001or staff member unless that person requests an open hearing. O RS192.6602 I All right. Can you guys hear me? I know there's still an executive session and I may get in trouble for this later, but I do have first graders here that are really excited to do their presentation. Um, and they've been waiting an hour. So, I'm going to have my first grade teachers come up with their kids. I had a slideshow presentation um about the work we do with the science of reading. But I think what is most important and what we want to see is actually what it looks like in the classroom. Um, and you guys can just tell the board that it was great afterwards. Okay. Okay. Hi, thanks for having us. Um, we only have four first graders here, so
002they're going to be super super loud. We are working at the elementary school level on the explicit phonics sequence. We have a grant, which Mrs. as way is going to talk about, but through core learning. And so we normally do this every single day with our corresponding slides. We didn't want to put it up on the screen for you. So Mrs. Adams made a um like a mock version of it on this paper here. So what are you >> stand Okay, whatever you want to do. So, every single day we start by specifically learning and talking about new sounds. We're trying to demystify the English language for these kids. As you know, vowel teams are really interesting. So, for example, this week we've learned that ea in the past says the short e sound, but
003in a word like beak, ea combines to say the long e sound. That's really, really challenging for these kids that are trying to get a hold of phonics. So, we are working on that every single day. Okay. So, Mrs. Adams, do you want to take it away? Say it again. Let's do that again. >> Round of applause. Hey, so after reviewing sounds, then we take it into actually decoding and encoding words. So, we are now going to show how we blend words using the sounds that they have learned. Last week was a strong focus on the AI and a Y vowel team. A male A. >> What? A day a play. Round of applause. Okay. So, another part of reading is words that we cannot sound out. So, some words do not follow regular phonics
004patterns. That's super tricky. So, what we're doing is we're trying to get them to memorize words that are frequently occurring but are irregularly spelled. And so, we go over our site words is what we call. So, These are words from last week, I think. I'm going to slide and we'll say the words. How does that sound? Ready? Okay. Eyes is here. This word is good. I'm going to skip. Oh, this is tricky. How about this one? This word is good. We have an easy word. Good. That's from last week. This word is good. We like this word. This word is good. Would anyone like to use this word right here in a sentence? Does anyone want to use it in a sentence? Do you want to use the microphone? >> Yes. >> I see a
005animal. >> Round of applause. Anyone else? Does anyone want to use this word in a sentence? Microphone. >> I see an animal today. Tessa, do you want to do one? You want to choose a word? >> You want to do it, Tessa? Okay. Show us what you got. You choose the words. Will you point to them? Which ones you use, though? >> I carry eight animals. >> Round of applause. >> Carry eight animals. >> Oh, three words. Okay, Luka, do you want to do one? >> No. No for Luka. >> Round of applause for not doing it. Okay. All right. So, that is a very simple and paired down version of this, but we have seen a huge increase in our kids being able to blend words, put them together, take them apart. Um, I
006think that Mrs. Adams and I feel um we started doing this last year and then with this grant, it's allowed us to increase our knowledge of that, increase the practice of it. The slides are now super useful. We've shared that with the rest of the grade levels. So, it's consistent learning from kindergarten through I think third grade is when we're doing the slides, even fourth a little bit. But, um, we're grateful for the opportunity to learn more. The kids are rocking it this year. So, Oh, hello. Hello. Uh, I just wanted to give a heads up. We have at least 30 more minutes. So, just so everybody knows, um, yeah, we're going through the process. out here. All right. Thank you guys so much for your patience. Um, uh, we were doing the evaluation process
007with the direction of OSBA and that goes on their timeline and her thoroughess and so, um, I apologize that for, uh, that taking so long. Uh we are announcing our return to regular session at this time coming out of executive session OS1 192.6602 I on to the consent agenda 3.0 approve work session minutes for January 12th 2026. >> I move. >> All in favor? All those opposed you 3.02 902 approve regular board meeting minutes for January 12th. >> I move. >> All in favor? Thank you. Approve special session meetings for January 26th, 2026 to approve. >> Second. All those in favor. Thank you. Uh information 4.0. Uh we missed the OC presentation, didn't we? >> I'm sorry. I'm really sorry we missed that, but I will be, you know, walking back on that. >> I
008I may have Yes, I may have overstepped, but my first graders had been here for a while. So, I let them do their presentation. Um, and then I can talk to you about the data portion and all of that. Maybe next month. Okay. Um, just for the sake of time, I just thought >> No, please. I mean, thank this is really loud. >> Uh, yeah, I heard the applause, so I'm sorry we missed that. And, um, we definitely had a packed meeting tonight. uh reports and discussions. Enrollment, our enrollment is still projected higher than what we thought we would open this school district. We are in a transition period where, you know, we went from 612 to 618 to 606. Kind of like the same kind of patterns of last year. So, we'll keep an
009eye on that. We um figured we were probably going to start less than 600 this year. So, we're still above that um metrics. And then I'll go into um we have a science adoption this year. So, we need to give the public an opportunity to review the OD approved um materials. Um after the adoption, we uh so we're gonna host a preview opportunity February 24th from 3:30 to 4:30 in the um high school library, but you will also have a link that you will be able to look because they don't do the vans anymore with all the curriculum. Everything's online. So we will provide a link for you and you can look at the science curriculum right now that we're looking at. Um the teachers a committee um has been meeting together and they usually
