COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
Candidates for position 3 on Baker 5J School Board
Biographical
Information
Previous
experience
as an elected
offi cial or in a
public service
capacity.
How do you
think the
current school
board, and
the Baker
5J District,
has done in
dealing with
the effects of
the COVID-19
pandemic?
Discuss two
issues that you
believe will be
vital for the
school board to
address over
the next two
to three years.
Discuss ways
you think
the school
district could
improve, and
how you would
approach
trying to
make those
improvements?
COUNCIL
Koby Myer
Jessica Dougherty
42 years of age
MBA-Master of Business Administration, Fitch-
burg State University
BAA-Business Management, Mayville State Uni-
versity.
*Certifi ed Management Account-Completed in
2021
Was born and raised in Eastern Oregon and spent
the last 5 years in Baker City. My wife and I have 4 children currently
enrolled in the Baker School District.
15 years in the Financial Service Industry, serving currently as Chief
Financial Offi cer at New Directions Northwest.
Hi, my name is Jessica Dougherty. You might not believe it but I’m
very shy. I cover it by being bubbly, smiley, and nice. I am a mother of two
boys, a substitute teacher, Literacy Specialist, an artist, and an archae-
ologist. I have been lucky to live in Baker for seven wonderful years. I
received a BA from Sonoma State University. When I was a kid I was a
struggling student, I disliked reading, I was dyslexic and stumbled over
words — so I understand how hard school can be. I feel that everyone
deserves an education that is equal, equitable, and balanced.
I have served in Board
positions for the Boys and Girls
Club and YMCA organizations.
Experience in working with
Community Action Agency as a
Housing Developer in a public
service capacity.
While I have not previously held a
publicly elected position, I have worked in
government in varying capacities includ-
ing career positions with National Park
Service, Sonoma State University, and the
University of Hawaii. I currently serve as
Director for the Baker County Community
Literacy Coalition and have consistently
participated in multiple Parent Teacher
Organizations (PTO) including elected
roles of Vice President and President.
Through these combined experiences I
became profi cient in interpreting and ap-
plying policy requirements and gained a
thorough understanding of broader regula-
tory frameworks and overall governance
structures. I continue applying these skills
in my professional capacity and I look
forward to the opportunity of working with
local elected offi cials and to supporting
Baker 5J District staffs, the broader Baker
County communities, and our Baker
County kids in providing outstanding
educational experiences.
Given the diffi cult and
ever changing world of the
COVID-19 pandemic I think
the overall response from the
current school is satisfactory
and has improved over time.
It is not easy to predict or plan
for an environment we now
live in that has changes by the
day and hour. I believe moving
forward transparency is vital
in how we work together with
our community and up to date
information is what is expected
from the Board and Baker 5J
District.
I have seen over the last year
creative approaches to build
safe environments for our kids
and staff and protocols are set
in place to ensure this happens.
I am very pleased right now our
kids are back in school, involved
in activities, and our faculty/
staff members are being taken
care of.
One of the major issues the
school board will need to keep
on the table is getting funds to
meet the demands of improving
our schools. We need to provide
safe and effi cient buildings
and there are many improve-
ments that need to be made. As
a bond measure is up for vote
the board has to be prepared
to move forward regardless of
whether it passes or not. These
improvements need to be made
and continual changes over the
next few years. The community
needs to know and see full
transparency of how the board
will make this happen.
Another issue or “goal” of the
school board over the next few
years I would like to see happen
is community and parental
engagement. Our community
needs to feel trust and collabo-
ration with the School Board
and District. Transparency is
crucial for this. Our community
should be highly engaged in
helping provide the best educa-
tion possible for our children.
The board needs to have a
cooperative approach. After
spending many hours talking
and visiting with other parents,
staff, and or faculty there is op-
portunity for this.
It’s clear that 2020 was a crazy year,
and 2021 is essentially not much different.
Given the tumultuous year, I believe the
Baker 5J District has done an outstand-
ing job of providing our kids with excep-
tional educational opportunities through
adversity. For one, the District was able to
successfully engage the students through
distance learning and invested in the right
technologies to meet the demands of virtual
classrooms. And they accomplished this
without applying undo pressure on our kids
and their families. Secondly, as the district
transitioned back to in-person learning,
they emphasized keeping our kids and
communities safe by following established
health standards. The Baker 5J District
staff members also provided support and
concern for students’ overall well-being in
addition to promoting academic growth.
The District staff has been mindful and
considerate of the challenges we all faced
over the last year (and more). Families in
Baker County have been affected by these
challenges differently and many continue
struggling for relief from the overwhelm-
ing events and unprecedented conditions
of the past year. Baker 5J District has been
committed to supporting these families, to
ensure there is equity for all Baker County
families and that no one “falls through the
cracks.” These challenges will likely persist,
and because of the district staff’s continued
support we will prevail.
And lastly, I appreciate and am person-
ally thankful for all the District’s sustained
efforts: they have engaged families and
students to keep us all updated and safe;
they have proven resilient to changing
needs, demands, and uncertainty; and they
have continually adapted to these strenu-
ous conditions so that we not just survive,
but can thrive and ensure brighter days
and years ahead.
