Community Response to the 11/10/25 Board Statement

On Monday, November 10, 2025, the Bandon School Board released a public statement on the Bandon School District Facebook page. For months, teachers, families, and community members have urged the board to engage in open dialogue and address serious concerns about district leadership, workplace conditions, and governance practices, requests that have gone unanswered.

The statement was presented as reassurance, but it instead underscores the board’s inadequate and delayed response to the challenges facing our district. Rather than addressing the urgent issues raised by staff and families, it attempts to frame long-standing concerns as recent or routine matters, and relies on vague commitments that fail to meet the scale and immediacy of the current situation. Below is a detailed breakdown and community response to the Bandon School Board’s statement:

“In recent weeks, the Bandon School Board has received questions and been part of discussions in our community…”

Context:

This framing minimizes the long-standing and justified concern that has existed since last spring. Teachers, parents, and students have been speaking up for months.

If the board has truly been “part of discussions,” with whom? Dozens of public comments and emails to the board and individual members have gone unanswered. No public meetings have been announced to discuss these issues, and teachers and families have been met with silence.

“We want to assure our entire school community that these matters are being handled through the required legal and contractual channels…”

Context:

It’s true that there are ongoing legal processes, but the statement omits critical facts. The “Unfair Labor Practice” (ULP) mentioned is not routine; it is an active legal complaint alleging retaliation against teachers for union activity.

No one expects the district to comment on pending litigation. What the community expects is for the board to take these allegations seriously enough to authorize an independent third-party investigation into potential retaliation, workplace hostility, and ethical breaches.

By choosing not to act, the board risks allowing abusive or retaliatory practices to continue in our schools unchecked: endangering staff, student learning, and public trust. That is not legal prudence; that is negligence.

“Because these are legal and personnel matters, the board and district leadership are legally and ethically prohibited from sharing details or discussing individual employees in public.”

Context:

That’s true in principle. Yet a Board Member released an open letter during the same week the board was deliberating on a grievance against district leadership, in this letter she publicly defended district leadership while repeatedly referencing her role as a board member.

If confidentiality and ethical duty is so essential, why was this permitted? The community deserves clarity on whether the board applies its ethical standards consistently or selectively.

“For example, some community questions have been about teacher reassignments this year…”

Context:

The board equates regular, minor adjustments to schedules experienced by 37 teachers with what appears to be targeted retaliation of teachers in union leadership and those leading union negotiations last spring. The reality is that the involuntary transfers moved classroom teachers to different schools or completely different positions to teach entirely different grade levels decimating existing programming. These decisions and the unwillingness of the district leadership and board to listen to the concerns of teachers, students, and parents throughout the spring and summer has resulted in significant teacher resignations this summer and fall and has resulted in:

• Combining the 8th grade class into one large class of 38 students for 3 of their core classes and PE despite concerns raised by parents and teachers of the negative impact this will have on student learning.

• 3 of the 4 core subject teachers in the middle school resigned in the first month of the school year. These were teachers with decades of experience in the classroom and a proven record of measurable student growth through student test scores and achievements. The district has since filled these positions, however now these new teachers are in the process of getting to know students and learning our curriculum instead of the level of instruction that should be provided to students at this point in the school year.

• The speech and debate class is no longer offered as dual credit at the high school because the new teacher does not have the credentials to support that, limiting opportunities for students in that class.

“We understand that any lack of detailed information can be frustrating…”

Context:

Respecting confidentiality should never be used as an excuse for avoiding accountability. The board can protect employee privacy while still acknowledging systemic concerns and outlining steps to address them.

Silence under the guise of “legal limits” erodes trust far more than transparency ever could.

“As a board, we are committed to maintaining transparency about what can be shared within the boundaries of the law.”

Context:

Transparency has been steadily decreasing, not increasing. The district’s YouTube channel, where board meetings are posted, has been taken down twice in the last month - no notice of a break in access to these videos was made to the public. Each time the YouTube channel was restored, older meetings and grievance hearings disappeared and the ability of the public to engage with the videos has been changed.

When asked, district leaders called these removals “technical glitches.” Neighboring districts maintain full archives without issue. This looks less like a glitch and more like a deliberate reduction of public access.

“Fulfilling all obligations under state and federal labor law.”

Context:

Federal and state labor laws prohibit retaliation and hostile work environments. A pattern of staff resignations, grievances, and public testimony suggests ongoing violations of both ethical and legal standards.

Our community expects a board that is responsive to concerns and values ensuring a safe workplace for teachers and district staff understanding that this is what is necessary for our students and community to thrive. 

“Continuing professional development and training and conducting the superintendent’s evaluation this spring as scheduled in alignment with Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) guidelines and under their directed guidance.” 

Context:

What professional development or governance training is the board itself receiving? Board members have repeatedly demonstrated confusion about their own responsibilities, particularly regarding recusals, conflicts of interest, and appropriate oversight of the superintendent. The statement’s phrasing that the board acts “under OSBA’s directed guidance” is also misleading. OSBA provides resources and recommendations, it does not direct or assume authority over local board actions. The responsibility for ethical decision-making and district oversight rests squarely with this board.

Moreover, referencing the superintendent’s evaluation “this spring as scheduled” is not an adequate or timely response to the current level of organizational and legal risk facing the district. Teachers, families, and community members have been requesting immediate, independent review and action, not a routine evaluation months from now. Deferring meaningful accountability to the spring evaluation cycle fails to address the present concerns, potential exposure, and the ongoing erosion of trust within the district.

“Listening to our community and hearing a range of perspectives on these matters, including from staff, families, students, and community members who may not feel comfortable speaking up in public ways.”

Context:

If the board were truly listening, community members who sent letters and emails would have received acknowledgment. Many who have spoken publicly report being ignored or even retaliated against.

Listening requires dialogue, not silence.

“We are also working side-by-side with Superintendent Schmerer toward a positive climate in our district…”

Context:

It is impossible to rebuild a “positive climate” while refusing to investigate credible allegations of workplace misconduct and retaliation. Moving forward without accountability is not healing, it is avoidance. It is also continuing to expose the district to risk for ongoing hostile workplace and abusive behaviors. 

“As we move forward, we ask all members of our community to treat one another with the same care and dignity we want our young people to experience.”

Context:

That’s a fair expectation, but leadership must model it first. Several board members have made divisive or defensive social-media posts while ignoring (even deleting) legitimate concerns. Respect is built through accountability, not press releases.

“We will continue to engage in good faith and invite the same in return.”

Context:

True good faith is demonstrated through transparency, responsiveness, and a willingness to self-examine, not through polished statements. The board’s actions to date have not reflected those values.

“We believe that empathy, accountability, and a shared focus on students are the path forward…”

Context:

Empathy and accountability are indeed the path forward but they require honest reckoning with the harm that has already been done. Until the board acknowledges the issues and acts independently of the superintendent’s influence, these words remain empty.

Final Thoughts:

“Good faith” only goes so far when trust has been broken. Our community’s teachers are exhausted. Our students are losing beloved teachers. Classes are being increasingly staffed by substitutes or new teachers without the same expertise and experience.

The Bandon School District is not a private enterprise; it is a public institution funded by taxpayers and accountable to the community it serves. We expect transparency, ethical governance, and independent oversight.

At every step, district leadership and the elected School Board have had opportunities to engage meaningfully with the growing number of concerned teachers, district staff, students, and families. We have asked for responsiveness, dialogue, and for those in leadership to act in alignment with the values that we believe our schools should embody. Instead, we are met with a lukewarm statement that permits harm to continue through willful inaction.

Bandon deserves better. Our teachers, students, and families deserve better. We can, and must, do better.