EUGENE, Ore. — The 4J School District is getting in the back to school spirit.
The district is kicking off the school year with a professional development conference being held at the Eugene Hilton.
It was standing room only inside the banquet hall at the Eugene Hilton. For the first time, the 4J School District made it mandatory for all on-duty employees to attend the back-to-school event. Substitute teachers and instructional assistants even turned out. The district expected 1,300 people to show up, but instead 1,600 came. There wasn’t enough room for everyone to have a seat, so there was a quick break from the conference to bring in more chairs.
4J Superintendent Sheldon Berman says he was excited by the crowd and is looking forward to the future.
“We still face a short staff, larger class sizes, less support and all those circumstances are with us, but at least we don’t have to be demoralized by additional cuts,” Berman said.
Berman says it’s been nice having a year of financial stability without major reductions. Over the next several years the 4J School District is investing in four focus areas to improve teaching and school culture. To learn more about those four areas, click here.
4 comments
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me says:
August 30, 2012 at 7:40 pm (UTC -7)
You mean to say that 4j doesn’t know how many employees they have?
KEZI Staff says:
August 31, 2012 at 11:11 am (UTC -7)
4J didn’t expect substitute teachers and instructional assistants to come. That’s why they had more participants than expected. Substitute teachers and instructional assistants aren’t on-duty employees, therefore it wasn’t mandatory for them to attend the conference.
I wonder says:
August 31, 2012 at 6:36 am (UTC -7)
In a time of tight budgets, I wonder how the district paid for the use of the Hilton.
KEZI Staff says:
August 31, 2012 at 11:10 am (UTC -7)
The conference was funded by the Eugene Education Foundation. EEF raises funds to support all 4J Schools.