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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. Our community's largest school district has been through a lot in the last few years, Covid, a spate of bomb threats and the removal of a superintendent. Now, while Covid and the controversial management change are long gone, a new challenge rears its ugly head, a $30 million shortfall in the budget today on the show, we'll talk with the education reporter at the registered guard to hear the who, what, when and why of the budget challenges facing Eugene's 4J they're reducing some key leadership positions and restructuring principles and other management duties. And while nothing has been announced, there is concern about the possibility of school closures. Then in the second part of the show, you'll meet KLCC, new weekend host Brianna Bowman. Miranda Cyr who's someone who reports on education for the Register. Guard, thanks so much for coming in and talking to us.
MIRANDA CYR: Thanks for having me, Michael.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I enjoyed your story. You wrote recently about some of the painful, difficult cuts that are going on at Eugene's 4J School District. Just give us the highlights of that article and what you found out.
MIRANDA CYR: So, last week, there were some readjustments, I guess you could say of 4J upper leadership. So that was the news that four assistant superintendents were not having their contracts renewed for the 2026-27 school year. So those superintendents, or assistant superintendents, will continue working in 4J up until the summer. So, and this is kind of in this is all being done because of the budget crisis that the district is facing. A lot of other districts are having similar budget crises, but for 4J this is some big news there.
MICHAEL DUNNE: And as I understand it, you're going to get to go from four assistants down to one. Is that correct?
MIRANDA CYR: Yes, yeah. So, they're eliminating those four Assistant Superintendent positions, and they're going to consolidate into just one singular position, and that will be extended to those four individuals who are losing their jobs, primarily, and then if they choose to apply, they can.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Boy, any indication, obviously, going from four leaders down to one. Any indication about how that might impact students or just running the district?
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, so I guess we'll have to see how it goes. There's going to be a lot of like readjustment of duties in upper management at 4J. There is still a good amount of upper management at 4J left. They're going to probably be redistributing those duties and see how to kind of manage all of those duties in this current school year.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Yeah, yeah. I noticed in your piece that one of the assistant superintendents is responsible for Equity and Inclusion and belonging. I believe it's Juan Carlos Cuadros. I didn't know if, in part of this announcement, obviously, things like DEI have been under attack, certainly at the federal level. And I didn't know if there was any indication that this was, in some ways, a statement from 4J that they might be deemphasizing something like DEI?
MIRANDA CYR: That isn't something that I have looked into that, so I couldn't really speak on it.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I understand, understand, maybe talk, you know, some of the other your article pointed out that there's going to be some sort of other reorganizations. Give us some of the highlights of down, down line, a little bit from these assistant superintendents. You know, how might this affect just generalized staffing at the district?
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, so this is really the first step in cuts we might see at 4J in the next few months. So, after these assistant superintendents, there's going to be some decisions made about other managers, principals, other administrators throughout the district, and those do require Board approval. These assistant superintendents, their positions, are not under the Board's purview, I see. And then after that, after the managers are kind of, you know, readjusted, I don't know. We don't know how that's going to look yet. Then that will go in. To You know, teachers classified staff cuts at that level. So, and again. We don't know what that's going to look like, but there will be some decisions and or proposals made from the district to the school board early next year on those.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Can you kind of remind our listeners, can you give us an idea of the size of it and kind of how 4J got to this point?
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, so similar to a lot of districts across Oregon, enrollment has been declining at 4J. I think they were at around 17,000 under their peak, and they're under 16,000 now. So that is obviously a big, big adjustment for a school to face. And so, enrollment plays a really big role in the district's budget and how much money they get from the state. So, there's that piece of it. And obviously the economic difficulties with costs are going up for everyone in all industries. You know, unions have gotten better benefits and things like that. The Teachers Union is a classified union, so salaries are going up. There's also that factor. And then also with Covid, came a lot of Esser dollars. And I do know that 4J did do some hiring with those Esser dollars, for which, of course, you know only on a specific time limit, so we did more hiring while enrollment was declining and they're not able to keep up with that staff level, if that is my understanding.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I am wondering too. Superintendent Mickelson is relatively new. This must be, in some ways, the biggest crisis that they've had to face, isn't it, I would say especially, I mean, since she's been here, obviously this is the biggest crisis she's faced at 4J?
MIRANDA CYR: So, there's a lot of changes at 4J. Right now, you know, and talking with folks, it seems like they're hopeful that her leadership will be able to pull them through this crisis. And I guess we'll have to see.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I know you talk to people, both on and off the record and all of your contacts at 4J. Can you give us sort of a general idea of what the mood is amongst the staff at 4J given this crisis?
