Roseburg board rejects Douglas ESDs 202627 Local Service Plan after directors cite cost and service concerns
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Summary
The Douglas County SD 4 board voted against the Douglas ESD 202627 Local Service Plan after several directors said the ESDs services and efficiency did not justify the districts contribution; ESD leaders defended the plan and said the agency invests roughly $3 million in the district.
The Douglas County School District 4 Board of Directors voted on and rejected the Douglas ESD proposed Local Service Plan for 202627 after several directors raised concerns about efficiency, cost and the level of services the ESD provides.
At the meeting, district directors criticized the ESD arrangement as expensive and insufficiently responsive. One director said the district was "not even getting a dollar out" for some services and urged a top-to-bottom review. Another director said recent improvements had not gone far enough and called the vote the boards opportunity to show displeasure.
ESD superintendent Annalicia Nicholson, joined online by Angela Kieran (ESD director of special education), said the ESD is undertaking continuous improvement and restructuring. Nicholson told the board the ESD "invest[s] somewhere around $3,000,000" in services to the district and that Roseburg represents a large share of the ESDs average daily membership and service delivery. Angela Kieran described efforts to "break down our silos" and align departments to improve service delivery.
Board members pressed for specifics about efficiency and what would happen if the district did not continue the ESD contract. ESD leaders said they were working on organizational alignment but did not provide an immediate, granular cost-benefit calculation requested by some directors.
After discussion the chair called the vote on approving the 202627 LSP. The motion to approve failed and the chair asked the record to show dissenting directors. Officers did not read a full roll-call tally into the record during the discussion; the meeting minutes will record individual votes.
What happens next: board members noted that formally ending an ESD relationship is a multimonth process with statutory timelines; several directors said the vote was meant to prompt change rather than produce an immediate contract termination. The ESDs representatives said they were continuing their internal improvement work and would return with more details as requested.