Teachers, counselors and staff urge board to reverse midyear ISS reassignments and prioritize pay in public comment

At the March 9 Oregon City School District board meeting, a string of public commenters described sudden midyear changes to instructional support specialists and mounting staffing pressures that they said are harming classroom instruction and staff wellbeing.

Adrien Grub, an instructional support specialist at John McLofflin, said ISS staff received just three days’ notice that they would transition to full‑time building substitute assignments starting March 2, leaving no written job descriptions or transfer notices and creating ‘chaos in our buildings.’ “Why the rush?” she asked the board, saying staff had been denied a face‑to‑face district meeting and time to plan the transition.

Teachers and counselors who followed painted a similar portrait of strain. Shannon Levitton, a 30‑year teacher at Beaver Creek Elementary School, told the board that recent staffing cuts resulted in split‑grade classrooms, fewer specialists, and greater behavioral demands on classroom teachers—conditions she said require the district to invest in smaller class sizes and additional in‑building supports.

Regina Flynn, a school counselor, described the ‘invisible labor’ teachers and counselors perform—teaching emotional regulation and crisis management in addition to academics—and said the workload is unsustainable.

Several speakers tied the staffing changes to broader bargaining and compensation concerns. Steven Tkarsski, a social studies teacher and member of the educators’ association, urged the board to direct its bargaining team to reach a fair contract, arguing leave‑it‑to‑chance budgeting decisions have left educators underpaid and students without adequate supports. Haley Zal, who is both a parent and teacher in the district, compared Oregon City’s proposed COLA to neighboring districts and warned that failing to prioritize teacher pay threatens retention of experienced educators.

Board members accepted the comments and encouraged speakers to submit longer statements in writing where appropriate. The board did not take immediate action on staffing during the meeting; several directors later referenced the district’s broader budget exercise and the superintendent’s video and survey on potential reductions.