As stated previously, my goals
are to provide a more collabora-
tive approach on how we work
together with our community. A
more improved communication
system so that information can
be shared more effi ciently and
effectively. We need to make
sure everyone is on the same
page and communication is
clear. The school district must
include the community early
and willing to make a more
collaborative process. My goal
would be also to look at how we
can keep smaller class sizes and
how fi nancially can we plan for
this.
With my 15 years of fi nancial
experience in the public and pri-
vate sector and almost 5 years
as a CFO I hope to bring a new
perspective on providing a more
effi cient budget and partnership
in become more fi scally respon-
sible. Providing more transpar-
ency among the District and
Community with our fi nancial
goals, expenses, and areas of
improvement. I want to bring
leadership to the Board and
a team effort in holding the
Administration accountable and
responsible in keep the mission
and vision clear to those in our
community.
The school board will face many challeng-
es over the next few years. Of these many
challenges, aging facilities and staff recruit-
ment and retention will likely be some of
the more critical issues the District will
need to address in the coming years. One of
these issues is currently being evaluated by
Baker County citizens through ballot Mea-
sure 1-108. Whether or not the measure
passes, school facility maintenance within
the District needs to be addressed on an an-
nual basis through the budget process.
The District also needs to focus on its
educational delivery mission, including
hiring and retaining qualifi ed teaching and
paraprofessional staff. These positions are
integral to delivering quality education
and overall student well-being. In order to
recruit and retain these essential positions
— including substitutes — the District
should consider overall compensation to
these professionals.
Taken together, these issues also offer
tremendous opportunity. The school district
can provide a safe and effective learn-
ing environment that is responsive to the
changing technologies of our times. It can
also continue delivering quality education
by retaining our valued teaching profes-
sionals and by incentivizing recruitment
approaches. Combined, these strategies
will provide a challenging and rewarding
academic learning experience for our Baker
County kids.
Similar to the number of challenges
that face our school district, there are also
many ways in which we can improve. These
improvements include actions that can
happen in the near-term and offer immedi-
ate improvements, and other longer-term
strategic improvements that may take
years to implement. Improving the traffi c
circulation for our neighborhood schools is
one example of a short-term improvement.
The school district has already begun some
of these improvements by developing the
additional staff parking area at Brooklyn.
The district is also in the planning phases
and evaluating traffi c conditions at South
Baker. These ongoing and planned improve-
ments offer the opportunity to improve traf-
fi c conditions in the nestled neighborhoods
that surround our school campuses.
Technology in our schools (both a mid-
range and long-term improvement) offers
both solutions and some continued barriers
for our Baker community. Communication
between the district and the community
is not always effective and user-friendly.
The district is using newer technologies to
communicate with parents. However, it’s
not always effective and many community
members are not as profi cient with these
communication channels, and more tradi-
tional ways of communicating are not al-
ways available. The district can improve its
overall communication and messaging with
the community by increasing transparency.
This would apply to all the many issues,
concerns, and developments that happen on
a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
The way to approach these improve-
ments for me, personally, is by being on
the Baker District 5J School Board. I look
forward to exploring solutions for the many
challenges in our district and to working on
the many ongoing and proposed improve-
ments. I would approach communicating
with district staff and community members
openly, sincerely, and with compassion.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Baker
City Herald for offering candidates this
opportunity to provide some personal back-
ground information and to offer responses
to these thoughtful questions on the press-
ing issues in our district. Thank you!
The school district would add the
$4 million in additional property
Continued from Page 1A
taxes with a $4 million state grant
A 1.9% increase was also proposed
and $4 million from the district’s
for commercial accounts.
budget to replace the heating, cool-
Councilor Lynette Perry expressed
ing and ventilation systems in all
concerns about raising the water and Baker School District bond
schools, build a cafeteria/kitchen at
measure
wastewater rates during the pan-
Baker Middle School, replace the roof
Councilors voted 6-1 to support the at South Baker Intermediate and
demic and its associated economic
$4 million measure on the May 18
effects.
upgrade security at all schools.
“I’d just like for us to hold off a year ballot.
“Our schools are appalling; they
on any personal, residential, business
increases if we could,” Perry said.
Mayor Kerry McQuisten and
Councilor Joanna Dixon agreed with
Perry about avoiding a rate hike.
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Fire station vehicle exhaust
system
Councilors voted unanimously to
award a bid to Weidner Fire of Salt
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r
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101
are falling apart,” Perry said. “This
is so important. I support that we
should support getting this bond
passed.”
McQuisten voted against the mo-
tion to support the bond measure.
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Lake City for $89,856.71 to install
equipment that vents vehicle exhaust
fumes from engine bays at the fi re
station.
The city received a $139,000 grant
in 2020, and spent almost $51,000 for
three new CPR machines that are in
service.
The city will use the remaining
grant money for the contract with
Weidner Fire.
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