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Greater Albany Public SD 8J board meeting, Aug 17, 2026

1 h 53 min · 4 public speakers

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 21:54Enrollment ▶ 16:44Reading and test scores ▶ 38:26

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 53 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Greater Albany board approves '26-'27 school calendar and governance calendar 5:40

  • A motion carried. ~5:50
  • A district staff member told the board the district was exploring another pension obligation bond issuance as PERS costs rise and a rate credit from a 2004 borrowing ends. 25:21
  • District staff described an agreement with the teachers union for 3 days of literacy training on October 22nd, January 15th and February 15th, when elementary school will not be held. 39:27
  • Several speakers at public comment raised communication about the hiring of a new director of special programs, the use of research in class size decisions and the operation of the class size committee. 1:34:40

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (13)
  1. Opening, agenda and oath of office 2:12
    • The presiding speaker said the microphone system had failed and asked speakers to talk louder. 2:34
    • A motion to approve the agenda was made and seconded. 2:55
    • A new board member took the oath of office. 2:58
  2. Board governance calendar 4:44
    • The presiding speaker said the calendar lays out board business for the year, including board working agreements in September. 4:44
    • A motion to approve the calendar as presented was made and seconded. 5:40
    • The motion carried. ~5:50
  3. Public comment time and written comments 5:50
    • The presiding speaker raised extending public comment at the end of meetings from 15 to 30 minutes and allowing written comments up to 24 hours after a meeting. 5:50
    • A speaker asked whether there could be a system for choosing who speaks when too many people sign up, and another speaker said picking by topic could show favoritism. 8:23
    • A motion was made to extend the time from 15 minutes to 30 minutes and allow written comments up to 24 hours after the meeting, starting with the September board meeting. 10:08
  4. Superintendent and district leadership updates 10:43
    • The superintendent said the long-range facility committee would meet September 1st and September 15th and present to the board for approval on October 19th. 12:32
    • A district staff member said the district sets aside $500,000 for class size needs and that enrollment was down slightly but did not show another 360-student drop. 17:27
    • A district staff member said the district was looking at an attendance approach used in Malheur County and Umatilla County that runs through justice courts. 23:01
  5. Pension costs and possible bond issuance 25:14
    • A district staff member said PERS costs were $23 million in '25-'26 and budgeted at $24.5 million for '26-'27, and that a 2004 borrowing of $45.8 million saved the district $17.8 million. 25:21
    • The staff member said the total PERS increase for '27-'28 would be about $4.3 million and that the district was exploring another bond issuance with other districts, with a board resolution requested in December. 25:21
    • A speaker asked how the borrowing works, and a staff member said the proceeds are deposited to PERS against the district's liability. 36:03
  6. Literacy training agreement 38:22
    • The staff member said the ODE approved the 3 days of literacy training and that, under an agreement with the union, teachers would have work days in place of some PD days. 39:27
    • A district staff member said K-5 elementary staff, SPED case managers for grades 6 through 8 and literacy interventionists would attend 3 days of literacy training, with no elementary school on those 3 days. 39:33
    • A staff member said the EAs and the elementary principals would also receive the training. 43:13
  7. Board and committee reports 45:20
    • One board member said many performers in a local production of Guys and Dolls were teachers and that public schools enrich the community. 45:40
    • Stephanie Lunceford said the long-range facility advisory committee had not met since the last agenda and would hold 2 meetings in September. 49:41
  8. West Albany High School belonging plan 49:51
    • West Albany High School staff said the school would train certified staff on September 1st on interrupting microaggressions and bias incident reporting, and that all coaches and student athletes would receive training. 53:13
    • Staff said the school planned community listening sessions on October 7th, February 24th and April 14th and would conduct an equity audit. 55:16
    • Brad Wilson asked how often data would be submitted to the district, and a speaker said the data is presented to the board quarterly. 1:03:21
  9. Consent agenda 1:07:34
    • The presiding speaker said the consent agenda included the agreement on professional development days, and a motion to approve it was made. 1:07:34
  10. School calendar update 1:08:24
    • A district staff member said the calendar shows the 3 days without elementary school and the days teachers will trade staff development. 1:08:37
    • A motion to accept the '26-'27 school calendar as presented was made and seconded. 1:09:30
    • The motion carried. ~1:09:41
  11. State accountability report 1:09:41
    • District staff described accountability measures from Senate Bill 141, including 7 common metrics, and said K-2 attendance and 8th grade math would be new on the state report card. 1:09:52
    • A staff member said the district chose academic growth on iReady reading and math tests as its local metric. 1:15:03
    • Kris McLaughlin asked whether people may still opt out of state testing, and a staff member said they may and that those students count against the district. 1:24:53
  12. Health curriculum and English learner report 1:26:40
    • A district staff member said the district seeks to readopt The Great Body Shop for K-5 health, at $9.03 a student or about $37,000 for the district, with board approval sought at the September meeting. 1:26:40
    • The staff member said the materials would be available for public review and families would be notified at least 2 weeks before topics some may consider sensitive. 1:28:16
    • A staff member said the English learner report is an annual state-level report provided for information. 1:32:24
  13. Public comment 1:32:58
    • Speakers at public comment asked why parents were not informed about the hiring of a new director of special programs and questioned how research was being used to justify class size decisions. 1:34:40
    • Speakers at public comment said parts of a bargaining session video had been edited out and that the class size committee was not operating as the bargaining agreement requires. 1:41:18
    • A staff member said the camera operator reported a glitch that was not intentional, and the presiding speaker said the district would check into it. 1:46:41

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Regular School Board Meeting - August 17, 2026 - 6:00 p.m.”