OSBA Board forwards caucus voting seat issue to members

OSBA members will decide on granting a voting OSBA Board seat to the Oregon School Board Members of Color Caucus. (July photo by Alex Pulaski, OSBA) 

OSBA’s Board of Directors took action Saturday to allow its members to vote on whether the Oregon School Board Members of Color Caucus should have a new voting seat on the Board.

Currently the caucus holds an ex-officio, non-voting Board seat.

The caucus’s co-presidents, Ana del Rocio (David Douglas) and Jessica Arzate (Multnomah ESD) have said that providing the caucus a voting seat would allow its members to advocate better for children of color at the state and national levels.

The caucus’s core value is “to promote quality education for all students, focusing on the needs of students of color.”

The OSBA Board engaged in a spirited debate over whether to forward to members a resolution to establish a caucus voting seat on the Board. Much of the opposition focused on whether providing such a seat would infringe on the Board’s governance model and potentially tilt the balance of voting power toward Multnomah County.

Those Board members who spoke in support of asking members to consider giving the caucus a vote said the step is important to kick-starting greater Board representation from communities of color.

The Board’s ultimate vote to forward the resolution means that members will decide the issue this fall. The other resolution on the ballot in November and December involves OSBA’s 2019-20 proposed legislative policies and priorities.

Also on the ballot will be voting for seats on the OSBA Board and one seat on the Legislative Policy Committee.