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Teachers and classified staff urge full funding and transparency; parent raises seclusion reporting concern
Summary
Union leaders from the Beaverton Education Association and OSEA addressed the board about educator funding, contracts and working conditions; a parent asked the board to close a reporting loophole she says allows schools to use regulated "zones" as informal seclusion without triggering required parent notifications.
Union leaders and parent commenters addressed funding, staff working conditions and student safety during the Beaverton School District board meeting on Aug. 12.
BEA president Katie Lukens told the board educators spent out-of-pocket on classroom supplies and urged that the superintendent search prioritize community and educator voice. "We want every $153.9 out of their own pocket $153.9 out of their own pocket each year on classroom supplies," Lukens said, describing the financial burden educators face while setting up classrooms.
Kirsty, identified as the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) Beaverton chapter president-elect, thanked the board for a special July meeting that enabled ratification of a 2025-2028 contract and praised classified staff who work through the summer. She asked the district to be mindful of HVAC and heat-index conditions as staff return to buildings ahead of students.
Parent concerns about restraint and seclusion
Parent Samantha Patterson told the board her autistic son had been placed repeatedly in isolated rooms described at some schools as "yellow" or "red" regulation rooms tied to social-emotional curricula. Patterson said those spaces sometimes function as informal seclusion and that because they are not labeled as seclusion the district avoids parent-notification requirements she cited in state regulation. "I'm asking the board to close the loophole, define seclusion by the experience, a student isolated, unable to leave, and away from peers, not just by the label in my room," Patterson said.
PTO fees and access concerns
Kayla Zareberg, PTO president at Kinnaman Elementary, urged the district to waive newly imposed custodial and facility fees for Title I schools. She provided a sample breakdown for a school carnival that she said totals about $850, including custodial, cafeteria and other fees, and said that six planned events at her school could total $1,680 using current fee schedules.
What the board will do
The board did not take formal action on any of the public-comment items at the meeting. Superintendent Balderas and board members acknowledged the comments and discussed routine processes: Balderas said staff will convene education-specification reviews and that contract ratifications and safety articles for classified staff are being implemented. The parent request on seclusion raised a citation to a state regulation in testimony; board members did not announce immediate policy changes but heard requests for more transparent reporting and oversight.
Ending
Speakers asked the board to act on full funding for public education, to prioritize educator and community voice in the superintendent search, to review fee policies for Title I schools and to clarify the district's reporting around isolated student placements.