010represent elementary, middle school and high school. So their voices are in there. Um I know Sam could talk to this. Sam and Sabrina are the ones that um facilitate this. So we're hoping that the curriculums that we like are something that our community will approve. Um, I wanted to share an update regarding the upcoming budget and staffing conversations um that we will continue to have just like we did last year. The planning for 2026 27 has already started to begin. You will notice that in May we will have our budget meetings. We plan on picking new budget members next month when we have a full board to be able to vote on them. We are having our first public meetinglisting session. That will be February 26 from 5:30 to 6:30. This session is intended to
011provide an overview of upcoming considerations like we did last year and listen to the community input. It is not a forum to revisit prior decisions, but rather a space to engage in constructive dialogue about the district's future. We will have additional meetings and information as time goes on, but we will be moving staff around next year just like we did this year. So, um please come to those meetings so you can hear what the plan is. Um what decisions are being made. Um conversations again will be done with staff first prior to um these public meetings and no employees names or identifying details will be discussed or shared during public meetings without that individual's um permission to do that. Um there's some cuts that we made this year that we'll make again next year. Um,
012last year we had to look at some things towards the end of the year that we really couldn't afford to do and that would be like our staff our all staff lunchon which runs us about $3500 to about five grand. Um, so breakfast and lunchins have been cut. um opening speaker which we usually have is anywhere from between five and 10,000 and we usually have a grant for that and they're no longer giving us those grants. They're cuts at the other levels so we won't be continuing that. Board PD was something that was cut, but that is something with new board members coming on that we would like to put a budget amount in there for this upcoming year. As most people know, buildings and and departments have been cut between three and 5% last
013year, and we'll be looking at making those cuts again this year. Um the calendar committee met um we put a calendar committee together to help have voices from all entities. So, each building is represented, each department is represented. We have a two community members that are both business owners and um parents. So, we have gotten together. We sent out a draft. We know that sending the draft out to the public can be a little confusing because it's colorcoordinated. And for me, it's got too many colors and it gets confusing, but we need to be able to show staff where things are too. The version that after the board approves it next month, the version that goes out to the public won't be so colorcoordinated. It will just be one. so you know when you have
014school or when you don't. But we have to make sure that everybody knows that we're following the contract. Make sure I have all the holidays in there and the different breaks. I think that's all I have. You have any questions about at a glance? I know we're we've been busy so I'll be quick. Uh just looking for any updates. I know we touched a little bit about data um but we can pick up on that. Um how are we doing with sped and all that fun stuff? >> Well, we did have an open house. We brought the uh kinder through fourth grade life skills program back to Bandon this year. And so Mrs. Minkler hosted an open house to show her space and the things that we have in place. Another exciting piece that we
015have going on right now is we have just started the introduction of community- based instruction at the high school with our life skills 512. And so that's kind of more for our older kids, but they are getting out into the community getting some real life job experiences and it's a super exciting thing to be a part of. Uh I am, you know, wearing both hats. So, I'm at the middle school much of the time, but I've been down at Ocean Crest and at Bandon High School supporting with new eligibility meetings, supporting with abbreviated school day conversations and all of that good stuff. So, SPED keeps me running. >> SPED keeps us all going. We appreciate all the effort you guys are all putting into it. um it was the end of the semester. So, uh
016that means you guys are going to have all your testing and so I'll ask you at another day how we're going to go through all that and how we're looking forward uh to the future with all our data collections, but uh looking forward to more reports. So, I'll keep it short. >> All right, any other questions? >> All right, Lindy, thank you so much for your patience. I appreciate your contributions. So, please tell us what's up this month. >> Cool. I always get to use a microphone. That's awesome. So, I don't have much to say, but y'all have to listen to me anyway. So, let's just get started. So, because I see some speech people here, I'm going to start with a couple weeks ago, we had a speech tournament and actually five people placed
017in the top four. So, good job you guys. like and then moving on um February 2nd we actually had the Air Force Quintet come to the band in high school and play for us and it was so cool. I highly enjoyed it and they not only played songs but they even took a song request the national anthem which was beautiful and then they had a Q&A afterwards and it was just a really cool experience. Very lucky that we had to have them come. And then um last Saturday we had the winter formal the February of the 7th which I thought it was pretty fun. Um y'all were there so that was fun. And then going on leadership also had a blood drive last month on the 29th which we actually had a quite a big
018turnout and it was just really fun. Again I got the opportunity to help out with that. Same with others and it was just cool getting to talk to people and learn stuff too because nurses are taking people's blood. Pretty weird but I loved it. And then actually tomorrow, which will be the last thing and then I'll get out of your hair, is Mr. Hatfield is taking around 30 people to Swock for a forestry lecture and then after they're going to go to Cape Orgo to learn about geology. So yeah, that's going to be really cool. And I'm from Washington. Okay. I didn't grow up here. That's all I got for y'all. >> Indeed. Well, she didn't say Willetti or anything. Jeez. Uh, all right. 6.0 action item 6.01 bills in the amount of $151,896.95. May
019I have a motion? >> Second. >> Uh, that was you, AJ. >> Yes. >> Uh, is there any discussion? All those in favor? >> The bill. >> Those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Uh now we have 6.02 approve SCE SD uh local service plan for 2026 2027. Mhm. Yeah. Come on up, Paul. Yeah, you can take mine. >> Sorry, you got to talk in for the friends at home. >> Sorry. Very good. Good evening. Uh, thank you for for inviting me here to join you tonight. Uh, my name is Paul Peterson. I'm the superintendent of South Coast ESD. I'm joined by board member Billy Reeves over there. Uh, thanks Billy for coming tonight. She Yeah, good round of applause for her for sure. Um, so we're just here to provide a brief description of the
