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The contract with the Oregon School Employees Association includes a 4% cost-of-living pay increase for each of the next two school years. Interim superintendent Shawn Stover reported that he will be “listening and learning” his way through his first 100 days in office.
The Springfield Board of Education was back in action at its Aug. 10 meeting, approving a new contract with the district’s classified union, approving financing for wooden truss repairs and listening to Interim Superintendent Shawn Stover’s leadership entry plan.
“I’m here because educators saw me as an individual student and reacted, and that’s my wish for all of our students,” Stover said. “I want our students to feel loved, I want them to feel challenged, and I want them to feel prepared.”
The board also launched two new investigations on complaints heard in executive session.
A new contract
The union that represents classified school staff, including secretaries, bus drivers and educational assistants, is signing a new contract with the district. It will guarantee their members 4% pay raises for both the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.
The contract will also include pay increases for employees who reach 15 and 30 years of working at the district. Currently there are salary bumps at 10, 20 and 25 years. It will also allow more access to students’ special education plans, which include Individualized Education Plans, often called IEPs, and 504 plans, another type of plan that outlines accommodations for students with disabilities.
“The language in there states that an employee that works with a student on an IEP will have access to that before they get in front of that student, so they will be able to have the tools needed to be successful in their position,” said Melissa Blomquist, president of the Springfield branch of the Oregon School Employees Association.
The contract also increased the per-employee stipend for professional development from $2,000 to $5,250, outlined a more structured onboarding process, and increased pay for custodians and others who work evening shifts by 25 cents an hour.
Blomquist said she was happy with how bargaining went this year. Last year, the union negotiated an interim, one-year contract with the district that won them a 4.15% pay increase for the 2025-26 school year, a $25 increase in district insurance contribution, and one extra personal leave day. Even though last year’s bargaining was for a one-year contract, Blomquist said it took longer than this year’s process, was “pretty heated” and “not as collaborative.”
“That’s why we were super excited coming into this bargaining and from the get-go, it was a collaboration and mutual respect on both sides,” Blomquist said.
Looking forward and backward
Stover presented a three-phase plan for his year, focusing on observing and building relationships, identifying areas of improvement and creating a strategic plan.
He will start by shadowing students and staff. District staff will also be required to shadow students at all three school levels, according to the plan. Stover will also meet with parents, staff, community members and students and attend community functions during his first 100 days.
“I think trust is the oil of change,” Stover said. “I think it’s earned in drops and lost in buckets.”
The interim superintendent has a one-year contract, but during hiring, some board members expressed a desire for an interim superintendent who could become a permanent leader. The board has not yet announced when or how it will launch a permanent superintendent hiring process.
The third phase of Stover’s year in Springfield includes the creation of a long-term plan for the district. If he is selected as the permanent superintendent, he would begin implementing the plan.
Community members shared their thoughts during public comment, expressing their hopes for the future and critiques of the past.
Krystal Sundstrom, a former Spanish dual immersion teacher and elementary program coordinator in Springfield, spoke about the importance of the dual immersion program, which the district cut at the middle and high school level for the 2026-27 school year.
She explained how research has proven that dual immersion programs not only benefit native English speakers in their academic success and cultural competency, but also benefit English-language learners both in their English proficiency and academic success due to access to core content in their native language.
“It’s like compounding interest,” Sundstrom said. “The benefits stack and multiply for everyone involved.”
Stover said district leaders are working on a report about the dual immersion program and will involve parents in decision-making. He said they will present more information at the board’s Aug. 24 work session.
More from the meeting
- Wooden truss financing: The board unanimously approved a 10-year, $3.7 million “lease purchase,” which is a type of financing for public entities that resembles a loan. The lease purchase will cover the repair of wooden trusses across the district, required by the district’s insurance policy. The district is contracting Essex General Construction of Eugene to complete the work and workers have already begun, said Brett Yancey, the district’s chief operations officer. Essex estimates it will complete its work in February.
- New investigations: Board members met in executive session before the public meeting to discuss several topics, including two new complaints. Executive sessions are closed to the public and members of the media are allowed to attend most executive sessions, but cannot report on what is said during them. The board voted in open session to retain an investigator to look into both complaints, with Amber Langworthy abstaining from the vote on one complaint and Ken Kohl abstaining from the vote on the other complaint.
- Finance report: Yancey presented the June and July financial reports, showing the district ended the fiscal year with a balance of $16.5 million, $4.3 million less than at the end of last fiscal year, as the district dipped into reserves to cover expenses.
