School board attends retreat

The day began with each Eugene School Board member telling a bit about why they decided to run for the board in the first place, and then sharing one of their “teeny tiny talents” at the request of moderator Margot Helphand.

If some of the board members’ talents were surprising — stand-up comedy (Mary Walston); recognizing within 15 seconds the name of any “Brady Bunch” episode while watching a rerun of the ’70s sitcom (Alicia Hays); “The best reader of ‘Yertle the Turtle’ that you will ever find” (Jim Torrey) — their “Why did you get into this?” responses really were not:

“An opportunity to get really, deeply involved in our schools” (Anne Marie Levis).

“If we don’t have a community that values education, we will not have a community that people will want to live in or come to” (Torrey).

“I think it’s in my blood” (Craig Smith).

Then Helphand, leading the first day of the school board’s annual retreat Friday afternoon at the Lane County Juvenile Justice Center, asked board members and other district staff to share a story about an experience in their work as a board member or district leader in which they really had a now-that’s-what-it’s-all-about moment.

After a few had shared, Helphand looked to the balding yet still-freckled and fit-looking man at the end of the table and said: “Shelley, you want to jump in here?”

Sheldon Berman, the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., who has been hired to replace Superintendent George Russell in Eugene starting July 1, had a somewhat glazed look in his eyes, before saying: “First of all, I have to say I’m in a little bit of culture shock.” The sparsely filled conference room (only three audience members were there most of the afternoon, one a newspaper reporter), filled with laughter.

“Just wait,” Russell said, as more laughter burst from the school board members and other staff.

It was a different school board, a different scenario altogether, maybe a tad touchy-feely compared with what Berman — who is expected to sign his $180,000 three-year contract in the next few days — is used to. But that was more than fine with him, the 62-year-old Berman said after the 4½-hour session.

“It’s an open-communication process,” the soft-spoken Berman said. “We’ve been very outcome-driven (in Louisville) and everything has a great sense of urgency. And what is apparent is (the Eugene School Board) is a group that takes time for relationships. I mean, this is a group that just took time to self-reflect!”

A couple of years ago, Berman said, he tried to persuade Jefferson County Board of Education members to start a tradition of holding annual strategic planning sessions, but it didn’t take. And although he said he would still do it all over again in Louisville — despite the trials and tribulations and having the board there vote 5-2 in November not to renew his contract — if he had to, albeit with a different approach, Berman said he is glad to be taking on a new challenge.

“I get excited about all that,” Berman told the board toward the end of the session, reacting to the loaded plate he has between now and July 1.

Not only does he need to wrap things up in Louisville, he’s got to get a handle on what’s happening here, where the Eugene School District is dealing with a now-estimated $21.7 million shortfall, closing four elementary schools, laying off staff and trying to negotiate concessions with its four employee groups.

“It’s a tremendous challenge,” Berman said.

Torrey asked Berman about his goals for transition. Berman replied that he plans to return to Eugene a couple of times between now and July 1, as he shops for a home and begins learning as much as he can, as quickly as he can, about the Eugene School District.

Berman plans to meet with all seven board members one on one, as well as central office administrators and school principals. He would like to hold community forums in each of the district’s four high school regions, possibly this summer or when school starts in the fall, he said. And he wants “to secure a whole lot of data from the district” — both personnel and financial data, he said. He also plans to pick the brains of Russell and Assistant Superintendent Carl Hermanns, who is also leaving the district to move back to Arizona, at the end of the school year.

“I obviously want as much time as I can get with George and Carl before they exit, because they both have an incredible wealth of knowledge and information,” Berman said.