A Common Question
I have been asked a lot recently…
| How much does your position pay?
And the answer is: Nothing. Directors elected to School Boards in Oregon are unpaid volunteers. I LOVE what I do, that’s why I’m here. I still have a day job as a residential contractor, and serving the people of Bethel is what I do in my “free time”, if there is such a thing!
This section on the District website sums it up neatly:
“The seven-member Bethel School Board is the policy-making body of the school district. The 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.”
My wife and I raise 4 kids, and I started serving on the all-but-dead PTO at my oldest son’s school when he started Kindergarten remotely due to the State’s COVID requirements. He was in 4J, and our PTO saw the district dropping the ball for students in that time, so we rebuilt the PTO to serve independently from 4J, figuring out how to raise money when we weren’t allowed to see anybody. We added value and structure, and shoveled as much support as we could at the school. That experience prompted me to run for election to the Bethel Board, because my other 3 kids will be going here. Much to my relief, none of the corruption or favoritism that I was seeing in 4J was present in Bethel.
My daughter started school this year (2024-25), with my younger boys soon to follow. Bethel is the place to be. This community is incredible, and I’m honored to be of service.
Caleb