020local service plan process and any and to answer your questions uh related to the local service plan which is on your agenda tonight. Uh, as an overview, every year the local service plan or the LSP gets reviewed and approved by the regional superintendent um and then the ESD board and then the boards of each of the 10 school districts within South Coast ESD's service area which ranges from uh Reedsport in the north to Brookings in the south. This local service plan on your agenda tonight is largely unchanged from the LSP you approved last year. This plan was reviewed by the area's 10 school district superintendent this fall and they voted to approve the plan on November 20th. The South Coast ESD board of directors also voted unanimously to approve this plan at their December 9th
021meeting. This LSP is designed to provide the maximum flexibility to each of the districts and how they want to use their ESD resolution dollars in that each district chooses from a menu of services what they need from the ESD and we call those tier 2 services. Altogether, tier 2 services comprise nearly 95% of the ESD's resolution dollars with just about 5% in tier one or what we sometimes call core services that benefit all 10 districts. Those tier one services include homeschool registration, aiology testing, birth to three evaluations, and the safe schools program. Uh South Coast ESD is proud to partner with Bandon School District to and to help deliver the highest quality programs and services for students in a cost-effective manner. and I'm happy to answer questions and if I can't answer them then I'll
022get back to Superintendent Shmeir and she'll relay messages on but that's it. Very good. Thank you very much. All right. So 6.02 to approve SCESD local service plan for 2026 2027. May I have a motion? >> I motion. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. Uh our next thing is 6.03, which is the Ocean Park ENA. Oh, >> well, it's uncertain if we're going to have a short discussion first, but I think I will just make a motion for nothing to go forward from the board regarding into entering into any agreements to the giving of any school land to the development companies of Okconor West and Dormy House until we have a full board and they have had time to understand the details of the propositions. Um, and
023I then that's probably good. >> Uh, so that is the motion. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> Discussion. >> Okay. Oh, you have your own. >> Um, there is information coming out and there is one good website called drive.google.com google.com and it talks about breath of life project data room and it is talking about the fact that maybe the school district and cities don't really need to be pursuing joint affordable housing efforts as it does seem that other private entities may be doing that without our giving up public land for that effort. It's also information coming out due to research on more of what the housing shortage isn't uh that it may not be the reason that homes are so expensive. So it is a complicated issue with many
024facets that um I question the location of this particular proposed development. I question the wisdom of apartments beside the schools even though sex offenders must be registered in the state of Oregon. I question the part of the proposal that gives away any entitlement to and allows for private ownership of the apartment complex to Dormy House, which is a part of the proposition. And I also question the low square footage on some of the houses in the plan, which would most likely necessitate the use of garages for the purposes other than vehicles, which then places vehicles elsewhere like on 11th Street or in narrow uh driveways that then block off sidewalks. So, those are just a few of the discussion items that I thought I'd bring up. If no one has anything else to consider, the
025motion is purely nothing. The motion is to do nothing uh tonight and we will uh redirect when we have a full board. So, may I have a second or sorry, all those in favor? We already have a second, right? Okay. I'm sorry. All those in favor of doing nothing. Opposed. All right. Passes. Thank you. All right. Four 6.04 04 authorizing the purchase and financing of a school bus. >> I I'll move >> a motion to approve the financing of a school bus. May I have a first? >> Second. >> I second. >> I have both though. Uh any discussion on the school bus? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. Okay. Thank you so much for your patience. We are now on to the board member new board member approvement process. We have seven uh
026people who are here to talk. Um my request is we got applications from nine total people. Um two have removed themselves from the process. Um and so we have seven here. I believe six are here. We have all gotten your application letters. So we've all read them amongst ourselves. You don't need to read it again. Um but I would like you all to come up one at a time, introduce yourselves. uh do a quick overview of yourself for the people here and uh let us ask you a few questions. Um and I have no particular order for this, but uh Brian, can you go first? Uh please do give your first name, last name, and um that they lived here more than a year. I think we've gone over that, but go ahead, >> Brian
027Cassidy. Uh, I've been here more than a year. Um, I have >> Yeah. >> Sorry. Uh, Brian Cassidy. I've been here maybe seven years, but not consecutively. Been here over a year. Um, I have three kids in the school district at each level, high school, middle school, elementary school. Uh, I work out at the resort in the finance department. I have 20 plus years of experience in accounting, holding different roles at every level. Um, I've served on multiple boards for nonprofits. Uh, most recently when I was in Tennessee, I was with the Ronald McDonald House. Uh, I've served on boards here in Bandon and, uh, Curry County. So, I've got some experience with boards and finances. Uh my goal is just to give back to the community and try to make uh the school districts
028and education for the kids as best as it can be. >> Right. Wait, Brian, hold that thought. Uh does anybody have uh any questions specifically for Brian? Nope. I think we're good. Okay, you can go. Sorry. Uh Jeremy is not here, correct? Uh no, I just want to say that we have gotten the applications for everyone and being here doesn't mean you're not uh you didn't have to attend tonight in order to be considered. So, just want to put that out there. Uh how about uh Troy? Good evening. Troy Russell for the record. Uh, abandoned resident on Trout Pond Lane for a number of years. Native of Kush County, born in Myrtle Point, which goes back away, Mass Hospital. Uh, grew up on a dairy farm across from Riverton, Oregon. In fact, went to Riverton
