Eugene School District

Demographics

4J spans 155 square miles (400 km²) in the southern Willamette Valley, including the city of Coburg and a small part of Linn County to the north. About 85 percent of the City of Eugene lies inside 4J's boundaries.

About 16,500 students attend school in the district's 18 elementary school programs, two K–8 programs, 7 middle schools, and 4 comprehensive high schools and various alternative high school programs — making it one of the most populous of Oregon's approximately 200 school districts. The four public charter schools located in the district serve about 600 additional students.

Approximately 25 percent of the student body and 10 percent of the teaching staff are members of racial/ethnic minority groups.

About 40 percent of students in the Eugene School District qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a key measure of poverty in school districts. In the 2009 school year, the district had 743 students classified as homeless by the Department of Education, or 4.2% of students in the district.

History

The district that would evolve into Eugene School District 4J started in 1854, five years before Oregon attained statehood. The district is numbered 4J because it was the fourth school district incorporated in Lane County and is a joint (J) district — its boundary includes a small part of Linn County to the north. The district's name changed in 1964, when it absorbed Coburg School (since closed), whose attendance boundary goes nearly to Harrisburg.

School choice policy

Choice is a key element of the Eugene School District, which is home to several alternative education programs (sometimes known as magnet schools, in Eugene such programs are called "alternative schools"). The district's sometimes-controversial open school choice policy means that families who live in the district may enroll their children in any 4J school, provided there is space available. Most parents choose to have their children attend the neighborhood school near their home, but others elect to enroll their children in a different neighborhood school or in an alternative school. For students requesting enrollment in a school other than their own neighborhood school, open slots are granted in an order determined by the district's annual school choice lottery.

Alternative schools and language immersion

Among the district's 18 elementary schools, four schools immerse the students in a foreign language for half or all of the day: River Road/El Camino del Rio Spanish/English dual immersion, Buena Vista Spanish immersion, Yujin Gakuen Japanese immersion, and Charlemagne French immersion. Language immersion offerings continue K–12, allowing students to continue their intensive Spanish, French or Japanese programs through middle school and high school. Eugene International High School has programs on three campuses — Churchill, Sheldon and South Eugene. Other alternative elementary and K–8 schools include Corridor Elementary School, Arts & Technology Academy, and Family School.

Regional high schools

The Eugene School District includes four comprehensive high schools. Churchill High School (1966) serves the southwest portion of Eugene, as well as rural areas south and west of the city. North Eugene (1957) offers three small school programs in one building, serving the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods northwest of the city center. Sheldon (1963) students come from the Coburg Road area north of downtown Eugene, as well as the city of Coburg and the rural area in between. South Eugene (1901), formerly Eugene High, is the district's oldest high school. It serves the area of Eugene south and east of the downtown area and the University of Oregon.

Charter schools

The district also sponsors four public charter schools, which operate independently of the school district: Coburg Community Charter School, Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School, The Village School, and Network Charter School.

Coburg Community Charter School is the newest charter added to the Eugene area; the school board approved its charter in 2011 after deciding to close Coburg Elementary School, the public school which had existed in Coburg since the mid-1800s. Ridgeline Montessori, a K–8 program founded in 2000 as one of Oregon's first charter schools, is a publicly funded school based on Montessori educational philosophy and methods. The Village School, also founded in 2000, describes itself as a holistic, arts-integrated program inspired by Waldorf education. The curriculum of the Network Charter School, in downtown Eugene, is drawn from an alliance of local businesses and non-profits.

Elementary schools

Note: Coburg, Crest Drive, Meadowlark and Parker Elementary School were closed in June 2011 after years of declining district enrollment.

Middle schools

High schools

Administration

Dr. Gustavo Balderas has served as superintendent of Eugene School District 4J since July 2015.

The seven-member Board of Directors serves as the policy-making body of the school district. This school board selects the superintendent as the district's executive officer and delegates the responsibility for implementing its policies and plans to the superintendent. The board also has the annual responsibility of adopting a balanced school district budget, developed in a budget process along with seven appointed citizen members of the district's budget committee.

Board members are elected from the district at large to serve four-year terms. Board members serve without pay.

The school board usually meets in regular public sessions on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7 p.m. at the 4J Education Center, 200 North Monroe, Eugene. Special meetings and work sessions are scheduled as necessary. All regular board meetings are broadcast live on the district's radio station, KRVM-AM 1280, and audio recordings are later posted to the district's website.

The school board encourages public input. Comments on items that are not on the board's agenda may be made at the beginning of each meeting. Audience members who wish to speak may sign up at the beginning of the meeting. Comments also may be sent to the board via email.

Board members: