Lane ESD presents streamlined local service plan to Springfield board, highlights funding mix and menu/custom services

Lane Education Service District officials on Jan. 13 presented a condensed local service plan to the Springfield Public Schools Board of Directors that reorganizes the way the ESD lists services, highlights funding sources, and clarifies which services are core, optional (menu) or custom for districts.

The presentation was given by Lane ESD Superintendent Tony Scurto and board member Vanessa Truitt. Scurto said the new format reduced the previous 40-plus page document to an 11-page version that aims to make services easier to read and to show how services are funded.

Why it matters: Springfield and other districts in Lane County rely on the ESD for a range of services — from special education and school improvement to technology and administration. The new local service plan is intended to make it easier for districts and board members to see what services are provided as part of core funding, what can be purchased through district “flex” or menu dollars, and what arrives through grants and contracts.

What the plan shows

- Core services (beige in the board packet): Services paid for by all 16 districts; everyone has access and shares the cost.

- Menu services (orange in the packet): Optional services that districts may select using flex dollars the district holds with the ESD.

- Custom services (gray in the packet): One-off services developed at a district’s request; some custom services may move later to the menu of services if multiple districts adopt them.

- Grants and contracts: The ESD reported about 35% of services are funded through the state school fund and the remaining 65% through grants and contracts and consortium efforts.

Scurto said the ESD plans to improve reporting so that districts can track which services they used; the presentation includes a left-hand blue column that maps services to four major service areas (technology, school improvement, special education and administration). Board members welcomed the shorter document and asked whether more-detailed appendices or links would be available. Scurto said an electronic version includes an appendix and links to go deeper into particular services.

Quotes

"This is cut down now to 11 pages," Tony Scurto said. "We streamlined some of the descriptions and we've also changed the format."

"It is a lot easier to read than I remember," Director Light said in response to the presentation.

Next steps

Scurto asked Springfield board members to review the condensed local service plan and said the ESD would follow up with more-detailed district-level reporting on service use. He noted the superintendent council and Lane ESD board had unanimously approved the plan earlier in December and January respectively and that statutory next steps include school boards acting by March 1 (as part of the local service plan process).

Ending

Board members thanked Scurto and Truitt for the clear summary and asked staff to forward questions and request any additional detail in advance of a possible follow-up visit in February.