029School and graduated from Kquil. Um, I moved back to the area in 2000. Uh well 97 excuse me my family moved back here in or down here in 2000. I worked at the resort for a number of years building golf courses and still do that but just not there. uh past board member. I worked started out the finance committee with Kenny Kent and then uh worked with was a board member with Diane Buuki who was a classmate of mine from at Riverton and uh through the Doug Ariana years and when my youngest daughter my two daughters both graduated from Bannon uh 2014 and 2020 my youngest daughter Amelia when she graduated I got off the board uh decided to raise my hand when you you needed help you've been through kind of a tough patch
030and uh I I believe that you need somebody with some experience and seasoning and I do tick those boxes. Thank you. That's all I had. Any questions for Troy? No. Okay. Thank you. Uh Allan, is Alan here? Thank you. Thank you for considering this isn't an application. It's something, but it's something like an application, whatever it is. Uh, my name is Alan Bullshwer. I've been living in Bandon for 12 plus years. Um, I have a pretty varied professional experience. Um, I am a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. Uh, bosen mate. Thank you very much. Um, I, uh, am a graduate of St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's a great books program that everybody starts out freshman year and they hand you uh books and some of them are in Greek
031and ready go. Um and you end up at the end you end up with Einstein um because that's when the world ceases to really follow any rules. So um from there I taught at um well I did some other stuff too but I taught at Santa Fe Community College for 10 years. While I was there, I um started three degree programs, which is um a bit like being a frontlineman. Uh the the board at that school was tough to get a degree program through and uh did that and did that for a little over 10 years. Um I worked for the Bureau of Land Management after that. I did a couple of other things, but I worked for the Bureau of Land Management, and I ended up I was the um branch chief in uh
032at the New Mexico State Office for GeoSciences. And then I ended up as a field manager in Surprise, California. And if you haven't been to Surprise, California, go. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and nobody knows about it, which is probably for the best. Um, from there I was asked to come over and be the field manager in Grant's Pass. And I came over and did that. Um, if you actually read through what I wrote, apologies, I should have put a little blurb on the top. I got tired of I I how much can you say about yourself and how much do I remember becomes part of the question. Um, but I was there when the first round of folks took over the mine and it was the same group
033that went to Melure um, a couple of months later and I got to deal with all of that including the FBI camped out in my driveway for some months. So, I have a little bit of experience in um, uh, dealing with contentious publiclix. There you go. That's that's a good way of putting it. Um, I have spent a fair amount of time at different points along the way in meetings that were both difficult and um required uh some paying attention. And um I think I was successful and I find it hard to imagine what would uh bring me out to do that again. But the schools in a place like Bandon are more important than just about anything that we collectively can do. And if you think I just put this hat on for the
034uh for to come to this, uh you don't know me because I I have put this hat on when I first came to Bandon. I really do believe that the um the schools are the heart of the community and deserve our best support. So questions >> teach >> I taught computers I started out with um doing CAD um and I really liked it because it's written in a program language called lisp which is lisp which was um created by a man named PGE who was a child psychologist so that children could play with computers and Well, that was that was what happened to me. Uh but I did a degree program in AutoCAD, a degree program in GIS and created a degree program in um networking and built that such that by the time you
035got the degree if you did the first full two years and came away with the degree, you also had a Microsoft certifi certified engineers certificate coming from Microsoft which was the lingua frana at the time, right, for for being able to get a job and that was Um, it was good. It was it was a good thing to do. >> Thank you very much, Alan. Amber, >> hello. Most of you guys here probably already know me. Um, I have lived in Bannon for 5 years. I have two kids at the high school. Um, I've spent most of my adult life managing. I've managed a law firm for almost 14, 15 years. I manage apartment buildings now. I manage now, just recently, I've become the community center manager here in town. Um, my husband and I
036have a small little farm that we're trying to get up off the ground, but somehow you have to work. So, farms don't make any money, at least not in the beginning. So, so we're working. Um, I think a lot of people that are here know that I'm pretty passionate about what's going on here in our schools. I'm very very interested in um I I guess putting my money or in this case time where my mouth is. So, I've been here a lot. I've been with you guys a lot. I'm really honestly and um wholeheartedly just want to help. I want to find a way to make a bridge between some of these opposing sides that are um some really difficult things going on in this community. And so that's why I'm here. Uh any questions
037for Amber? Good. Thank you so much. Uh Lauren Okay. Hi, I'm Lauren Blickfeld. I moved here in 2021. Um, I have two daughters that are in middle school, but they went from fourth and fifth grade in the at uh Ocean Crest. Um, they are now on an online charter. Um, so mainly my thing is I've been watching the board meetings for like a year um online and then now been coming in person and I'm just curious about the process. So, I don't have any experience with words or anything, but I just thought I'd throw my hat out there cuz I tend to be a very good listener and I tend to be very level-headed and I really just am trying to make my place here in Bandon and I love volunteering. I was a soccer
038coach for a couple years when my kids were doing soccer with CCS. Um, and I was helping out with the schools, volunteering my time doing field trips. I did both of the outdoor school ones. Oh my god, that was so much fun. That was my favorite. I loved the It was sixth grade. Seventh grade. Sixth grade outdoor school. It was my favorite when I was in that class and so I got to do both my girls and it was really fun. >> So that's about it. >> All right. No questions for Lauren. Thank you so much. And I believe last in case I haven't forgotten anybody, Scott. Um, my name is Scott Beric. I've lived in the community for 66 years. Born and raised here. Uh, raised two kids. Uh, they have each have three
