News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Jeff Smith.
He's back and ready to work.
The Sisters School Board last Wednesday tapped a former longtime member to fill the vacant seat of Justin Durham, who has stepped down due to business commitments. Jeff Smith will serve as an interim member until the May election, and he told The Nugget that he plans to stand for the position in that election.
Smith held a seat on the school board from 1999 to 2011.
"Originally I thought 12 years was about right for a school board member," he said.
Smith stayed deeply involved with the schools, and he found "I missed being on the board. I've got kind of a public-service gene. I care a lot about the schools... and want to help the schools as much as I can."
Smith brings a wealth of experience to the position. During his previous tenure, he served on several statewide committees, and he had a 30-year career teaching public policy and public finance at the college level. And, he notes, "I've coached forever."
The coaching role is close to his heart.
"Kids can learn values, skills, through athletics, drama, anything else - co-curricular activities - that are just as important as writing a good sentence in English," he said.
Smith re-enters the arena as the Sisters School District faces distinct challenges. Enrollment is no longer in steep decline, but it is not in recovery, and the district failed to pass a $1.3 million facilities bond last November.
Smith has an optimistic outlook on enrollment, which determines how much funding schools get from the state.
He sees enrollment as "a slightly lagged function of the state of Oregon economy." Economic growth, he believes, will translate into improved enrollment numbers.
"I fully expect our enrollment will grow over the next five, 10 years," he said.
Sisters schools have a good reputation and "families will continue to move in to take advantage of those schools."
Smith has some thoughts on why the bond measure failed, and he believes the school district should remodel the request and try again.
"I think the bond measure was terribly complex - 75 to 80 parts to it," he said.
It also, he believes, lacked an overarching theme that proponents could advocate for and voters could come to grips with.
He also believes that "general distrust of government, from the disaster of the federal government to local governments hurt the bond measure. My sense is that we ought to trim the proposal and resubmit it. And I'm not sure of the timing on that."
Smith's background, experience and interests give him a clear picture of what he expects out of Sisters schools and he is committed to a particular vision: "Every child who graduates from Sisters School District is prepared to be a good citizen. That commitment to skills, values and knowledge is what guides us."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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