MIRANDA CYR: So, I mean, there's a lot of mixed feelings, obviously, about it, you know, I've talked with union folks a lot, especially, you know, the OSEA, which is the Oregon School Employees Association, which represents the classified workers at 4J they're going through their bargaining contract or contract bargaining right now, and I know that they've kind of called attention to that high number of executive leadership at 4J kind of criticizing the fact that there is a lot of upper management at 4J. Meanwhile, you know, classified workers might be getting cuts and they're not making as much money. So, there are those concerns that, you know, obviously people don't want to lose their jobs.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Any hints, or even just general talking about with regard to the potential for school closures because of this budget deficit?
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, so I attended a community meeting, I think it was October 16, at North Eugene high. There was maybe a half dozen people in attendance at that meeting. And you know, we did talk about the potential for Program or School changes, and that is all something that Mickelson, Dr., Mickelson told me, you know, that would be something that they will she's already looking into those sorts of things. She would have talks with the community before bringing anything to the board. So, she told me that we could expect anything solid on that, or any hints of potential closures or changes to programs or schools this month or next month in December, she didn't reveal whether anything in particular could be on the chopping block or could not be on the chopping block, but I think we will know very soon whether there could be another school closure. You know, the last time 4J faced such a large budget crisis, there were four elementary schools that were closed, yeah, so I do think it's in everyone's mind, especially because Bethel School District also just recently closed an elementary school this past year.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Miranda, my last question for you. I know that this might be difficult to answer, but I've also talked to people at the college level, and there's been this fear, like we're seeing declining enrollment in colleges, and you just talked about the fact that there's just not as many kids. I don't know if you've had an opportunity to kind of look and see, is this something that is going to be a long-standing problem, or is there a potential for more kids coming into the district in the somewhat near future?
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, so I'm actually working on a big project about enrollment decline right now. I do have a little bit of background on that. So, I guess, first of all, there's this thing called the enrollment cliff that a lot of schools are expecting, and I believe it was this past class of high school seniors, or maybe it's this current class of high school seniors. From then on, we're going to see declining enrollment, and that is because birth rates are on the decline, not as many kids. So that is a big concern for, you know, K 12 schools and higher education in sustaining their services. But there's a lot of things that do go into enrollment decline. It's not just the birth rates or the lack of children right now, it also goes into at the K 12 Level, an increased rate of homeschooling. You know, there's more than double the number of students homeschooling in Lane County right now. I mean, it's not a huge number. I think it was around two or 300 and now it's at seven or 800 but that is something to consider also in Oregon, the families are just getting priced out of living here. I think that's especially apparent in Lane County. You know, we're seeing Lane County specifically their enrollment decline goes back farther than the rest of the state. Is what I was finding in my research. You know, Bethel, they've been on the decline for about a decade. 4J a little bit less than that in Springfield. Springfield and 4J are kind of similar in that way. But at the state level, the enrollment declines really started post Covid. So, it's really interesting. I don't know if Lane County is maybe a bit ahead of the rest of the state as far as where enrollment is and these budget crises, but I think it's definitely something I'm planning to keep an eye on.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Great, great she's Miranda sea, or she covers education for the registered guard does a great job there. Thank you so much for coming in and talking about your article.
MIRANDA CYR: Yeah, thanks so much, Michael.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Let's talk now with one of our newest members. KLC sees new weekend host, Brianna Bowman, our new Weekend Edition host, thanks so much for coming in and talking to me.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Yeah!
MICHAEL DUNNE: This is almost fair, because you had me on your show this morning, and now I'm bringing you on my show this afternoon!
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Yeah!
MICHAEL DUNNE: You've been with us for a while. Some people have started to hear you on the weekends, but tell us, you know, tell us about your background, how you came to us, and your career and all that stuff.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: So, I have a pretty different background from radio. I was formerly a fisheries biologist, So, I started working as a fisheries biologist in 2014 and I started as a fisheries observer, which is a scientist that goes out on commercial fishing vessels and collects data. And then I went to grad school in Alaska and finished my master's degree. And then I worked in fisheries research for a bit, but something that I've known since I was in grad school or younger, is that I really love telling people about other people's research. Like research is really tough, sure, and I've enjoyed learning how to be a scientist, but I really just love talking to other scientists and telling other people about the cool research that they're doing. And I've always admired Public Radio, so this was a career pivot that just kind of felt right to me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Tell us about being up in Alaska and being a researcher there. You know, obviously weather is a huge issue, of course, but just talk about some of the stuff that you did as a researcher.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: So, when I was a fisheries observer, I was an observer in Alaska. So, I worked for about two years on different commercial fishing boats in Alaska, mostly in the Gulf of Alaska, okay? So, I went to all kinds of different ports, which was amazing. I saw a lot of places that I think a lot of people don't get to see. In Alaska, I went southeast and went to Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Haines, or not Haines. I've been to Haines, but not as an observer. I spent a lot of time in Kodiak. Okay? And then later on, I went out to Dutch Harbor and did some research for my grad school project for my master's thesis out of Dutch Harbor on a couple of Pollock trawlers. Okay? So, yeah, I got to see a lot of crazy places that maybe a lot of people don't get to see when they go up to Alaska.