039children and two just graduated. Um, I have three children currently in the Bandoned School District and one coming. She's only one. And I'm warning the teachers right now that could be trouble. Anyhow, uh um I have board experience. Um I have business experience. Been basically self-employed since I was in my 30s. um had a restaurant, cranberry farmer now. Um semi-retired, I guess you could say. Um, the reason that I decided to throw my name in is it seemed like the thing to do, um, you it seems like we're having a little bit of trouble and we need to get back on the straight and narrow and, uh, I would love to see that happen. And uh it would be my honor to serve the district and uh and I really feel strongly about the kids
040in the district and u I used to coach and uh I still uh feel strongly like I say about kids education and that will be probably the most important thing that I will look at is uh you know improving education. And u so anyhow if uh chosen I would be grateful to serve. So anyhow thank you. >> Thank you. That's it. Any questions for Scott? >> Uh I just want to personally thank all of you for applying. I know um putting yourself out there on the line is uh hard. Um, and I do appreciate uh all of you that have stuck with it through the whole application process and and coming out here tonight, especially in speaking in front of all these people. So, thank you very much. And so, now we will be taking
041a nomination to appoint board member position number seven. >> Nominate Alan Bweiler for the position. Sorry to fluff your name. Oh. Second. >> I would like to nominate Troy Russell. >> Oh, we have to do Allan first. >> Oh, so yeah. So then that's the Do you have a second? >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. >> There. Do we have a second for Alan? >> Yes. >> Do you want Allan? >> Okay. So now we have a first and a second for Alan. All those in favor? All those opposed. Sorry, Alan. >> I have another appointment. >> Like to nominate Troy Russell that. >> All those in favor of Troy Russell. All those opposed. Congratulations, Troy. Thank you. Position number seven. Now we are on to 6.06. Appoint board number uh position number three. May I
042have a motion? >> I would move to nominate Jeremy Brown. >> May I have a second for that? All those in favor of Jeremy. All those opposed. Sorry, Jeremy. Like to nominate Amber Berg. May I have a second for Amber? All those in favor? All those opposed. All right. Sorry. I make a motion for Brian Cassaday. >> All right. All those in favor of Brian. All those opposed. All right. Congratulations, Brian. Thank you. We want to thank everybody for coming out and uh putting your applications in. Uh if you would love, we would love each and every one of you to at least think about joining the budget committee. Uh especially as an entry, get use of board time and uh we always need members on the budget committee. is very valuable and that's the
043internal workings of how everything does and amend makes it super simple that certain people can even understand it. So thank you. >> Thank you all for applying. >> On to 6.07 7 app approve flyers for Bandon Youth Baseball, South Coast Pollinator Pathways, Bandon Oregon Ballroom Dance Association, Bandon Playhouse, and South Coast Regional Early Learning Hub. I have copies of all of those up here. May I have a motion? >> I move. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. All right, thank you all. All right, now we are on to complaints. Lots. Yes. Uh oh, I'm sorry. Uh admin, you guys can leave if you'd like. Yeah. Thank you for your support. All right. The first uh one we have on the agenda was received January
04412th is from Zoe Bradberry Dura. Um there's no date of meeting with staff, no principles, and it just says C attached. Um it does say staff member involved and it's blank. Um but it is all about Shauna. Since it is against Shauna, would you like to take this complaint into executive session? >> No, I would not. >> Okay. Uh we have the attached complaint and you are welcome to address it. >> So um this is one where they wanted to take Elmyra and talk about the audit finding that they had from 2021. They had an audit in 2023. Um, it says, "In prior audits, the district has been able to provide supporting documentation at our request and has not received an audit recommendation about records retention. However, on October 12th, 2021, the building that houses
045the district was destroyed by a fire. That was where all original copies and supporting documentation was kept, as well as the district's backup server for digital copies. Due to this extraordinary event, our office was not able to audit disimbursements or the majority of payroll. I bring that to attention because I've also um I've also heard that it's been inferred that I might have tried to burn down Elmyra School and I find that very app very very distraught because I spent 14 years in that district. Um, if you saw that school, the gym, I remember the first day I got hired, I sat alone in the gym because it was just like the Hooser gym. It was like amazing the artifacts that they had in there that this is a community of 300 people. So, their
046school is everything to them. They had um graduation pictures from the 1930s in this building. They had trophies, um, banners, everything that was in historically was in this building and it burned down to the very ground. So to infer that I had any part of that, it it actually gives me the worst gutache. Um, when I was there for 14 years, I wasn't just the superintendent. You're right. It was 89 kids. It was not an all one building like someone had inferred. It's actually a cooperative that we have with another district. In that position, I was allowed and very blessed to spend 14 years as a superintendent. I was also the principal at that time. I was the school counselor at that time. I was the title one coordinator at that time. I was the
047special ed director at that time. And I was actually a special ed teacher the last two years that I was serving there in the capacity of everything else. Every superintendent contract has a payout. Um so when you leave or retire retire, you can have certain vacation days that you accumulated um bought out. You can also have a certain sick days bought out and you can have other things within your contract that you have agreed on that the board had voted on to be able to do that. In Almy Myra, we never had any audit findings until that year. And it's really because they had no documentation to prove it. They no longer had a copy of my contract. There was no way to be able to say what every little piece said in that contract.
