Drinking Gourd children put on plays written by Trisha and honoring historical Black heroes at the public library for Black History Month for many years. The "Big Show" at the end of each school year included plays with parts for children of all ages and levels, plays written by children, and music and dance from many cultures. Trisha carefully nurtured and encouraged the youngest children as they learned to be unafraid on stage.

The school, dedicated to serving children from as wide a range of class backgrounds as possible, charged comparatively low and sliding-scale tuition, and offered scholarships especially to children of color. Trisha worked as director and teacher for a low salary. The Drinking Gourd was able to operate its classes and to acquire its property and beautiful building through substantial donations from the Equinox Foundation, Ed and Jeanne Whitney, and Peg Morton, as well as many other generous donors through the years.

Our Board of Directors has spent months deciding how to donate the cash assets we have available. We have looked for local nonprofits that are vibrant, viable, and working on empowerment, education, and support for children and for communities of color. We are excited to donate $20,000 to the Lane ESD Lane African American/Black Student Success Program program because of Trisha's lifelong dedication to working against racism and empowering Black children, from her early successfully integrated private school in rural Virginia to her role as adoptive parent of an African American daughter to the ways in which racial justice, African-American history and culture, and support for Black children were built into her Drinking Gourd School curriculum. Your program, with its comprehensive support for Black students and families and goals for equitable education, would be very near to her heart. We hope our donation will help to further your goals and are proud to support your program.

This donation is given in memory of Trisha Whitney, who spent her entire life educating and supporting children.

Description:  School Board Recognition Month is celebrated in January to honor the unpaid elected volunteers who serve on Oregon’s 197 local school boards, our 19 education service district boards and our 17 community college boards.

WHEREAS, Education Service District Boards exist to meet the diverse education needs of the school districts and students in their regions; WHEREAS, ESD boards focus resources on providing vital, innovative and cost-effective strategies to meet those diverse needs; WHEREAS, ESD boards help establish the vision for educational excellence in what students should know and be able to do; WHEREAS, ESD boards are accountable to the community for assisting the districts they serve to increase student achievement; WHEREAS, ESD boards create a climate that supports the philosophy that all children can learn, targeting resources, strategies and services to students who need special help to reach this goal; WHEREAS, ESD boards build collaborative relationships based on trust, teamwork and shared accountability; and

WHEREAS, ESD boards are committed to continuous education and training on issues related to best practices in education services for their districts;

NOW, THEREFORE, We hereby declare our appreciation to the members of the Lane ESD Board of Directors and proclaim the month of January to be Education Board Recognition Month.

We urge all citizens to join us in recognizing the dedication and hard work of ESD board members in preparing today's students for tomorrow's world.

Description:  Superintendent Scurto will provide an update in legislative activities if there are any updates.

Description:  Dr. Carlos Sequeira and Dr. Nancy Golden will discuss progress on the Strategic Plan, Goals and Activities.

Sample located here.

Description:  Visits to component district board meetings are being scheduled.  Component districts have until March 1, 2022 to approve the 2021-23 Local Service Plan - Year Two.

The following component board visits are currently calendared (assigned Board Member):

• Lowell
• Mapleton
• Marcola
• McKenzie
• South Lane

Description:  The OSBA Listening Session has been rescheduled for February 22, 2022 at 5:30 p.m.
 

Description:  The Board shall exercise its rule-making power by adopting policies consistent with the Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon Administrative Rules or opinions of a court of competent authority, for its own governance and for the organization and operation of Lane ESD. The Board accepts the definition of policy set forth by the National School Boards Association:

School Board policies are statements which set forth the purposes and prescribe in general terms the organization and program of a school system. They create a framework within which the superintendent and his/her staff can discharge their assigned duties with positive direction. They tell what is wanted.

Such policies may be adopted, amended or repealed at any Board meeting provided that the proposed adoption, amendment or repeal shall have been proposed at a previous Board meeting and, once proposed, shall have remained on the agenda of each succeeding meeting until approved or rejected and  except that the Board may adopt, amend or repeal policies at any meeting of the Board in the event of an actual emergency, as determined at the sole discretion of the Board. Additionally, when in the best interests of the district immediate adoption of a proposed policy is necessary, the Board may adopt such policy at the first meeting in which it is presented.

