January 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  The Board may meet in executive session to discuss subjects allowed by statute but may not take final action.

An executive session may be convened by the Board chair, upon request of three Board members or by common consent of the Board for a purpose authorized under Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 192.660, during a regular, special or emergency meeting. The presiding officer will announce the executive session by identifying the authorization under ORS 192.660 for holding such session and by noting the subject of the executive session.

The Board of Directors of Lane ESD will conduct an Executive Session to consider information or records that are exempt by law from public inspection (ORS 192.660(2)(f)) and to consult with counsel concerning the legal rights and duties of a public body with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. (ORS 192.660(2)(h))

Description: 

Senate Bill 1502 requires public education governing boards of common or union high school districts, education service districts, community college districts, and public universities... to post video or audio recordings of each meeting to the district, college, or university website or social media site within seven days of the meeting. If a board's facilities lack broadband internet, then the board may post audio instead of video on its website or social media site. The bill exempts school districts of less than 50 students in resident average daily membership (ADMr). The bill also exempts from these requirements any meeting or portion of a meeting that is conducted in executive session. 

Similarly, OSBA has posted a public meetings FAQ that includes information on SB 1502 and they will be putting out updates to their public meetings policies in February.  

Additionally, HB 2805 (2023) requires all school board members to complete public meeting training once per term of office.  OSBA will be hosting a webinar scheduled for February 6 from 5 to 6:30 pm that will be open to administrators, board members and board secretaries with information on both topics.

More information from the OSBA webpage:

House Bill 2805 (2023): This bill, effective January 1, 2024, introduced several changes that expanded the definition of a "meeting," clarifying procedures, and gave additional oversight to OGEC:

• Expanded what counts as a meeting: The definition of "convening" in ORS 192.610 was broadened to include more communications between public body members.
• Formal Grievance Process: HB 2805 established a mandatory grievance process for anyone who believes a governing body violated the PML. The process requires a person to file a written grievance with the public body within 30 days of the alleged violation. The public body must respond in writing within 21 days and must send a copy of both the grievance and written response to OGEC.
• Expanded OGEC Oversight: OGEC’s authority to review and investigate complaints was expanded to cover any provision of ORS192.610 to192.690, not just executive sessions.
• Mandatory Training: Members of governing bodies with total expenditures of $1 million or more are now required to attend training on the Public Meeting Law (PML) at least once per term of office.

Senate Bill 1502 (2024): This bill specifically requires governing bodies of certain educational institutions to publish video recordings of their public meetings:

• Applies To: School districts with ADM of more than 50 students, education service districts, and community colleges
• Recording Requirements: Public bodies at these institutions must make a video recording of all their meetings and post the recordings online within seven days. An audio recording is allowed if broadband internet access is unavailable.
• Exceptions: The law does not apply to executive session meetings.

How has the definition of a "meeting" changed? HB 2805 significantly changed the definition of "meeting" by broadening what constitutes "convening." Previously, the law focused on physical gatherings of public body members or the use of technology for contemporaneous communication. Now, the following are also considered forms of "convening" and could trigger the requirements of the PML:

• Serial Electronic Written Communication: A series of communications among members of a governing body, such as emails, texts, or social media messages, even if they are not communicating at the same time, can constitute a public meeting if it occurs among a quorum of the public body members.
• Use of an intermediary: Using a third party to relay information or facilitate communication among members of a governing body can also be considered a meeting if it occurs among a quorum of public body members.

When are communications among a quorum of public body members NOT considered a public meeting? Some types of communications among public body members are excluded from the definition of a "meeting." These are generally considered "non-substantive" and include:

• Purely factual or educational communications which don’t involve deliberation or decision-making.
• Communications that are not related to any matter that could reasonably be foreseen to come before the governing body for deliberation or decision.
• Communications related to scheduling, leaves of absence, or other similar administrative matters.
• Attendance at professional conferences or on-site inspections, if the members do not engage in deliberations or decisions on matters that could reasonably be foreseen to come before the governing body.

Which groups/committees must follow the  PML  requirements? Oregon’s Public Meetings Law applies to all governing bodies of a public body. A governing body is two or more members with the authority to make decisions for, or recommendations to, a public body on matters of policy or administration. There are two main categories of governing bodies: (1) decision-making bodies, which have the power to make binding decisions for a public body and act on its behalf; (2) advisory bodies, which provide recommendations to another governing body on policy or administration. The following are examples of bodies which are NOT subject to PML:

• Fact-Gathering Bodies: If a body’s sole purpose is to gather factual information for a governing body and it lacks decision-making or recommendation authority, it is not subject to the PML. However, if it determines facts or looks at competing factual information to make a recommendation, it is a body subject to the PML.
• Bodies Advising Individual Public Officials: These are bodies appointed by a single public official to provide recommendations solely to that official. The PML does not apply if the official has authority to act on the recommendations without passing them on to another governing body.

