On May 16th, all counties in Oregon will hold a special election. In odd numbered years, May elections are when voters choose leaders for local districts like water and transportation as well as—school boards. One such race is in Lane County’s largest school district, Eugene 4-J. Here’s a refresher on the 4J School District, which serves nearly 17,000 students, and the process for electing new school board members.
Eugene 4-J usually ranks in the top ten school districts in Oregon, in terms of size. The 7-member 4J School Board is a policy-making body which selects the superintendent who is then responsible for implementing board policies and plans.
Annually, the board must adopt a balanced school district budget. School board members are elected to serve four-year terms, without pay.
The voting process
4J school board positions are nonpartisan and are not connected to any specific region--meaning any eligible person who lives within the school district boundary may serve in any school board position.
In turn, voters within the school district may cast a vote for one candidate in any and all open positions.
This year, positions 1, 4, 5 and 7 are on the ballot. There are 8 candidates running—two for each contested seat. Although voters will see nine candidates on the ballot and in the voter’s pamphlet, Juan-Carlos Valle has discontinued his campaign.
Experienced voters tend to know the ropes. The ballot addressed to a registered voter only contains the races that person is eligible to vote on.
But each year there are thousands of new voters added to the rolls, so this Special Election will be a first for many. Learning about how to vote is important.
Hot Button Issues
To be sure- the persistently low reading and math scores in Oregon are big concerns for the current 4J school board as well as the candidates seeking to win a seat.
Oregon’s graduation rate remains a topic of concern. It’s risen in recent years but still, 1 in 5 students drop out before getting a high school diploma.
There has been increased focus on Career Technical Education (or CTE) programs for in-school learning of multiple trades- from culinary arts to construction. On the campaign trail, numerous school board candidates have noted CTE as means of not only keeping kids in school but boosting achievement and opportunities post-graduation.
Student mental health is a serious campaign topic --not just as it pertains to the pandemic from which we’ve just emerged-- but mental health issues that preceded COVID-19 closures—like bullying, anxiety, depression and suicide.
Earlier this year, a controversy brewed over 4J curriculum and writing assignments in a Health class on Humanity Sexuality. A few conservative national news outlets picked up the story. Some school board candidates have spoken out in forums about parental rights over curriculum and teaching methods.
These topics and more are expected to be on the table for the next sitting 4-J School Board.
What stands out in the race
With so many candidates, it’s common for voters to focus on what differentiates them.
But that can be tough to figure out when each of the eight candidates in the 4J School Board race offers some aspect of “Putting Kids First” in their campaign slogans.
This campaign season, some community members and childhood education advocates have said that candidates should be able to explain clearly and in detail how they intend to serve key priorities and create a “student-first” culture to fulfill the District’s mission.
Change in board leadership culture
The current 4J School Board has been criticized for infighting including allegations of racism, public squabbles and disrupted board meetings.
Critics fear when the bandwidth of the group is taken up in this way, it leaves little time or energy for the governing body to focus on the students of the 4J District- over 16,680 of them.
4J’s 2023 Communication Audit Report was recently completed and that audit revealed an extremely negative perception of the 4J School Board among stakeholders involved in the process.
A representative comment was, “I feel like the school board members are so embroiled in their own personal disputes and dramas that they are leaving our children behind.”
Of the eight candidates running, only one is an incumbent. With four open seats on a 7-member board this race is expected to amount to significant change on the Eugene 4J School Board.
The City Club of Eugene candidate forum on April 7, 2023, included all eight candidates for 4J District School Board and was moderated by KLCC's Tiffany Eckert.
The candidates
The following are running for 4J Board of Directors:
Position 1 -Tom Di Liberto, Michael Bratland
Position 4-Gordon Lafer (incumbent), Rick Hamilton
Position 5-Jenny Jonak, Grant Johnson
Position 7- Morgan Munro, Timothy Sutherland
The deadline to turn in your ballot for this month’s election is Tuesday, May 16. Ballots postmarked by that date will also be counted.
