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Eugene School District 4J

Equity. Excellence. Innovation.

Meet Your School Board

Meet Your School Board Members

The school board consists of seven volunteers elected by the community to at-large positions who establish policies for how the district is run. The board hires the superintendent, the district's chief executive officer, who leads an executive team that is responsible for the district’s day-to-day operation. Click on the board members below to learn more about them. The board can be contacted at board@4j.lane.edu.

  • Email: jonak_j@4j.lane.edu
    Served since July 1, 2023
    Term ends on June 30, 2027
    Occupation: Attorney
    Board Committees: Audit & Finance, Budget

  • Email: diliberto_t@4j.lane.edu
    Served since July 1, 2023
    Term ends on June 30, 2027
    Occupation: Teacher candidate supervisor
    Board Committees: Bond Oversight, Budget, Student Voice, Superintendent Search

  • Email: hamilton_ri@4j.lane.edu
    Served since July 1, 2023
    Term ends on June 30, 2027
    Occupation: Retired state trooper
    Board Committees: Budget, Community Engagement, Legislative, Student Voice

  • Email: munro_m@4j.lane.edu
    Served since July 1, 2023
    Term ends on June 30, 2027
    Occupation: Owner, Hathaway Munro 
    Board Committees: Audit & Finance, Bond Oversight, Budget, Superintendent Search

  • Email: newman_j@4j.lane.edu
    Served since: July 1, 2017
    Term ends on June 30, 2025
    Occupation: Senior advisor and founder, Early Childhood CARES
    Board Committees: Budget, Legislative, Superintendent Search, Student Voice

  • Email: rabasa_m@4j.lane.edu
    Served since July 1, 2021
    Term ends on June 30, 2025
    Occupation: Artist, volunteer
    School Board Appointments: Budget Committee, Community Engagement, Legislative

  • Email: thessen_e@4j.lane.edu
    Served since: October 2023
    Term ends on June 30, 2025
    Occupation: Physical therapist
    Board Committees: Bond Oversight, Budget, Community Engagement

Upcoming Meetings

School Board Organizational Meeting
Wednesday, July 9, 6 p.m.
Agenda (forthcoming) 

School Board Retreat
Monday, Aug. 4, 8 a.m.

School Board Regular Meeting
Wednesday, Aug. 6, 6 p.m.

  • The seven-member board derives its legal authority from the statutes of the State of Oregon.

    The board selects the superintendent as the district’s executive officer and delegates the responsibility for implementing its policies and plans to the superintendent. The board also has the annual responsibility of adopting a balanced school district budget. Board members serve without pay.

    Board members are elected from the district at large, not from geographical zones. Board elections occur in May of each odd numbered year. The four-year term of office for board members begins on July 1 immediately following the election.

    When a position on the board is vacated before the end of the term, the position will be open for election at the next school board election. The school board will solicit applicants and select by majority vote a community member to appoint to the vacant position until June 30 following the next regular election.

    To be eligible to serve on the board, a person must be a registered voter in the school district, must have been a resident of the district for one year immediately preceding the election, and may not be an employee of the district or any charter school within the district.

    More information available from the Oregon School Boards Association.

  • The following land acknowledgment statement is shared by the board chair at the beginning of each school board meeting. The statement text was provided by Dr. Brenda Brainard and the 4J Natives Program: 

    The Eugene School Board would like to acknowledge that our institution sits on the homelands of the Kalapuya people.

    In the treaties of 1851 and 1854–1855, and the subsequent forced removals of many Indian people from western Oregon, some of the Kalapuya were moved to the Grand Ronde Reservation and some were moved to the Siletz Reservation.  It is important to note that all of Lane County was an important trading and gathering area for camas and other resources.

    During the Restoration Era, from 1977 to 1989, Lane County was designated as the Service Area for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Coquille Indian Tribe, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians.

    Eugene School District 4J acknowledges that descendants of the original and Service Area inhabitants of this land are still here today. They are thriving members of our schools and our communities. Countless members of other tribes now also call our community and schools their home.

    We wish to thank those original stewards of this land. We as fellow stewards of this land wish to remember that we need to take good care of this land and take good care of all members of our school district and community.