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A community group asked people to show up in support of Jonathan Light, chair of the district's Board of Education, who reportedly contacted the Oregon Department of Education for an update on the state agency’s investigation into curriculum compliance in district schools.
Springfield Public Schools leaders and the chair of its board of education appear to be at odds over a state investigation into the district’s curriculum compliance.
According to a Facebook post by a local coalition, the Community Alliance for Public Education, board Chair Jonathan Light recently asked the Oregon Department of Education for an update on an investigation that the state opened June 27, 2024.
The investigation centers on whether the Springfield district is in compliance with state curriculum standards for elementary education. ODE has extended the investigation twice, according to letters from the state, provided to Lookout Eugene-Springfield by teacher Mikell Harshbarger, who lodged the complaint with ODE.
In its Facebook post, the Community Alliance for Public Education said that Springfield Superintendent Todd Hamilton made a complaint to the school board about Light asking ODE for a status update on the investigation.
Neither Light nor the district would verify that Light reached out to ODE, nor did either party verify the district made a complaint.
At a special school board meeting on Monday, Aug. 25, board members voted to immediately begin an independent investigation. The investigator presumably will look into Hamilton’s complaint, among any others that are not yet public.
“At this time, it’s important for these processes to play out and for the investigation to be able to move forward,” said Brian Richardson, communications director of Springfield Public Schools.
He said he had not seen the superintendent’s complaint to the board but stated that complaints of that nature are typically confidential. Lookout Eugene-Springfield has requested a copy of the complaint.
Light, the school board chair, said the investigation will clarify the situation.
“I’m trying to do what’s right for kids, and make sure they have the education that we’ve promised,” Light said in an interview after the meeting. “It’ll all come out, you know, any of that, plus the reasons behind that.”
A crowded meeting
More than 50 community members packed the Aug. 25 school board meeting, after the Community Alliance for Public Education social media post encouraged people to show up to support Light.
“The intention is to make it very clear to the district administration and the other members of the school board that the public is watching closely,” the post read.
Board members spent nearly two hours in executive session on Aug. 25, discussing matters covered under Oregon’s executive session public meeting laws. Board members then came back to the public meeting and voted to conduct the investigation into complaints discussed during the session. Board member Nicole De Graff voted against conducting the investigation. Light abstained.
“We should be discussing issues like nutrition services and summer programs, and instead we’re dealing with ongoing violations,” De Graff said before casting her vote.
Jonathan Gault, president of the Springfield Education Association, Springfield’s teachers union, was at the meeting. He said there were a variety of current and former Springfield educators and community members in attendance Monday night.
Gault characterized Light as “a valuable member of our community who has touched countless lives through his service through the school board, as a member of the school staff, as a local businessman and as a longtime resident.”
Light is in his 20th year on the board. He worked as a music teacher in Pleasant Hill for 11 years and then as a teacher on special assignment in Springfield schools, where the majority of his work was supervising teachers in high school performing arts and career technical education.
Community Alliance for Public Education is a group of parents, teachers and community members whose goal is to “raise awareness and build community around public education issues, as well as support an informed citizenry in having input into public education policies and practices.” The group is against standardized testing as it is practiced today in Springfield and Eugene schools.
The curriculum investigation
The conflict between the board chair and the district started from an investigation into the district by ODE, launched due to a teacher’s complaint in 2023.
Harshbarger, an elementary school teacher at Elizabeth Page Elementary School, sent a letter to two school board members on Nov. 10, 2023, saying that the district incorrectly reported that it was in compliance with state curriculum standards for elementary curriculum in 2022 and 2023.
Harshbarger specifically alleged that there was a lack of curriculum and not enough time for social studies, science and human sexuality, and inadequate time allotments and facilities for physical education. While the district is now in compliance with physical education time requirements, Harshbarger said, he still does not have standards-based materials to teach social studies, science and human sexuality, nor the time.
Language arts and math take up the majority of his instructional time, leaving him 15 minutes a day for health, science, social studies or other class business he needs to attend to.
“The kids are not getting the science and the social studies and the health and the art and the technology and the social emotional learning stuff that they’re supposed to, and we’re not allowed as teachers to give them what they need,” Harshbarger said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield.
Harshbarger said the district took the letter as a formal complaint and launched an investigation that lasted seven months. Harshbarger received an email from Joyce Johnson, director of elementary education on June 3, 2024, saying that his claims were unsubstantiated. He then appealed the complaint to ODE that same month.
ODE is required to perform an investigation and deliver a report within 90 days of the school providing the materials the state requires. The investigation has now lasted 14 months, after two extensions by ODE officials. The agency’s deadline for delivering the report is now Nov. 15.
Stacey Guise, the complaint and appeals resolution unit manager for ODE, said in a May 15 letter to Hashbarger that ODE was extending its own deadline for the report again because of “the size and scope of the investigation,” “the complexity of the legal issues before the department,” and “the number of appeals currently filed with the department.”
She went on to say that there is a backlog at ODE of complaints and appeals, which is causing substantial wait times.
“Department staff are working hard to reduce wait times; however, we remain committed to providing a fair and thorough process for each and every case,” Guise wrote.
There is now a petition, sponsored by the Community Alliance for Public Education, “demanding a well-rounded education for K-5 students” in Springfield schools. That petition has 220 signatures. Harshbarger also submitted a letter to the school board at its Aug. 11 meeting with 75 teacher signatures, saying the district was out of compliance with the elementary curriculum. He said the district took this as another formal complaint and will perform another investigation into the allegations.
Richardson, the Springfield schools spokesperson, said the district is waiting to decide whether to take action on the complaint until after the ODE investigation is complete and orders are given.
“We want to allow that investigation to work through this due process before jumping to any conclusions,” Richardson said. “We’re not perfect. If a finding comes out from that investigation, we will work to correct that.”
