Heather Gerlt, Tillamook School District’s Liberty Elementary instructional equity coach, works with students to find the sources of their academic struggles. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)
The Legislature has devoted significant attention this session to addressing school workforce problems and special education equity. The Tillamook School District is already using the 2019 Student Success Act to make huge strides in those areas.
The act, which aims to generate roughly $1 billion a year for education, sends about half the money in direct grants to school districts through the Student Investment Account. Districts received $892 million in 2021-23.
Tillamook used its $3.5 million share to add roughly 20 staff positions, including instructional equity coaches and behavior intervention specialists, full-time nurses, counselors, special education staff and English language development staff.
Student behavior problems are down, and students with additional needs are receiving more support. Tillamook leaders say the extra staff, especially the coaches and behavior specialists at all three elementary schools, are making the district a better place to work.
“They absolutely help retain staff,” said Liberty Elementary Principal Rachel Williamson. “If I were to lose those positions, it would leave a giant hole.”
OREdNews is offering an occasional series, “Investing in Success,” to look at the act’s effects. Oregon’s latest economic report estimates the corporate activity tax will generate $2.8 billion for the act for 2023-25, but the Legislature can divert some of that to the general fund. Districts such as Tillamook are counting on continued act funding to maintain the positions they added with the SIA funding.
Marcine Jenck, the Tillamook Education Association president, said the SIA-funded positions are essential. Tillamook has lots of young teachers and doesn’t pay as well as some surrounding districts. The additional staff help with recruiting and retention because teachers don’t feel so alone in the classroom, she said.
The district reports it has 25% fewer teacher openings than last school year.
Williamson said the additional staff at the district’s K-1 school are helping students develop skills to manage their own behavior, creating a better learning environment for everyone. After the pandemic closures, Liberty struggled with students frequently running out of class or creating disturbances that required the classroom to be cleared. Those behaviors are down, with a 58% reduction in referrals between October and April, according to the district.
East Elementary, the grade 4-6 school, reported a 63% drop in the same time period, and South Prairie, for second and third graders, reported a 12% drop from just February to April.
Heather Phillips, the behavior intervention specialist at Liberty, works with students who don’t qualify for special education but can’t manage a full day on their own. “Room 16” offers a safe space where students can reset. Students drop by before school for a snack or a hug or to look at prizes for achieving goals. The walls are decorated with prompts to help children calm themselves. She has a napping space for students who are wrung out after big emotional experiences.
“We are creating a culture in the school where every kid is loved, no matter what,” Phillips said.
A parent said she had to quit her job last year because she was being called into school nearly daily for her son, who struggles with violent outbursts. With Phillips’ helping her son, she has been called in fewer than a dozen times since January. Her son is discovering he likes math and science, and he is on track with academic goals. She said Phillips is also helping her be a better parent, giving her tools to respond to her son’s needs.
Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Mickelson, a first-year teacher, said student outbursts at the beginning of the year could be really frightening. Now she says students are better equipped to handle their emotions and she is more able to help them when they can’t.
“If I didn’t have that support, I’m not sure I could have come back with some of the behaviors I’ve seen,” she said.
Mickelson also credits Heather Gerlt, the Liberty instructional equity coach. Gerlt is available to support any teacher who asks, and she also works with students who need extra academic help.
First grade teacher Rachel Affolter said Gerlt and Phillips are the reason she is staying at Tillamook.
“They certainly make it much more attractive than going anywhere else,” she said.
The additional nursing help has been a game changer for parent Justine LaBree. Her son Blaize, a third grader, has Type 1 diabetes, which required her to come to school sometimes several times a day to give him injections and help him manage his disease. Now with the supervision of nurse Trina Goss, he misses less class.
“Having a trained nurses takes the weight off me … and he can do things other kids do,” LaBree said. “I would be devastated if she went away.”
East Elementary Principal Kara Rhodes said the additional staff have improved morale while offering more support for students and parents.
“We have a lot of needs,” Rhodes said. “It’s nice to feel like we are not running on steam.”
East added a physical education teacher as well so that all its students can have a daily class and meet state requirements. Teacher Adam Freiburghaus added an adaptive PE class so that students who couldn’t participate in the usual class had an environment where they could focus on skills.
Julie Schneidecker, special education director, said adding four team members, as well as the district’s other new staff positions, has taken some pressure off her team. This year she only has one teacher out of 19 who is leaving.
“It’s allowed us to be better at what we do,” she said.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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