048The ESD was the one that helped our school district at that time do a lot of financial pieces. Um, so they helped with the payout. Um, they also were our IT people. So, they're the ones that actually were helping us with all of our IT storing and things like that. Nothing was backed up in a cloud. Um, that now has been fixed obviously. Um, that was one of the remedies to fix it. What I'm talking why I brought this up is because I'm tired of the slander that I have gotten, the abuse that I have gotten. I am a human being and the way that I have been treated. I have sat up here and have been professional every meeting listening to people that I work with, parents that have never even spoke one word
049to me to attack me, to bully me, to intimidate me. I have put cameras up in my house because I do not feel safe. I have had my car keyed. I have had my tires slit with a knife. So, I brought this up because that was my last straw when you when you accuse me, infer to me to a community that was so special to me that I spent 14 years and to infer that I would burn down a school building to hide what? That they paid my contract, the things that I earned for 14 years. Yep. I did make great money there for 14 years, absolutely for doing all of those jobs. And I have the best memories of that community. But I also earned those things. I earned my sick time. I never
050took sick time. I earned vacation. So, you're going to make me feel bad. And I actually broke it down because one lump sum in any school district in June isn't favorable. So I asked to break it down into smaller payments. I asked that the board approved it. So when they talk about that there wasn't oversee for the board that there wasn't enough people. Bannon has gotten that same audit finding since 2007. It says right here, finding significant deficiency in internal controls since 2007. These last two years is the first time Bannon has never had that finding. That's the same finding that Elmyra had that somebody inferred that the superintendent did something wrong because the controls weren't there. Most small districts do. We don't have 10 people in our district office, so we can't divide it
051out like bigger districts would. You want to talk about audit findings 2018-19. These are audit findings for Bandon School District. And I I would I would say you need to look at them because they're pretty significant. Pretty significant. 1920 again before my time. Six audit findings, ones that talk about putting grant numbers in wrong, doing checks wrong. 202021 before my time. Again, five audit findings. These are facts. These aren't hypotheticals. These are facts. And I'm not saying that the superintendent should be fired because that's what an audit does. An audit catches things that human error happens. That's that's what their job is is to find things that we have done wrong or not correct or to correct it for us. Again, in 2022, we got our food audit. We weren't doing our food stuff right,
052brand new person. So, they tell us how to do it right. So, should I fire the food service person because not everything was perfect? No. That's how we get better. And then, you know, the last two years we have zero audit bindings. So to me, this is just another way of trying to bully me and intimidate me and infer that I've done something wrong when not one place in that audit did they say the superintendent did this. Not one time in here does it talk about any of the audit findings that the superintendent was a bad superintendent. It talks about a system and how to get better within that system. So, I chose to talk about it tonight because I want this inferring and slander to stop. In conferring with council, we were have been
053advised that other districts finances are not our scope and no abandoned board policies were violated in this complaint and in in encouraging that our most recent audits are completely clean. So, may I have a motion? Dismiss. >> I make a motion. >> I'll second. Motion to >> uh >> Dismiss. Excuse me. >> Motion to dismiss. All those in favor? All those opposed? Dismissed. On to number two. This is from Barbara Snyder, district resident. And this is in regards This also named school board chair, board members, and superintendent. However, in reading the complaint, it would be the past school board chair and past board members, which would include me in that as well. Uh, this goes on to, according to public record, the superintendent directed a large sum, $5 million of the budget to be transferred
054to Banner Bank money market account. Would you like to discuss this in executive session? Okay, go ahead. I would first like to say thank you to Barbara for actually making the time to talk to us because that's how complaints are supposed to be is that they actually talk before you make the formal complaint. The formal complaint is usually the last step. So I really want to say I appreciate Barbara from coming out. Um no harm was done to the district. The money was under the safe the same safety as what our other account is. What we got, the advantage is we made more money on public funds. They're still safeguarded. I can't go in there and write myself a check. They have the same plan as our uh is it LGIP? >> Yeah, our LGIP.