What are the training requirements for public officials under the revised law? HB 2805 mandates training on Oregon’s Public Meetings Law for all members of governing bodies that have total expenditures of $1 million or more in a fiscal year. This training must be completed at least once during each term of office. Each public body member is responsible for maintaining a record of attendance at the required training. The training can be provided by OGEC or an organization approved by OGEC (OSBA has requested approval of its public meetings law training).

What are the penalties for violating the Public Meetings Law? OGEC has the authority to impose civil penalties on public officials for violations of the Public Meetings Law. According to ORS 244.350, the penalties can be up to:

• $1,000 per violation for most violations of the public meetings law, depending on various factors such as the number of violations, whether there was intentional disregard for the law, and actions taken to prevent future violations.
• No penalty: If the governing body acted on the advice of its legal counsel, a penalty may not be imposed.

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.

Comments Regarding Staff Members - Speakers may offer objective criticism of ESD operations and programs. The Board will not hear comments regarding any individual ESD staff member. The Board chair will direct the visitor to the procedures in Board policy KL - Public Complaints for Board consideration of a complaints involving a staff member. The association contract governing the employee's rights will be followed. A commendation involving a staff member should be sent to the superintendent, who will forward it to the staff member, his/her supervisor and the Board.

The Board requests that a public comment add information or a perspective that has not already been mentioned previously, and that the patron refrains from repeating a similar point. To make a comment or present a topic during public comment, if the opportunity is available on the Board agenda, please complete the Intent to Speak card and submit it to the Board secretary prior to the start of the meeting. An individual that has submitted an Intent to Speak card and has been invited to speak by the Board chair, will be allowed three minutes.

Any person, who is invited by the Board chair to speak to the Board during a meeting, should state his/her name and address and, if speaking for an organization, the name of the organization. A spokesperson should be designated to represent a group with a common purpose.

Description: 

Lane ESD acknowledges that the lands we call Lane County - the lands that sustain our children, our future, and our collective well-being - are the traditional ancestral home of the Kalapuya, Siuslaw, Molalla, and other indigenous people who have lived in Lane County since time immemorial.  Native children, families, and communities bear witness to a legacy of displacement and forced relocation. As an educational institutions we are accountable for addressing the current and former silencing, erasure and genocide of native people in Oregon and Turtle Island. We aim to join with indigenous people, honoring their resilience, courage, and self-determination in a purposeful pursuit of justice.

Today indigenous people -- alive, diverse,and vibrant -- live in and contribute to the culture of Lane County. We are all blessed by their presence.

1. We commit to support our own, Lane ESD staff, and student learning about indigenous peoples of Oregon, the history, culture, current concerns, and the role of educational institutions in the genocide of Native/Indigenous people and tribes and in the possibilities for repair and justice. As an ESD we will support and encourage the implementation of Tribal History/Shared History curriculum with all our educational partners.

2. The board also commits to building relationships that would help us understand the lived experiences of our native students' families and communities and how LESD impacts our students, in collaboration with the superintendent.

3. The board will review and update the spoken Statement of Accountability Land Acknowledgement annually during our annual organizational meeting or when needed.

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 November 2024.

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 January 2025 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:  The Lane Superintendents' Council approved the 2025-27 Local Service Plan - Year One at its December 17 meeting.

 According to ORS 334.175, services provided by an education service district shall be provided according to a local service plan developed by the education service district and component school districts.  Further, after being adopted by the board of the education service district, be approved on or before March 1 by resolution of two-thirds of the component school districts that are a part of the education service district and that have at least a majority of the pupils included in the average daily membership of the education service district. 

Superintendent Scurto is currently scheduled to visit the following component school district boards:

Blachly School District, January 8, 6:00 p.m.
Springfield Public Schools, January 13, 7:00 p.m.
McKenzie School District, January 15, 5:30 p.m.

Description:  Lane ESD shall pursue federal, state or private grants or other such funds that will assist the ESD in meeting adopted Board and ESD goals.

Proposals for external funds will be submitted to the Board for evaluation and approval.

In the event an opportunity arises to submit a grant proposal and there is insufficient time to place it before the Board, the superintendent is authorized to use his/her judgment in approving it for submission. The superintendent will review the proposal with the Board at its next regular meeting. The Board reserves the right to reject funds associated with any grant which has been approved.

The Board shall, before acceptance of such funds, consider the district’s obligations, expectations or encumbrances when the grant ceases.

The Americorps planning grant can support staffing costs, travel, materials, and other costs necessary to conduct research and engage community members and partners in planning activities related to Team Oregon Build projects and partners. The year-long planning grant will allow existing partners to look at community projects, participating schools, and interested community partners to identify problems in the community(ies) where Lane ESD focuses its efforts. We will use reputable/current/local data from the past several years of Constructing a Brighter Future and Team Oregon Build. AmeriCorps members can be an effective tool to engage the community, and we want to explore this possibility with the planning grant. Lane ESD believes that AmeriCorps members could potentially be an effective tool for addressing the community need that TOB is trying to address; contribute to improved educational outcomes for students across Lane County and prepare students for success post high school.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD approve the Americorps Planning Grant as submitted to the Board. 