MICHAEL DUNNE: We can, we can take the girl out of the coast, but we can't take the coast out of the girl, because you still live on the coast. And right, you know, talk about sort of your life there, but also what it means to you and kind of, you know, that sort of journey.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: So, I grew up in Oregon, mostly in Portland, and I also lived in Bend and also Pendleton when I was younger, and my grandparents lived in Depoe Bay when they retired. So, I spent a lot of time on the Central Coast. As a kid, I volunteered at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and I've always had it in the back of my mind that I would love to move to Newport one day. I just think Newport is the coolest little town for someone that's interested in marine science and the ocean and just loves coastal towns. I just think Newport is the coolest place. And I went through some big sort of personal life changes a couple years ago, and it dawned on me, like, Hey, I should just go for it. I should take that leap. As you know, life is short. You don't know what's around the corner. And I decided I would make the big leap and move to Newport. So I packed up everything, all my stuff that I had had in in Anchorage, you know that I had accumulated after 10 years of living there, including an upright piano and two dogs and my friends, my wonderful friends up there, packed it all into a U haul for me and my dad and I drove down, down the highway from Anchorage to Newport, And I set up my new life there, and I every day that I'm there, I just, I'm like, oh yeah, this is home. I've bounced around a lot since college. I went to college in California, and then I lived overseas for a little while. I was in New Zealand and Australia, and then Alaska, and so just bouncing around trying to find somewhere that fit. And I just feel like Newport. Feels like it just really fits. It feels like home to me. So, I'm very happy to be there.
MICHAEL DUNNE: What was it like the first time you, you know, opened up the microphone and started talking on live radio, doing a news broadcast? You've obviously overcome and met head on a bunch of challenges in your life. What was that like?
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Oh my gosh. I mean, I was really excited, but also very nervous. My main memory of it is that I had a Fitbit on, okay? And, you know, I'm just sitting there, like, getting ready to do my newscast or do my live break. And, you know, Fitbits monitor your heart rate, and if your heart rates above a certain rate, it's like it gives you a little buzz, and my FitBit those mornings was just buzzing over and over and over again.
MICHAEL DUNNE: It's a good cardiovascular workout. Being a morning edition, right?
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Does this count as my workout?! So, yeah, that's one of my main memories of it. But now I've gotten over the jitters. And, I mean, it's still, you know, it's still kind of exciting to go live. Sure, sure. I think one of the most surprising things about being on the radio is, and maybe this is surprising to listeners as well, if you speak to a large audience, but you're in a room by yourself, indeed. So, it's this, it's this interesting thing of it being kind of an, you know, ice, not, maybe not isolating, but it's a solitary job in a way, but yet, at the same time, you are communicating with a large community of people, which is pretty cool.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I know you've been doing this just a little while, but was there a moment that was a lot of fun for you, or was there a story that you introduced or kind of give us, you know, maybe some moments that you were like, wow, this, this is great.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Yeah. I mean, any story that is related, related to the ocean, any story that's related to science and marine science. My personal interests, those things usually stick out to me. One of my first stories that I was able to report for KLCC was the story about the Nye beach book house closing in Newport and. And I really, I mean, that story kind of represented to me, a few of my interests. You know, just that I love Newport and the community there. I love bookstores. That's one of my favorite things as well. And I also was, really, it touched me that I could help someone else in this capacity and let others in the community know. And I know that after that story went out, there were quite a few people that hadn't realized that the business was closing that were like, Oh my gosh, we're, you know, we're so sad to hear we didn't know it's, it's really meaningful to me, to be able to be that person in the community, to connect people and just let others know what's happening in their backyard. So, I really enjoyed working on that story, and I'm hoping to bring more stories about marine science and fisheries, because that is my background and my expertise, and also just something that I'm interested in.
MICHAEL DUNNE: There you go. From Anchorage to Newport and Eugene, from scientist to weekend host. Brianna Bowman, welcome aboard, and thanks so much for coming in and talking with us.
BRIANNA BOWMAN: Thank you, Michael.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and we're going to bring you conversations with two veterans, one who helps colleagues find educational opportunities, and a second who helps them find joy on one of our state's glorious rivers. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon On the Record, thanks for listening.