055I always want to say a different acronym. That's the one that the money is held in Salem. Um they uh have this the exact same safeguards, both of them. What we chose to do is to make more money on our public funds that we had in a savings account that the yield was higher. So there was no harm. The advantage is that uh Bannon got a little extra of money. Um I think that what we learned from Barbara was that at that time we were switching over um between Rachel and Connie and we should have had more detailed notes. We also um should have the business manager should have done a resolution um which would have detailed the exact pieces. We also had the auditor that was involved in it. She was um we had
056talked to her about the steps. We had also talked to legal about the steps. So there wasn't anything that the district did wrong. So I think while we can get better at it, which we talked to Barbara about it, is to make sure our policies are are, you know, followed, which they were, that you as a public understand our policies and procedures for finances and then also be able to be more explicit in our detailing of information within the board notes. So, and I think that's an easy fix for us. And Banner Bank was our bank of choice. >> Bank was already our bank on record. We didn't do a new bank. Banner Bank's been on for for me since I started. So that's the only one. All it was was opening another account, which
057we already have uh eight accounts with them, eight or nine accounts with them. So it was just another slice in there. So, >> and I was on the board at the time. We did discuss it. Uh David took himself out of the process. He had his regional manager open the account and have everything to do with it and he had zero financial stake in that investment whatsoever. Um also in terms of our advisement for this um past timeline for complaint on this is passed for our board policy. uh board policies were f uh followed no harm to district um and advice to the complaintant if they would like to continue this. It is past our timeline for reviewing this um and people are gone now um and it you can feel free to forward it
058to the ethics committee. So may I have a motion? >> I move to dismiss. >> I second that. Those in favor? I am abstaining from the vote since I was on the board at the time of the event. All right. Next, uh this motion, uh sorry, this complaint is from Katie Iman. Uh this is in regards to our voting on a complaint the last time. And I would like to say again for our complaint process, we are going to be re-evaluating the policies and instead of skipping right to the board, we'd like to have some sort of discussion as before you file file this because this could have very easily been um an email. Um, and it was we sent two emails uh to OSBA, one to the PACE uh attorneys and one to the
059head of the OSBA. And we did do it correctly. Um, this says KL AR. The board will decide what action, if any, is warranted within 20 days. However, in usual circumstances, because two board members have resigned and two out of the five remaining board members needed to abstain from voting on what to do with the complaint because they are the subject of the complaint. When I brought the complaint up for vote, I did say the complaint is John. It is against myself, AJ, and Shauna. I thought it was implied that I wouldn't be voting on it. However, I did not audibly abstain and say that that was the reason why we abstained from that. We did not dismiss it. It was moved to March when we have a full board. So, um, may I have
060a motion? I move that we discuss and vote on this in March when we have a full board. Is that what you want? I mean, is that the motion that should be made? >> It wasn't her complaint is basically that we did it wrong and >> vote to dismiss. >> Okay. Um I move we dismiss. >> I second. All those in favor? Great. All right. I believe that is it. And we do have public input for items not on the agenda. We have two people up for that. First up is Jessica Markham Brick. I am the parent of two school age children in Bandon School District. I am also a 1987 graduate of Bandon High School and a local business person. I am here tonight to ask what will it take to spur the this
061board into action? How long will it take before they acknowledge that our school district is in crisis? The community should be able to voice their concerns and trust that their school board will hear them and take them seriously. It can't be business as usual. Now is not the time to brush aside all the very real issues that parents, community members, teachers, and staff have brought forward. Instead of triggering an investigation of Miss Shmeir's actions in her position, it seems that the board is instead trying to behave as if nothing untoward is going on, practically ignoring the many complaints that have been filed. In her recent email to the dis to district stakeholders, >> Jessica, may I remind you that you are not to use name full names. >> Okay, I won't use it then. >>
062Thank you. >> The superintendent has promised to hold listening sessions on the surface. This seems like a positive move forward. However, as a wise person recently said to me, these listening sessions are too little too late. The time to listen was when she began in her position as superintendent, not now after alienating so many. In fact, she is only willing to listen after having created a toxic work and learning environment that has many families in this community either choosing not to educate their children in our school district or into leaving our community to find an education for their children. Our schools are not factories. You are not producing widgets. Our children are more than their data. And students who have barriers to their education are not seconds to be plucked off the factory line. Our
063teachers are valued members of our community. They have spent years of their lives becoming the educators they are today. They are not simply inputs into a product, laborers to be used to maximize value and minimize labor costs. Each of them brings their own set of skills and experience to the table. They are not interchangeable. The land that our school district owns is more than a valuable real estate, and our budget is not to be used as a pot of cash to invest in money market accounts at local banks run by school board members. From all appearances, this school board seems to be confused about their role. School boards are accountable to the community they serve. You are not in your position to protect a superintendent from accountability for their leadership failures. The community is watching.
