NEWS
B Y H E N RY H O U S TO N
OUT WITH
THE OLD
A 61-year-old school looks to get
reinvented with bond measure
I
ton Udosenata, North Eugene High School’s (NEHS)
principal, keeps a brochure from when the school first
opened more than 60 years ago. He says he’s thankful
for NEHS, which he attended. What sticks out to
him, though, is that the school has only been slightly
updated since the brochure was printed in 1958.
NEHS could see itself in a new building if Eugene
School District 4J’s $319.3-million bond measure passes
in November. The bond measure will dedicate $135
million to rebuilding a new 1,200 capacity high school
building modernized to current student needs such as
bigger classrooms, earthquake safety and preventing
school shootings.
The building’s classrooms are a tight squeeze for a
growing student population that is nearing 1,000.
One of the Spanish language classrooms typically has
38 students in the class. For courses that are only offered
once a year, like calculus, 40 students cram into classrooms
that were built in the 1950s, Udosenata says.
He adds that NEHS classrooms weren’t meant for
that many students. The building’s old classrooms were
intended to house 24 students.
“North has the smallest classrooms of any high school
in the district,” says Kerry Delf, the district’s associate
communications director.
In addition to adjusting classrooms to current class
sizes, Udosenata says he’s excited about the prospect of
updating the school’s career technical education (CTE)
program. He sees a program that would allow the school
to offer multiple life pathways, from advanced placement
classes to courses teaching students skills that translate
immediately into the workforce.
CTE programs, he says, keep students motivated to
show up to school because of the experiences they have in
hands-on courses.
Udosenata says he imagines the school would have a
larger computer-aided design (CAD) program. It would
provide students with experience in designing products in a
wood or metal shop setting, as well as seeing what it would
cost to mass-produce them while creating a business plan.
NEWS
for the 2016 to 2017 academic year shows 59 percent
of NEHS’ student body is economically disadvantaged,
compared to 27 percent at SEHS.
The report also shows that SEHS has a graduation rate
of 89.4 percent. NEHS’ graduation rate is 77.9 percent.
The measure’s $319.3-million ask is the largest the
district has ever presented to taxpayers. That’s the reason
the school board waited until the last minute to submit its
bond to the ballot.
The district initially considered investing $150 million
into NEHS. To get the bond measure under $320 million
rather than the initial $350 million, the board shaved
$15 million off by cutting down on any excess design or
construction aspects.
As a result, NEHS won’t be the “Cadillac” of high
schools, board member Anne Marie Levis says.
If the bond measure passes and NEHS gets a new
building, the 61-year-old school would move. Rebuilding
NEHS would result in merging Yujin Gakuen Japanese
If the bond measure passes and NEHS gets a new building,
the 61-year-old school would move. Rebuilding NEHS would result in
merging Yujin Gakuen Japanese Immersion School and Corridor Elementary School
temporarily to Kelly Middle School during construction of NEHS.
Afterwards, the district will decide where those schools will be located.
locations. Oregon has the potential for an earthquake
greater than a 9.0, according to the state of Oregon. As of
now, NEHS couldn’t withstand such an earthquake — and
very little in Oregon could.
Rebuilding NEHS is an opportunity to have a building
in the Santa Clara area that would not only allow students
to survive a high-magnitude earthquake but also have a
place that could serve as a relief center, Delf says.
At the district level, an educational performance divide
is apparent between north Eugene and south Eugene, and
the bond is a way to work toward district equity.
Before the 4J board agreed on a $319.3-million bond
measure for the general election, Superintendent Gustavo
Balderas announced that South Eugene High School
(SEHS) was named the number-one high school in the
state of Oregon, and followed it with an amendment: Every
school in 4J is great.
Oregon Department of Education’s annual report card
Immersion School and Corridor Elementary School
temporarily to Kelly Middle School during construction
of NEHS. Afterwards, the district will decide where those
schools will be located.
