TILLAMOOK COUNTY PIONEER’S QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES: Nestucca Valley School District

There’s an election – ballots are due by May 20th – and should be in mailboxes the next day or so – for many special districts and boards. These local special districts are the very foundations of our communities — water and sewer districts, school districts, fire boards and more. For the seats that had more than one candidate, the Pioneer has sent out it’s semi-annual “questions for the candidates.” Here are the answers we received for the candidates for the Nestucca Valley School District – Position #1 – Irene Barajas, Troy N. Trute, and Sherry Hartford; Position #2 – Seth Belsey & Kayla Cole; Position #4 – Greg Woods; Position #5 – Marty Wisehart & Jason Hagan.

Position #1 – Irene Barajas (incumbent)

1. Why are you running for this board position?

I’ve been serving on NVSD’s board since November 2023 as an appointed member, and I want to continue servicing, this time as an elected member, for at least the next four years. NVSD, our kids, staff, and community members are very important to me and I want to help ensure they are ALL made to feel safe, accepted and supported in their education journey.

2. If elected, what will be your priorities?
   During my time as a board member I’ve worked hard to improve the communication and transparency between the district and the community. While big strides have been made, there is still a lot of work to do to repair those relationships. I also know a lot of the focus for the next while will also be ensuring the district is in compliance with changes to federal laws, and a lot of work will need to be done to amend our policies to keep within the new regulations, while also still doing our very best to support and protect the various minority groups targeted by these changes.
3. What motivates you to serve on this board? I have a lot of history with and vested interest in NVSD. I was born and raised here, and I’m a 2003 NVSD graduate myself, my mom taught here and many close friends work or have worked for the district, I now have six kids of my own in the district, and I’m a childcare provider, with a lot of my clientele attending or being employed by NVSD. I regularly volunteer with the high school’s pep band and with their orchestra for the spring musical each year, as well as chaperoning many field trips with my kids’ classes over the years, which has resulted in naturally developing relationships with many kids throughout the district. I care deeply about the students, the staff, and our community in general, and want to be able to continue using my unique skills and experiences to their benefit as a board member.
4. What experiences or skills have prepared you to serve as a board member? Like I mentioned, I am currently a board member and have been since 11/2023, and I’ve been the Vice Chair and acting as Chair for the past several months, so I am already very familiar with the districts policies and the roles of being a board member. I’ve been part of the Oregon LGBTQIA2S+ School Bard Member’s Advisory Committee for the majority of my time as a board member, too, joining other public school board members from around the state for additional education and supports. Prior to being on the board, I was on both the NVSD Budget and Health Committees, and had served as chairperson of the Parent Committee for the Head Start program at Nestucca Early Learning Center while my daughters attended there.I’m also a small business owner, with my state licensed childcare program, with more than a decade of experience of keeping on top of ever-changing state and federal regulations, not to mention the copious amounts of early childhood educational trainings I’ve had due to being a licensed childcare provider. Additionally, I’m currently serving on the Early Childhood Suspension & Expulsion Prevention Program Advisory Committee through the Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD), advocating for supports for children with challenging behaviors and the childcare providers and early childcare educators who take care of them. I was also a voting member of the Regional Early Child Care & Education Advisory Committee at NWRESD while it was active.

5. What community activities/organizations have you been involved with? In addition to volunteering with the high school’s pep band and musicals, I perform monthly with the Lincoln POPS Big Band, which in September of this past year lead to the honor of being invited to be a paid band member, and sole female musician on the stage, with The Temptations for their show in Lincoln City. I also spent many years playing with the Tillamook Community Band before they stopped performing, I was part of the Tillamook Mothers of Preschools (MOPs) group years ago when my daughters were little, and had volunteered as a First Responder with Nestucca Valley Fire Department as a senior in high school.

6. Why should you be elected?
   I have a lot of knowledge of the federal, state, and NVSD policies thanks to my experience of already being on the on the school board for the past year and a half, as well as over a decade of working within state and federal regulations as a childcare provider, and being an active parent in the district for the past 9 years. I have additional years of experience as a committee member with the NVSD Budget and Health Committees, as well as being on various committees through the NWRESD as a licensed childcare provider. I want to continue being able to apply my unique experiences and skills for the benefit of Nestucca’s students, staff and family members. I will keep improving our transparency by sharing as much information as we legally, ethically, and reasonably can out to our community in a timely manner, and keep building stronger connections and communications by being a listening and responsive board member.  I have the education and knowledge to assist in providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, and will work hard to support NVSD’s teachers and staff as they provide a high quality education for students of all backgrounds and abilities.

