February 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Description:  The Board of Directors of Lane ESD will conduct a work session to discuss conducting a Board Self-Evaluation and the evaluation of the Superintendent.

Description:  The Board will discuss conducting a Board Self-Evaluation.  

Description:  The Board of Directors will discuss the process for the evaluation of the Superintendent.  In previous years, the Board has implemented a version of a 360 evaluation to gather information on the performance of the superintendent by groups: Superintendents' Council, Community Partners, Agency Leadership, and Staff.

Superintendent Scurto has a hire date of 7/1/2017.  A 360-evaluation has been conducted annually with the following groups surveyed each year:

2018: Board, Superintendents' Council, Superintendent Self-Evaluation
2019: Board, Superintendents' Council, Superintendent Self-Evaluation, Staff
2020: Board, Superintendents' Council, Superintendent Self-Evaluation, Staff, Community Partners
2021: Board, Superintendent Self-Evaluation, Community Partners
2022: Board, Superintendent Self-Evaluation, Staff
2023: Board, Superintendents' Council, Leadership, Superintendent Self-Evaluation
2024: Board, Superintendents' Council, Leadership, Superintendent Self-Evaluation

The Board will discuss collecting feedback for use in its evaluation of the Superintendent.  Following the collecting of data, the Board will conduct an Executive Session to review the data and develop an Evaluation Summary.

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 December 2024.

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.

Description:  In January, the Board learned that 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.

In January, it was understood that local ESD Responsibility  was to Adopt updated language in the required policy GBNAA/JHFF - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements.

Policy(ies) Impacted by these Revisions were first read at the January 7, 2025 meeting of the Board of Directors:
GBNAA/JHFF - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements,Required
JHFF/GBNAA - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements, Required

Lane ESD has recently learned that on January 9th, 2025, a federal district court judge in Kentucky issued a decision invalidating the 2024 updates to the Title IX regulations. This ruling invalidates the rules that went into effect on August 1, 2024. Presumably, this means that the previous rules (effective in 2020) remain in effect. 

OSBA released updated policies on these topics in the November 2024 update. Due to this court decision, OSBA recommends districts, ESDs, charter schools and community colleges do not update the following policies:
•    AC: Nondiscrimination and Civil Rights
•    GBN/JBA and JBA/GBN: Sexual Harassment

This means that previous versions of these policies remain in effect (unless action has already been taken to remove or update them). The OSBA Policy Department will be issuing additional information regarding updates to these policies and administrative regulations.

One of the key provisions of the 2024 rules was the interpretation of "sex-based discrimination" to include gender identity and sexual orientation. This decision struck down this interpretation. However, Oregon law has prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for several years (ORS 659.850).

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD does not adopt policy updates for GBNAA/JHFF - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements and JHFF/GBNAA - Suspected Sexual Conduct with Students and Reporting Requirements, as first read on January 7, 2025.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Directors rescinds policy updates for the following:

• AC: Nondiscrimination and Civil Rights, , adopted January 7, 2025
• GBN/JBA and JBA/GBN: Sexual Harassment, adopted January 7, 2025

Description:  WHEREAS:  February 1-28, 2025, has been designated Career and Technical Education Month^® by the Association for Career and Technical Education; and
WHEREAS: career and technical education offers students the opportunity to gain the academic, technical and employability skills necessary for true career readiness
WHEREAS: students in career and technical education programs participate in authentic, meaningful experiences that improve the quality of their education and increase their engagement and achievement; and
WHEREAS: career and technical education provides students with career exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience, which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic coursework and pursue established programs of study and career pathways; and
WHEREAS: leaders from business and industry nationwide report increasing challenges related to addressing the skills gap and connecting qualified professionals with available careers in critical and growing CTE-related fields, including healthcare, energy, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and information technology; and
WHEREAS: career and technical education prepares students for these and other fulfilling careers by offering integrated programs of study that link secondary and postsecondary education and lead to the attainment of industry-recognized credentials; and
WHEREAS: career and technical education programs ensure that employers have access to a qualified and thriving workforce, ensuring America is a strong and competitive economy;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD do hereby proclaim February 1-28, 2025, as
Career and Technical Education Month
and urge all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits  offered by the career and technical education programs in this community and to support and participate in these programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity.

Description:  This year's theme, "African Americans and Labor: From Slave Ships to the White House," honors the critical role labor has played in the Black American experience, from the agricultural work of enslaved Africans to the rise of Black Wall Street.