064Listening and having conversations with each other. Transparency and accountability are the only ways to restore trust. Bannon school board do better because your deserve your community deserves better. Thank you Cynthia Proski. Last week, the union executive board sent an email to all board members. Thank you, Martha, for responding. You're the only one thus far that has, and you said you wanted to address our questions. So, we thought it would might be a good idea to read this letter so everyone is aware of what we're asking. We have questions. We'd really like to hear from you board members. During and after the December 8th workplace culture meeting with all BSD employees, you said you would be talking about issues brought up during this mandatory meeting. Has anything come from that meeting? I know many people poured
065their hearts out. The workplace culture survey was not taken by everyone. Will you be conducting a different survey? A community and staff survey is recommended for evaluation of our superintendent. How will the school board do this in the future? Is the board using anything from the workplace culture meeting in your current evaluation of our superintendent? How will the school board do this in the future? Sorry, I repeated myself. Will the board be considering the formal complaints against the superintendent in this current evaluation? How long did it take you to prepare for the superintendent's evaluation? Is from the outside it looks like one week. Was the deadline different this year? The BEA union submitted a formal complaint explaining we took a vote of no confidence in the superintendent. Since we wanted a fair third party evaluation
066rather than immediate firing, which is what usually a vote of no confidence suggests, we changed the language to a vote of low confidence. However, we didn't imagine that we would be ignored for several months. We never expected the evaluation process would be done in a rush without considering the multitude of complaints and questions that have been brought to the board. So, please explain your reasoning and plans to maintain an unbiased school board that can fairly and completely evaluate our superintendent. That is your one and single job. Thank you for your attention. We talk about transparency. I don't think many of us have felt that that has transitioned into a transparent environment. We're concerned about that. And lastly, I would like to say we teach character counts. We teach it to our little kids and we
067must model it and that must come from the top down. And so taking all of these questions into consideration and addressing them would be very valuable and would be considered the right thing to do. >> Thank you for your time. Thank you. >> I do apologize. It is inappropriate for the school board to communicate with teachers individually. Therefore, that email should have been sent to Miss Shmeir directly and I did forward that on to her. We have been advised not to discuss things individually with teachers that is outside of our realm and outside of our scope and that is we can be sued for that. So it is she's still the boss of every 110 employees in this district and she will be uh addressing that. So our questions though were for you know but
068she is your teacher she is your boss and they still go through her and she will be addressing it right now. So we talk about character. So I will read the response to you. This is for the BEA leadership team. I am speaking in response to your recent message to the Bandon School Board regarding the superintendent's evaluation process. Given the number of assertions made and the conclusions drawn in your email, it is necessary to clarify the process and correct several mischaracterizations. The superintendent evaluation is the sole responsibility of the elected board of directors and is conducted in coordinance with board policy. my contract obl obligations which you all have seen my contract so you know what when this actual al evaluation starts which is back in September it didn't happen just a week ago it
069actually starts in September and Oregon public meeting and personal personnel laws while the board may consider a variety of information sources over time the evaluation itself is not a public process it is not collectively bargained and it is not subject to direction or approval by your association. The December 8th workplace cultural meeting was a facilitated session intended to provide staff an opportunity for discussion and reflection. It was not designed as a survey nor as a formal evaluation instrument. All BEA members had the opportunity to participate in that meeting. Additionally, on January 26th, the board held a publicly noticed work session that included an overview of the superintendent evaluation process. We did this on purpose so that the people would know how I was being evaluated. That meeting was open to the public and a member,
070a member of the BEA leadership team, Mrs. Proski was in attendance and heard the same information provided to all attendees and the audience that can now see that video that's uploaded regarding the evaluation framework and timeline. With respect to the formal complaint and vote of low confidence referenced in your message, the board acknowledged receipt of the association submission and is and has complied with all legal and procedural requirements in its handling of those materials. It is important to note that not all complaints or submissions, particularly those involving personnel matters, are appropriate for inclusion in a superintendent evaluation and confidentiality requirements necessary limit public discussion of such matters. As you well know, our president of the BEA was also given a complaint. Should that be part of your evaluation? The assertion that the evaluation was rushed,
071ignored, relevant information, or was completed without adequate preparation is inaccurate. The board followed the established process, the timeline. Evaluation preparation is not confined to a single week, nor is it based on a single event or source of input. Maintaining an unbiased, ethical, and independent board is a fundamental to to an effective district governance. The independence includes the responsibility to carry out evaluations in good faith without external pressure and without public allegations that question the integrity of the process absent factual basis. I remain committed to maintaining a professional working relationship with the BEA with the board and supporting a school district culture grounded in respect. That means not being threatened, accuracy, and appropriate rules. Future communications will be most productive when they reflect the same principles. Mrs. Prosky, I believe that you talked about character, right?
072Aren't you the one that threatened that you were going to come after me personally? you you did in a in a in a meeting in a and it was in the also tape recorded in your public display of things and you asked for forgiveness for doing that. But you were quoted in a union meeting to say that you were upset and you admitted that you were upset in the forum that you said that on the superintendent. Not to me. When you say you want to find dirt on somebody, that's a retaliatory move. I just think that we could all do better. >> Yeah. >> Or that can be enough. >> I agree 100%. >> I think the see first to understand would be helpful. >> I'm sorry. Could you repeat that again? I said, "We
073need to seek first to understand." And in doing all of those questions, you skipped over the person who should have received that email and you condemned all of us except for Martha for not answering you where is not our role to answer you in those situations. It is Miss Shmere's role. I forwarded that email to her and she answered her questions. We're done. >> I make a motion to adjurnn. All those in favor opposed. Meeting over.