School board posts contested

A husband-and-wife team tired of the status quo. A software company owner with a doctorate degree from the University of Oxford. A high school principal from another school district. A stay-at-home mom who decided to file at the last moment.

Some city residents apparently think they can do a better job than current Eugene School Board members.

“Because we need some fresh blood and new ideas,” candidate Mark Callahan said when asked why he decided to run for school board Chairman Craig Smith’s Position 4 seat. “He’s been on there for 16 years.”

Callahan is one of three challengers to Smith’s position, including two who filed on March 17 — the final day to do so to qualify for the May 17 ballot.

Meanwhile, his wife, Sherry Callahan, is one of two challengers to incumbent Mary Walston for the board’s Position 7 seat.

Another incumbent, board Vice Chairwoman Alicia Hays, also has two challengers to her Position 1 seat.

Among board members whose terms are expiring at the end of June, only former Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey attracted no challengers to his Position 5 seat. He will run unopposed for a second, four-year term.

All of the board positions are at-large, which means anyone can run for any seat regardless of where in the district they live.

In the Bethel School District, three board incumbents have no opposition, while two others have filed for the Position 4 seat being vacated by Wayne Watkins, a board member since 1979 who did not seek re-election. One of the candidates seeking Watkins’ seat, Rich Cunningham, is as an elected commissioner on the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

Two incumbents on the Springfield School Board have drawn no opposition. But in the South Lane School District in Cottage Grove, four of five open board seats will be contested by nonincumbents. There also are contested races on the Lowell and Oakridge school boards, and for two of four positions on the Lane Community College Board.

In the Eugene district, Smith will be vying for a fifth four-year term. He said he’s not sure why he’s drawn so many challengers but assumes it’s based on “political analysis” rather than how he’s voted — since the board often votes unanimously.

“We’ve made some pretty tough decisions in the last few months,” he said. “And we will make more before the election. You never know how many people you’ve disappointed.”

Although he has no elective experience, Mark Callahan has considerable campaign experience: He was an unsuccessful candidate last year for the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the Oregon House, and he was a candidate for Vicki Walker’s state Senate seat in 2009 after Walker was appointed to serve as chairwoman of the state parole board.

Mark and Sherry Callahan contend that the school board, which last month voted to follow Superintendent George Russell’s recommendation to close four elementary schools and lay off as many as 108 teachers to help close a $24 million budget shortfall, has been too “reactionary” in recent years. Such decisions could be avoided by being tougher with the district’s employee unions and advocating for reform of the Public Employees Retirement System, which drains district finances, Mark Callahan said.

Both Callahans have websites advocating their candidacies.

Natasha Hennings is a stay-at-home mother whose son is a kindergartner at Crest Drive Elementary School, one of the elementary schools that the school board has voted to close at the end of this school year. She said she filed for Smith’s position on the last possible day after her husband, Ryan, kept encouraging her. “He’s been my sounding board for the last year,” said Hennings, referring to her complaints about school board decisions.

Hennings acknowledged that it’s a little intimidating to seek a spot on a board that includes attorneys, former politicians and business owners. “The only job I’ve held in recent years is teaching swimming lessons,” she said.

But she believes that the board is “out of touch” with the district’s schools and students, something she feels she could address as a regular school volunteer.

Smith’s third challenger is Linda Hamilton, who also filed on the last possible day. A parole and probation officer with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Hamilton is chairwoman of the Eugene Human Rights Commission and has served on other city boards and committees, including the school district’s Equity Committee.

Hamilton said she filed for the seat after learning one day earlier that the school board had hired Sheldon Berman, the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., to serve as the district’s superintendent, starting July 1.

“I was very pleased,” said Hamilton, whose daughter attends Sheldon High School. “I strongly believe in him. I think there needs to be more parent involvement to help the students and teachers. I’m really concerned about our education system. I just feel that we’re in a major education crisis.”

Hays, who is finishing her first four-year term on the board, is being challenged by Gary Carpenter, principal of Elmira High School, and Greg Stallings, who owns his own construction business.

Besides Sherry Callahan, Walston’s other challenger is Matt Ginsberg, the CEO of On Time Systems, a Eugene software company. Ginsberg earned his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Oxford in England, according to his company’s website, and has taught at Stanford University and the University of Oregon.