Eugene school board candidates make their pitches at City Club 

Here was the final question pitched to four candidates for the Eugene School Board at a Friday forum at the City Club of Eugene: “What do you think personally is the No. 1 issue facing the 4J School District?”

It seems like a simple question. But the answers the candidates gave were anything but simple.

“I’m going to say that the issues we are facing at 4J are complicated and interrelated,” said Judy Newman, the incumbent seeking reelection May 20 to a four-year term in Position 3. So, for example, she cited chronic absenteeism as a big problem — but noted that issue ties in with other issues, such as providing safe school environments for students and staffers while dealing with a budget shortfall estimated at between $15 million and $30 million.

Newman’s Position 3 opponent, Donald Easton, agreed: “Like Judy said, there’s a plethora of issues that we have to address, and they all kind of tie in together.” But Easton put the emphasis on staff recruitment and retention as his key issue: “If you have a school district that is known for its teacher burnout, that is known for its retention issues, that is not attractive to most educators.”

The two other candidates at the forum, both seeking election to Position 2, offered similar examples of how the district’s challenges are interrelated.

“I agree with Judy that this is a hard one to answer,” said Position 2 incumbent Ericka Thessen, a physical therapist. She also focused on staff retention and recruitment. “I work in health care,” she said. “I’m not an educator. But the one thing that health care and education share in common is decades of disinvestment, lots of staff leaving the profession because of burnout and not feeling valued and short staffing, and then it’s sort of a vicious cycle.”

Danny McDiarmid, a child support case manager for the Oregon Department of Justice who’s challenging Thessen, cited “fiscal responsibility” as the biggest issue facing the district, and connected that to staff retention, saying it’s important to adequately pay teachers.

A City Club crowd of about 50 watched as the candidates answered questions and offered opening and closing statements during Friday’s forum, held at WOW Hall. A third candidate for Position 2, Alan Madden, declined an invitation to participate. And the forum did not include the unopposed candidate for Position 6, Maya Rabasa.

Questions covered topics such as the pending budget shortfall in the Eugene School District, student performance in math and reading, chronic absences and leadership turnover at the district. 

Frequently, the candidates staked out similar positions. For example, all four said the board should do whatever it could to keep budget cuts “as far away from the classroom as possible,” as Thessen said. Newman, a longtime educator and co-founder of Early Childhood CARES, which serves children with special needs and their families, said that the district hasn’t faced budget cuts since 2008. She said that almost 90% of the district’s budget goes to personnel and warned that any cuts would be “painful.”

Easton agreed, adding that it’s frequently “the most marginalized students” who suffer the brunt of any cutbacks. “We cannot just drop these programs that these students are benefiting (from).” he said. “We want them to be successful.”

Added McDiarmid: “I just don’t want to see any empty stomachs trying to learn; that’s the most important thing.”

The candidates agreed that the school district should do everything in its power to protect students and staff from Trump administration executive orders seeking to withhold funds from districts promoting gender ideology and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

“I don’t think there’s anyone up here who doesn’t feel like we need to take care of our students and protect students as much as we can,” Easton said. 

Added Thessen: “We know that children cannot learn if they are not safe, if they are not valued and they are not honored.” She urged the district to be a “brick wall” protecting students from administration efforts.

On another topic, Easton, a faculty member at Lane Community College, called for increased investment in career and technical education (CTE), noting that students who take CTE classes graduate at a higher rate than other students and are more likely to regularly attend school.

The other candidates also were CTE backers, with Thessen calling herself “the world’s biggest fangirl of CTE,” and Newman saying the district needed to do a better job letting students and staff know about the district’s options. McDiarmid said he supported class offerings that taught students financial literacy. 

On math and reading scores for Eugene students, Thessen and Newman said the district was beginning to see promising results with new early literacy programs. Easton agreed, but added that math proficiency was just as important: “Somebody who’s good at math can solve any problems they encounter,” he said.

Candidates were enthusiastic about the recent hiring of new district Superintendent Miriam Mickelson, who will start her job in July. Newman said the district has had five superintendents in the last six years.

“That is a lot of change at the top,” Newman said. “Part of the reason I wanted to run for school board again is because I really want this transition to be successful.”

Easton called Mickelson “amazing,” adding that “it’s very, very critical that the school board supports the superintendent.”

KLCC’s Rebecca Hansen-White moderated the forum. A rebroadcast is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 21, on KLCC, 89.7 FM.

The deadline to register for the May 20 election is April 29. Click here for more information about how to register to vote in Oregon.