KLCC Candidate Guides: South Lane School District

Eight candidates are running for four seats on the South Lane School Board.

Three candidates, Sherry Duerst-Higgins, Colleen Valley and Jeff Gowing are running to retain their current positions on the board. Meanwhile, Diane Hicks and Rayla Cambell are running for an open seat.

South Lane School District has about 2,600 students enrolled, according to Oregon Department of Education data from the 2023-2024 school year. The District includes the Row River area and Cottage Grove.

KLCC reached out to each candidate who had filed to run for a seat in a district with a questionnaire for its KLCC Candidate Guide. Two out of eight candidates responded.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Diane Hicks

Tell us a little bit about yourself:     

I am a lifelong member of the Cottage Grove community, where I spent 30 years teaching elementary students, and the last 5 years working with Pre-K through grade 12 students as a substitute teacher. I am a strong union member, and have served in multiple leadership positions at the local, county, and state level. My family members have all attended South Lane Schools and I look forward to my grandson attending a local school as well.

Why do you want to run for school board?

I am running because our school board needs a teacher’s voice. I have seen first-hand the needs of our students and where our schools are working to guarantee student success, as well as where we are failing them. I know how important a school board can be in shaping a communities’ opinions about education. It’s very important to have a board that believes in a quality Public Education for ALL students.

School districts across the state have struggled with budget issues in recent years. Many have laid off staff and eliminated programs. The Trump administration has moved to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, or cut funding. If you are elected to the school board, how might you approach local, and larger scale funding challenges?

I will continue to contact state and national leadership to advocate for stable public school funding, and I will encourage community members to contact them as well. I will help with the messaging to our community to make sure they understand what impact The U.S. Dept of Education has on our district's students. I will encourage our Superintendent to be bold with the truth about what the loss of federal funding would be.

Students across Oregon are struggling to read, and many are behind in math, according to ODE data. What do you think your district should be doing to ensure all students are proficient in reading, and math?  

I believe the measures we use to "determine" proficiency are not robust enough. SBAC is but a snapshot of where a student is at during a set number of testing days, and should not be seen as the largest indicator of student success. I believe our focus should be on student growth using data from curriculum-based assessments, and formal and informal educator designed assessments.

What do you believe is the number one issue facing schools in your district? Stable and adequate funding.

Hick’s opponent, Rayla Campbell, did not respond to the emailed questionnaire.

The candidates running for Position 4, Sherry Duerst-Higgins and Chris Holloman, did not respond to KLCC's emailed questionnaire.

Colleen Valley

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I’m currently in the counseling program At Bushnell University. I’ve owned a number of small businesses and worked in retail management for well over a decade. I’m a wife and a mother of two; one a junior in college and another a senior in high school. I have volunteered in the South Lane School District (SLSD), and for children’s athletics in Cottage Grove. I love working with kids and I want to support their education.

Why do you want to run for school board? 

Kids are our future and I want to help provide them with the best foundation possible as they become adults and move out into the world. That foundation includes basic math, reading, science, and social studies, as well as the ability to think critically and get along with their neighbors and be kind to one another. Working collaboratively is essential to one’s success and I want the kids of SLSD to be able to do that. Kids should be able to choose to go into the trades or continue their academic careers in college and I want our district to be able to set all kids up for success regardless of the path they choose to follow.

School districts across the state have struggled with budget issues in recent years. Many have laid off staff and eliminated programs. The Trump administration has moved to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, or cut funding. 

Our district has been frugal and fortunately have not had to lay off staff at this time. We need to get creative and look for additional sources for funding through grants and partnerships. We also need to put pressure on the state board of education and our federal representatives to push back on federal cuts impacting children.

Students across Oregon are struggling to read, and many are behind in math, according to ODE data. What do you think your district should be doing to ensure all students are proficient in reading, and math?

I think we are on the right path. We have implemented Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) that bring grade level or subject level teachers together to plan their work, assess each child’s learning, and make changes that individualize teaching to each kiddo. This benefits the kids by highlighting each child’s individual learning style and benefits the teachers by allowing master teachers to pass on their skills to those newer to the profession and to allow those newly out of school to share innovations in educational instruction to find the best way forward. We also have reading specialists in each school, early childhood learning centers and social emotional learning specialists to support the emotional growth and stability of our students. Kids can’t learn if they aren’t regulated and teachers can teach if kids have a hard time managing their behavior.

What do you believe is the number one issue facing schools in your district? 

We touched on the budget already so I will say that we need to focus on ways to partner families and teachers to focus on all aspects of our children’s education. If kids feel safe and supported they learn better and poor behavior goes down.

The candidates running for position 7, Tony Lefler, Jeff Gowing and Bill Parsons, did not respond to KLCC’s questionnaire.