Restructuring Committee to Present Findings to School Board Oct. 13

NEWBERG, Ore. — A committee reviewing options to restructure Newberg-Dundee Public Schools is set to present its findings to the school board Oct. 13, with the board scheduled to make a final decision Nov. 17.

On Sept. 3 and Sept. 17, representatives from every school in the district gathered in the Newberg High School cafeteria for the first and second of three meetings to discuss districtwide restructuring. 

The Sept. 3 restructuring meeting focused on defining the problem and establishing guiding criteria for committee members to use as they consider potential changes.

“Lower staffing has stretched our current structure beyond what it was built to support,” a slide from the meeting presentation read. “The structure, not the people, is the problem we are here to solve.”

At the Sept. 17 meeting, Parker presented eight restructuring options and assigned one to each table to discuss and evaluate. Seven of the eight models include closing at least Ewing Young Elementary School.

The models attempt to solve the math problem by balancing gains and retentions against losses.

Four of the eight models involve closing more than one school, with Model G proposing to close Ewing Young, Antonia Crater, and Mountain View Middle School. Half of the models affect middle schools as well as elementary schools.

Model C, for example, which proposes closing Ewing Young and Antonia Crater elementary schools, would leave class sizes at the remaining elementary schools at an average of 24.65, the closest average to the goal of 24.5. However, the model would still leave Dundee Elementary School with a class of 30 third graders and two grade levels with fewer than two teachers each.

Model B, on the other hand, proposes closing Ewing Young Elementary, turning Dundee Elementary and Joan Austin Elementary into kindergarten-through-second-grade schools, turning Mabel Rush Elementary and Antonia Crater Elementary into third-through-fifth-grade schools, and leaving Edwards Elementary unchanged.

In this model, all classes would be between 18 and 30 students, and no grade levels would have fewer than two teachers. However, as a table noted during the meeting, this configuration would require a large majority of students to transition between schools after second grade, potentially causing disruption.

Additionally, Model B would save the district approximately $610,112 per year, according to projections. That is $471,388 less than the net gain of $1,081,500 annually projected for Model C. The average class size under Model B would also be larger than under Model C, at 24.92.

The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Oct. 1. Every member of the 77-person committee will provide individual feedback on each of the eight models, allowing the district to gather as much feedback as possible.

Using recommendations from the Oct. 1 meeting, the district will present its findings to the school board Oct. 13. In the five weeks before the Nov. 17 board meeting, cabinet and board members will present the feedback to staff members throughout the district and at group parent meetings, according to Parker. He said he is also organizing student groups to provide feedback.

“The cabinet folks will get out to every staff member and present this feedback and give an opportunity to again provide feedback to the board,” Parker said at the Sept. 15 Newberg-Dundee School Board meeting. “We’ve got 5 weeks to communicate with our community what people are saying so that [the board] can then hopefully on November 17th come to a decision.”

Board Chair Aubrey Nichols stressed the importance of receiving as much feedback as possible while also acknowledging the amount of time it will require from board and cabinet members.

“This is a huge ask of us as a board to make this decision in November, obviously with the feedback,” Nichols said. “But we must do our due diligence by getting out there and talking to as many people as we can.”

Viewers can watch a livestream of the Oct. 1 meeting via Zoom or watch the video later on the district’s YouTube channel.

Also at the Sept. 15 board meeting

Student representatives introduced for 2026-27 school year

High school students Maggie Taylor and Rylan Waters attended their first board meeting as student representatives. Emilee Davidson, also a student representative, was unable to attend.

Board hears 2025-26 Integrated Programs Annual Report

Jillian Felizarta, director of State and Federal Programs, presented the board with the 2025-26 integrated programs report. Integrated programs are a part of the Student Success Act.

For Newberg-Dundee Public Schools, integrated programs consist of the Student Investment Account, High School Success, Early Indicator and Intervention Systems, and Early Literacy. The district received a total of $5,930,091 for all four programs during the 2024-25 school year.

According to the 2025-26 annual report as published on the district website, the Student Investment Account’s goals are to “meet students’ mental or behavioral health needs, and increase academic achievement for all students, including reducing academic disparities for traditionally underserved students.”

Of the total, $4,146,782 went to the Student Investment Account, which finances support services such as licensed therapists, school counselors, behavioral health specialists, English language development specialists, and speech-language pathologists. Newberg High School’s Career and Technical Education program is also funded through the account.

“One of the big cornerstones of the funding in our grants is supporting and improving our graduation rate and student attendance for all of our demographic groups,” Felizarta said. “In addition, our grants also support increased student performance in literacy and mathematics along with ensuring access to all students for CTE pathways.”

Felizarta said one of the main focuses moving into the 2026-27 school year is attendance.

“We are doing a lot of intentional work this year around discussion about the importance of student attendance starting early from preschool and kindergarten throughout the course of the year,” Felizarta said. “Attendance not only impacts students being at school, but also their overall achievement and literacy, math, and then again towards graduation and postsecondary success.”

Policy KNA outlines procedure for federal immigration authorities on district property

During the 2026 legislative session, the 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly passed House Bill 4079, which requires school districts to adopt a policy for providing notice when a federal immigration authority is confirmed to have entered school property for immigration enforcement.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, the Newberg-Dundee School Board heard the first reading of Policy KNA, the state-mandated policy outlined in House Bill 4079.

Policy KNA must be adopted by Sept. 30. The policy covers training a primary and alternate point-of-contact person for federal immigration authorities, as well as creating a notification policy for students, parents, and staff in the event of federal immigration authorities entering district property.

Under the proposed policy, Superintendent Dave Parker would serve as the district’s designated point of contact and primary communicator regarding federal immigration authority activity at schools. Parker said building administrators and front office staff have been trained on the details of the policy and how to respond in the case of an encounter with federal immigration authorities.

“Our ability to release proprietary information about students to anyone is controlled by FERPA, and it has been for a long time,” Parker said. “This policy was in response to the law. It talks about specifically how we’re going to interact with federal officials regarding immigration enforcement, but really, what we’re doing hasn’t changed.”

The final reading and approval of Policy KNA are scheduled for the Sept. 29 board meeting.