 

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.

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.

Policies shall be adopted, amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of four or more Board members.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD adopt policies first read and reviewed at its December 2024 meeting, as listed.

Description:  The U.S. Department of Education recently released amendments to the Title IX regulations. These regulations went into effect on August 1, 2024, and made significant changes to complaint procedures for discrimination on the basis of sex. The previous version of these regulations primarily addressed sex-based harassment. With this change, AC-AR(2)  Discrimination Complaint Procedure has been created to provide additional guidance when handling sex-based discrimination under the Title IX regulations. Board policy GBN/JBA  Sexual Harassment still addresses sexual harassment under Oregon law, but GBN/JBA-AR(1)  Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure and GBN/JBA-AR(2)  Federal Law (Title IX) Sexual Harassment Procedure are both recommended for deletion in lieu of revised AC-AR(1)  Discrimination or Civil Rights Complaint Procedures and new AC-AR(2)  Sex-Based Discrimination under Title IX.

Lane ESD existing policy AC (click here)

Description:  The U.S. Department of Education recently released amendments to the Title IX regulations. These regulations went into effect on August 1, 2024, and made significant changes to complaint procedures for discrimination on the basis of sex. The previous version of these regulations primarily addressed sex-based harassment. With this change, AC-AR(2)  Discrimination Complaint Procedure has been created to provide additional guidance when handling sex-based discrimination under the Title IX regulations. Board policy GBN/JBA  Sexual Harassment still addresses sexual harassment under Oregon law, but GBN/JBA-AR(1)  Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure and GBN/JBA-AR(2)  Federal Law (Title IX) Sexual Harassment Procedure are both recommended for deletion in lieu of revised AC-AR(1)  Discrimination or Civil Rights Complaint Procedures and new AC-AR(2)  Sex-Based Discrimination under Title IX.
Lane ESD existing policies GBN/JBA and JBA/GBN (click here).

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

Description:  Visits to component district board meetings are scheduled.  Component districts have until March 1, 2025 to approve the 2025-27 Local Service Plan - Year One.

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

Description:  The Board will discuss attendance at the OAESD Spring Conference, May 7-9, 2025 at the Sunriver Resort.

OAESD will be using the Sched platform for event information and registration this year.  In order to register for the event, each attendee will need their own Sched Account.  Attendees that do not already have an account, will need to create an account at Sched.com  Each person will need to use their own email when creating their account.  This is free to do.  Once registration is opened, OAESD will send out the Spring Conference event page link, along with the password needed for the event registration.

The Sunriver Room Block is open and ready for reservations. 

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: 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.

House Bill 4160 (2024) changed the definition of student; changing a student who left school or graduated from high school "within 90 days" to "within one calendar year", and is in effect as of July 1, 2024 and is included in the recommended revisions.

Local ESD Responsibility:  Adopt updated language in the required policy GBNAA/JHFF - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements.

Policy(ies) Impacted by these Revisions:
GBNAA/JHFF - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements,Required
JHFF/GBNAA - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements, Required

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 being 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.

Superintendent Scurto has revised Administrative Rules AC-AR(1) Civil Rights Complaint Procedure and AC-AR(2) Sex-Based Discrimination Under Title IX.  These changes are based upon the U.S. Department of Education's recently released amendments to the Title IX regulations.

These regulations went into effect on August 1, 2024, and made significant changes to complaint procedures for discrimination on the basis of sex. The previous version of these regulations primarily addressed sex-based harassment. With this change, AC-AR(2) - Discrimination Complaint Procedure has been created to provide additional guidance when handling sex-based discrimination under the Title IX regulations. Board policy GBN/JBA - Sexual Harassment still addresses sexual harassment under Oregon law, but GBN/JBA-AR(1) - Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure and GBN/JBA-AR(2) - Federal Law (Title IX) Sexual Harassment Procedure are both recommended for deletion in lieu of revised AC-AR(1) - Discrimination or Civil Rights Complaint Procedures and new AC-AR(2) - Sex-Based Discrimination under Title IX.

Description: 

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:  Kudos to: Jose Pleitez-Sanchez
Reported by: Christina Okesson
Reason: The technology department staff members have voted to recognize Jose as our IT employee of the month (December). Statements made: "Over the last couple weeks Jose worked outside normal business hours to remediate critical vulnerabilities on core networking infrastructure." "Jose is always dependable, driven, and hard working, and is the first to volunteer." "Jose has been a rockstar working on our network equipment replacement project, which included extensive PD to learn a new system."

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