The following policies are submitted for first read:

BBAA: Individual Board Member's Authority and Responsibilities
There are many instances when an ESD board needs to consult with legal counsel prior to making a decision. This policy change clarifies when individual board members are authorized to seek legal counsel and incur legal costs for the educational entity.

BBE: Vacancies on the Board
The change is to make the language about when a newly appointed Board member takes office consistent with the ORS 334.090(4)

BBFC: Reporting of Suspected Abuse of a Child
The 2021 Legislature passed Senate Bill 242 designating board members of an education service district as mandatory reports of suspected abuse of a child. The bill takes effect January 1, 2022. Policy language is not required however suggested revisions and a new optional model policy are presented herein.
A policy to address this requirement is not required, however proposed language has been added to both versions of model policy BBF - Board Member Standards of Conduct and a new optional model policy BBFC - Reporting of Suspected Abuse of a Child has been included for consideration. Review which version of BBF the board has adopted and consider to amend as recommended by the appropriate version. Nothing prevents the board from adopting a different version of BBF or deciding not to adopt changes, an ESD board member will still be a mandatory reporter.

BD/BDA: Board Meetings
House Bill 2560 (2021) updated law governing public attendance and comment at public meetings of the board. When public meetings are held and access is made available in-person, the board must provide, to the extent reasonably possible, an opportunity to access and attend meetings by telephone, video or other electronic or virtual means; if in-person oral testimony is allowed during a meeting, allow the public to submit oral testimony by telephone, video or other electronic or virtual means; and if in-person written testimony is allowed, written testimony must be allowed by email or other electronic means.

GBNAA/JHFF  and JHFF/GBNAA: Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements
Recent revisions to ORS 339 affecting reporting of child abuse and sexual conduct were adopted by the 2021 Legislature. The passing of these bills revised the definition of ‘sexual conduct’ and ‘licensed administrator’ as it relates to reporting and helps define the persons who can be designated to receive and respond to these reports. Additionally, a new definition was added for ‘commission licensee’ to distinguish between ESD employees suspected of sexual conduct that shall be reported to and investigated by TSPC and those that shall be reported to and investigated by ODE. The effective date of these changes are immediate.
Additionally, because of the requirements of staff involved in child abuse reporting, a second code (GBNAB) has been added to model policy JHFE and its administrative regulations. This policy can now be inserted into section G (if desired) of the board’s policy manual and support informing staff of these reporting requirements.

Description: 

Administrative rules are detailed directions governing the operation of Lane ESD.
The superintendent is authorized to formulate such administrative rules appropriate for the implementation of policies adopted by the Board and necessary for the consistent operation of the ESD. Such administrative rules shall be binding on the employees of Lane ESD and the students in the classrooms of the ESD until modified or repealed.

All new or amended administrative rules will become effective on the day after approved by the superintendent unless an alternative effective date is specified. When approved by the superintendent, administrative rules shall be distributed to staff and other individuals, as appropriate. The superintendent will make administrative rules available to the Board. The Board may review any administrative rule and may direct its revision if, in the Board’s judgment, such rule is not consistent with adopted policies.

Description:  The Board will discuss attendance at the OAESD Spring Conference, March 9-11, 2022 at Sunriver Resort.

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Description:  Board members are invited to send agenda items to be considered for the next board meeting.  Please call or email to the Board Chair or Superintendent.

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Description:  Somebody did good!
Kudos to:           Alia Burkholder
Reported by:        Tony Scurto
Reason:             Sharing her story in one of the IA recruiting videos.  Heartfelt and inspiring....an all star performance to add to the other 3 videos!

Thank you to those who took the time to acknowledge co-workers/staff with kudos.  Employees and Board members can submit a "kudo" any time during the month.   To submit a kudo visit: www.lesd.k12.or.us/forms/kudos.html

Description:  - OAESD Federal and State Reporting Program, January 11, 2022

Description:  The Oregon School Board Member of Color Caucus will hold a general meeting this Saturday, January 8, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to noon.  The meeting will be held via Zoom.  Click here to join.

The agenda can be viewed here.