SOESD presents regional services plan; board approves Local Service Plan and partnerships for recovery and career programs

Representatives of the Southern Oregon Educational Service District (SOESD) briefed the Ashland School Board on Feb. 13 and the board voted to approve the SOESD Local Service Plan (LSP) for the coming year.

SOESD officials said the plan is built on Oregon Revised Statute guidance and is structured so districts select services from a menu. SOESD Director Scott Beveridge told the board ORS 334 requires the annual plan; he said the plan emphasizes transparency with historical three‑year cost data and that statute requires about 90 percent of State School Fund dollars included in the LSP be spent on direct services to districts or passed through.

Mark Engel Hobson, SOESD director of school improvement services, outlined programs available to Ashland through the LSP, including career‑technical education (CTE) supports, career‑connected learning, English‑learner services, library services and professional learning supports. He said many services are offered at no additional cost to districts under SOESD’s funding model.

Student services director Kylie Harrison described student‑facing programs. Harrison explained the region’s “flight team” crisis response model, which provides trained personnel to support schools and communities in the immediate aftermath of a death or other traumatic event. “A flight team is a group of individuals who are all trained in… emotional support after a crisis,” she said, describing brief triage supports, grief‑support rooms, referral pathways and administrative messaging assistance.

Harrison also described SOESD work to develop a regional recovery high‑school model and a Southern Oregon Regional Career Center. She said coordinated care organizations Jackson Care Connect and AllCare committed funding for a project manager to develop the recovery‑school concept, which would provide a sober learning environment and on‑site recovery supports; SOESD planned to apply to the state’s recovery‑school window at the end of the month. For the career center, SOESD described a start‑up plan to open with three health‑care pathways in year one, expand with two more pathways in year two and add trades later; the center would operate from a single site initially and be tuition‑based for sending districts.

The Ashland board voted to approve the Local Service Plan as presented.

Why it matters: The LSP governs a range of services (special education supports, behavioral health, CTE, emergency response) that districts often lack capacity to deliver on their own. The proposed recovery school and regional career center would provide new, regional specialty options for students.

SOESD officials invited district staff to follow up about services and partnerships; board members voiced appreciation for the program offerings.