7. What differentiates you from the other candidates? Combining the experiences and achievements I’ve already mentioned with my strong desire to rebuild broken relationships between our district and the community, and my determination and ability to thrive under pressure means I’m willing to listen, learn, and firmly stand up for how we can best educate all of our children and support all of our beautifully diverse staff and families.

8. What steps, if any, will you take to ensure full equality for marginalized demographics, such immigrants, LGBTQ+ people in our community? I’m an openly queer woman, have many special needs kids close to my heart, and have been lucky enough to be friends with many immigrants throughout my life, so ensuring our marginalized communities are treated with respect and equity are of very high personal importance. I strongly believe in the power of representation, allowing students to see themselves and their family members and culture in our staff members and in our curriculums and supports, and will advocate for protecting the mental and physical health and safety for each unique person, and for providing individualized education experiences for students who need additional supports.

9. What issues do you believe the board/organization needs to address in its programs/offerings and community image? I’ve already mentioned needing to continue working on communication and transparency between the district, our staff and our community. Building upon that, I feel we need to improve on educating the community on our policies and procedures when issues arise, so false information has less ability to be passed around as fact. The teachers and students have also working on improving our test scores this past year, focusing on reading since it is the base needed to build the rest of their academic skills. This needs to continue, and focuses need to shift to their other core skills, such as mathematics. In spite of anti-bullying policies and continual efforts to put a stop to bullying and harassment, it is still a prevalent issue amongst students. This is true at a national level, as most parents are probably aware.  This shows there is work to be done on the kids’ social-emotional learning, even the most basic “treat others how you would like to be treated” skills. Every single person is deserving of respect, of being celebrated for their uniqueness, and of being able to feel safe at school. Studies have shown that kids (and adults) who are in a state of fight or flight have a much more difficult time absorbing information, so it is truly paramount for them to learn how to manage their feelings and actions/reactions in order to optimize their capacity for learning.

10. What changes would you recommend? I feel I’ve stated in my previous answers what changes I would advocate for, but to summarize: continuing to improve communication and transparency via community education of our policies and procedures, and sharing as much information as reasonably and legally possible, ensuring our teachers and support staff have what they need to provide a high quality education for each student, teaching our students how to care for themselves as whole people, promoting good mental health and behaviors, and making sure each and every person feels welcome and safe inside our schools, no matter our differences.

Position #1 – Troy N. Trute

1. Why are you running for this board position? I have always tried to help my community through volunteering my skills where needed. I see a need for new school board members to enact common sense policies for the Nestucca School District, and I will do so if elected.

2. If elected, what will be your priorities? My priorities will be improving safety, improving graduation rates and grade point averages, retaining and encouraging good staff, and removing incompetent staff.

3. What motivates you to serve on this board? I am the father of five students who are enrolled in the District. The District’s success is directly tied to my success as a father. I wish to do more to affect the District’s ability to succeed directly.

4. What experiences or skills have prepared you to serve as a board member? I am currently the General Manager of the Neskowin Regional Water District and have been so for the last nine years. My experience with running a municipality is directly applicable to serving on a Board. I am well-versed in board policy creation and meeting rules. I have had years of experience dealing with bureaucracy and still manage to get things done efficiently.

5. What community activities/organizations have you been involved with? I have worked with multiple Water Districts within the School District boundaries. I have volunteered for the Nestucca Anglers and the Neskowin Valley School and presented informational discussions to multiple community entities within the Neskowin area.

6. Why should you be elected? I think the community would be well served by electing someone with common sense who works for a living and has skin in the game.

7. What differentiates you from the other candidates? I don’t know the other candidates or what skills they bring. I can only speak of my competence, not theirs.

8. What steps, if any, will you take to ensure full equality for marginalized demographics, such immigrants, LGBTQ+ people in our community?
9. What issues do you believe the board/organization needs to address in its programs/offerings and community image?
10. What changes would you recommend?
11. Any additional comments ….