A problem the district could face in constructing a new
NEHS is President Donald Trump’s love for tariffs. The
high tariff on steel, for example, places a burden on the
district’s construction plans and means it’ll have to look
into other materials — like wood and concrete.
Regardless of how much the district budgets on
construction and design, the north Eugene area will
welcome a new building.
“The history of being non-incorporated for several
years leaves us a feeling of disconnection sometimes. But
it also leaves a feeling of deep-seated community with
pride,” Udosenata says. “A new high school building
would be a gem and be something the community could
be proud of.” ■
Sholar says a county health inspector told him that
LCEH was following guidelines from the Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) on the legalities of serving kava. He
closed the restaurant around July 10, he says, and sent all
12 part-time and full-time employees home.
LovaKava then opened again for a few days but re-
frained from serving kava.
“My whole restaurant was shut down for a week,” Shol-
ar says. “It was pretty bad. We really took a hit. After that,
we had to shut down all these other kava products that I
carry in-house and prepare for people.”
He adds in an email, “This action would have affected
every kava bar in the U.S.”
After receiving a letter from Sholar’s attorney, OHA
contacted the federal Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in mid-July. FDA decided kava tea is a food and
not an additive.
“My attorney proved to them it isn’t a food additive, but
it’s actually been a food that’s been consumed for 4,000
years. Adding a food to water does not change the consti-
tution of the food. The water is a delivery system,” Sholar
says.
OHA reversed its decision within days of receiving the
letter from Sholar’s attorney. “The FDA came back and
said this is OK,” says Brett Sherry, OHA program manager
with the Food, Pool and Lodging Program.
Lane County spokesperson Devon Ashbridge says LCEH
told Sholar around July 10 that he couldn’t serve kava as an
additive to food. In an email to EW, Ashbridge writes:
“In June, Lane County Environmental Health (LCEH)
received an update from Oregon Health Authority (OHA)
stating that kava was not on the Food & Drug Administra-
tion’s list of approved additives — meaning that it could not
be added to food prepared and served at a restaurant, but
could be sold as a dietary supplement. LCEH was aware of
one restaurant using kava and, after receiving the above no-
tification from OHA, as a courtesy called the restaurant.”
Sholar says the daily routine at LovaKava Bar down-
town is back to normal. His team of employees quickly re-
turned to serving kava tea, which comes in different strains
like Vanuatu (billed as “relaxing, pain-relieving and heavy
on the body”).
“We’re just a little kava bar, trying to do our little
thing,” he says. ■
B Y J E S LY N L E M K E
KAVA
CONTROVERSY
Kava bar stops serving after
conflicting communications
E
That’s what board member Jim Torrey imagines, too.
During the Aug. 15 4J board meeting, he said the district
needs to invest in its students so they can graduate high
school and be equipped with skills necessary to have
higher-wage jobs.
Jobs that require CAD knowledge have a median pay of
$44,110, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Aside from smaller classes and updating the building, a
new $135 million NEHS would allow the district to update
its buildings to deal with a new school phenomenon:
school shootings.
At NEHS today, it’s easy to walk right by the school’s
administrative office and enter a classroom or the theater,
which is a security issue.
“You should not be able to walk into the school and
walk right down the hallway,” Delf says.
A new building would change the layout of NEHS,
making a single point of entry in the office, Delf says.
School shootings aren’t the only danger in public
ugene’s only kava bar stopped serving kava for
about a week in July after a misunderstanding
between local and state health authorities about
what’s a food and what’s an additive.
The LovaKava Bar and Restaurant downtown
serves a selection of teas from kava root, Piper methysti-
cum, said by users to infuse a sense of calm.
“My staff at the kava bar got a phone call from Lane
County Environmental Health (LCEH) telling us and warn-
ing us that we had to immediately stop serving kava,” says
LovaKava owner John Sholar. “Quite frankly, that made no
sense to me at all.”
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 23, 2018
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