WHEREAS, in 1915, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, noted Black scholar and son of former slaves, founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and initiated Black History Week on February 12, 1926; and
WHEREAS, in 1976 President Gerald Ford made Black History Month a national observance; and the second week of February coincides with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass; and the event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs, and host performances and lectures; and
WHEREAS, during Black History Month we celebrate the many achievements and contributions made by Black Americans to Oregon and the United States’ economic, cultural, spiritual, and political development and honor the memory of the millions of enslaved Africans  who died during the Translatlantic Slave Trade; and
WHEREAS, while the observance of Black History Month calls for our community’s attention to the continued need to battle racism and to build a society that lives up to its democratic ideals; and
WHEREAS, all students need an opportunity to understand the common humanity underlying all people, to develop pride in their own cultural identity and heritage, and to respect the identity and heritage of others; and
NOW, THEREFORE, we, the members of the Board of Directors for the Lane Education Service District, hereby declare February 2025 to be: Black History Month
and we strongly encourage our staff and community to observe, recognize, and celebrate the culture, heritage and contributions of Black Americans to our country, our state, our cities, and our schools,
By resolution of the Board of Directors this 4th day of February 2025.

Description:  The Board of Directors of Lane ESD will cast its vote for OAESD Chair Elect.

General Description: The Officer Council consists of the officers of OAESD. These are the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past Chair of the OAESD Board and President, President-Elect, and Past President of the OAESD Superintendents' Council. The term of office for the officers shall be one year in each role (three years total). Any officer may be elected to no more than two successive terms. The Chair-Elect and President-Elect succeed the Chair and President, respectively. Past practice has been for each ESD Board to have the opportunity to nominate a candidate for the position of Chair-Elect and for each member ESD superintendent to have the opportunity to nominate a candidate for President-Elect.

There is one candidate for Chair-Elect:

Information: Jeff Crapper has been officially nominated for the OAESD Chair-Elect position. Please see his bio below for more information: 

Name: Dr. Jeffrey Crapper
Email: jeffrey.crapper@wesd.org
Board Roles: Currently serves on the Board of Directors for Willamette Education Service District, Oregon School Board Association, Oregon HOSA, Oregon Career Technical Student Leadership Foundation, and Salem-Keizer NAACP. 

OAESD Roles: Currently serving on the OAESD Legislative Committee
Current &Previous Occupation(s): CTE Program Associate/Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) for Salem-Keizer Public Schools. Prior to this position, Jeff was a TOSA for the Beaverton School District and previously taught Biology, Physics, Math, Engineering, Firefighting, English as a Second Language, Physical Education, Health and Health Sciences CTE courses for 21 years. He most recently taught at Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering (BASE) in Beaverton, where he started their medical assisting and pharmacy technology programs.
Educational Background: Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training, Exercise Science, and Health Education with a Minor in Psychology from Linfield College, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Oregon State University, a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from George Fox University, and a Doctorate in Education from Liberty University.
Other Relevant Experience, Memberships, etc.: Dr. Crapper was recognized as the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for Linfield University, 2021 Oregon ACTE Teacher of the Year, 2019 ACTE National Health Science Teacher of the Year and as the 2017 OSTA Oregon High School Science Teacher of the Year. 

About Me: Additionally, he serves as a Firefighter and Advanced EMT for Dayton Fire District and serves as an educational consultant for Project Lead The Way (PLTW), which is a non-profit STEM organization.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of Lane ESD casts its vote for OAESD Officer's Council Chair Elect.

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

Description:  The Board of Directors of Lane ESD will report on the work session conducted prior to the start of the regular meeting.  The Board may come to consensus, or move to act, on how to proceed with the Board Self-Evaluation and the Superintendent Evaluation.

Description:  Lane ESD has engaged with OSBA to complete a desk rewrite of the Board Policy Manual.  Leslie Fisher (OSBA) has provided the following policies/administrative rules for review:

• AC: Nondiscrimination and Civil Rights
• ACA: Americans with Disabilities Act
• ACA-AR(1): Americans with Disabilities Act
• ACA-AR(2): ADA Grievance Procedure
• ACB: Every Student Belongs All Students Belong
• ACB-AR: Bias Incident Complaint Procedure

The following policies/administrative rules are recommended for deletion:

• AD: Educational Philosophy
• ADA: Mission, Guiding Values, Priorities and Standards

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.

Description: 

Description:  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