Position #1 – Sherry Hartford 

1. I’m running for position 1 for many reasons. My top 3 are; academics, student safety and fiscal responsibility. Currently, our state scores are at 25% for Language Arts and 13% for math. This is unacceptable, and our students success must come first. Our students do not feel safe while in school. Between sexual allegations of teachers and how the District handles custody transfers, we are not creating a safe environment for students. There needs to be budget cuts within our district. There are several ways to cut the budget while focusing on student success. The district needs more support staff and teachers to be successful. By cutting budget in other areas, we can utilize more funds to help our educators.
2. If elected, my priorities are going to be ensuring student safety, parental and community involvement, academics, prioritizing students regarding budget cuts and reducing our debt.
3. I am motivated to serve on the board because I have a vested interest in our students and community. For the past 10 years, our state scores have dropped to an all time low. This tells me that students haven’t been put first. I want our students to be prepared for life after high school. I want our district to be transparent with the community and be willing to listen to everyone.
4. Currently, I am on Hebo Joint Water and Sanitary Authority’s board. I have knowledge of how a board should be ran and the duties required of a board member. I am on the Health and Safety Workgroup for Nestucca school district. We are reviewing the current drug and alcohol policy. I have also attended workshops and board preparation groups.
5. I coached and volunteered at Nestucca for several years. I continue to volunteer and mentor our youth within the Nestucca community. I help the high school boys basketball program with fundraising and organizing summer schedules. Along with being on the Hebo JWSA board and managing 14 rental properties within the Nestucca community.
6. I should be elected because our school district needs change. We need board members that represent the community, staff and students. I am a stay at home mom with 3 kids and have ample time to devote to our schools. For the past 3 years I have been actively trying to get onto the board. I ran for election once and applied to be appointed twice. I attend nearly all board meetings and have voiced concerns that have fallen on deaf ears. I want to bring the change our district desperately needs.
7. What separates me from those running against me is my determination to be a part of the solution. Out of the 3 of us running for position 1, I am most consistent with attending board meetings, engaging with the public and wanting positive change. One candidate running against me was appointed to the board. There has been little to no change in the students academics while she was on the board. Student safety should never be an issue, but it is. Our community, staff and students want to be heard and I am the candidate who will bring their voices to the board.
8. I believe all students deserve equal education. Not prioritizing one group of students over another. Every child deserves to come to school, get educated and graduate to their fullest potential.
9. The board need to address the issues within the schools. This includes listening to staff and students their needs, making appropriate budget cuts that do not affect the students, allow parents within the buildings and encourage more parental involvement to name a few.
10. I would recommend curriculum changes and merit based pay for staff. Along with support for the staff to be able to get our students up to where they should be. Changing where budget cuts are taken from would be necessary. A change in our policy regarding student safety is a must. These are just a few of the changes needed for our district.
11. This election should not be about politics, instead it should be about our students. Voting for the person who doesn’t have a political agenda, and wants to provide a learning environment that shows success. Someone who has spent time focusing on issues within our district.

Position #2 – Seth Belsey

When I committed to running for the school board, I did so with my children—and yours in my heart. The public school is where kids from all familial backgrounds find educational nourishment and structured curriculum.  This educational support comes with diverse community beliefs and opinions. It is important to have adults in the room that are not impulsive or quick tempered when decisions that affect children’s educations are being made. It is from a place of care and concern for Nestucca Valley, and its student population that I choose to run for Position #2 of the School Board.

With 25 years of entrepreneurial experience, I bring practical business insight and discernment to my decision-making. I have started, operated, bought and sold several businesses. My earliest ventures were focused on health and wellness. I carry the teachings of these healing lessons with an empathetic and courageous heart. For 15 years I manufactured and marketed natural fertilizer. Our businesses main service was soil food web education. I have been a Realtor for the last 5 years, and as a Realtor I am trusted with people’s largest asset. I show up for people every day with fidelity, honesty and compassion.

As one of ten parents participating in Nestucca Valley School’s 5-year strategic planning, I witnessed schoolteachers and employees creating and upholding a singular vision and mission statement. I was inspired by these community leaders’ prudence and fortitude. Given the opportunity, I will take this inspiration to task and focus my efforts on school testing, school funding and school safety. Our tax dollars deserve accountability. We are investing in our future, and with this responsibility we have the right to know that academic benchmarks are being met, budgets are balanced, and all students are protected from harm.  This education foundation will give ground to grow and flower minds that know how to think, feel and flourish.

In Gratitude, Seth Belsey