Election 2023: Meet Eugene 4J position 5 candidates Jenny Jonak and Grant Johnson
Editor's note: The Register-Guard spoke with all eight candidates running in the May 16 election and over the next several days will run articles on the candidates for each of the open positions. This is the third of four articles.
With the 2023 special election coming May 16, eight candidates are vying for four positions on the Eugene School District 4J Board of Directors.
For position 5, attorney Jenny Jonak is running against retired veteran Grant Johnson.
Appointed board member Keerti Hasija Kauffman chose not to run for the seat.
Jenny Jonak
Jonak, 49, grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, and moved to Eugene in 2006. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree and later her law degree. Jonak has owned her own law practice for 22 years and has a real estate broker's license.
She said she came to Eugene looking for a place with an involved community and natural spaces to settle and then raise her children. She has four children, ages 30, 12, 10 and 7. The youngest three attend Roosevelt Middle, Charlemagne Elementary and the Village School, respectively.
"I'm a big believer in public education," Jonak said. "I think it's the backbone of democracy, and I think a strong public school system really reflects the strength of the community."
Jonak took an interest in the school board because of her children. She said one of her children has various disabilities, and she has seen firsthand the difficulties parents of children with disabilities face at 4J in getting the support they need.
She wants to make changes to the system that could better serve those student populations. She mentioned reducing class sizes as well as refocusing the disciplinary system so students of color and students with disabilities are not inequitably targeted.
"A lot of the improvements you can make will help all students," she said. "For example, reducing class sizes and caseloads is going to allow teachers to develop better relationships with their students and help keep them engaged."
She said burnout is inevitable with a lack of educational assistants and large class sizes, adding that it's "impossible for teachers to be as effective as they can be."
Jonak also said she is concerned with 4J's graduation rate for students with disabilities. Compared to other larger school districts, 4J has lower rates. The four-year graduation rate for students with disabilities was 67.5% statewide in 2022 while Eugene's rate was 59.34%.
She would like to see continued and expanded career technical education courses, mentioning the Square One Villages project, which involves high school students building transitional housing structures for unhoused populations, a countywide initiative.
Jonak said as a mom who had her first child at age 19, she knows what works and what doesn't work for students and families, especially for young, single, working parents like she was.
As a lawyer, she has experience bringing people together who have differing opinions to reach a conclusion, she said.
Jonak, who is half Korean, said she values having a diverse school board.
"I've got my kids in these schools, and they're going to be in the schools for at least another 11 years," Jonak said. "It's incredibly important to me that our schools are inclusive, supportive, value all our students, and are providing them with a quality education. I wouldn't be running for school board if those weren't my goals."
Grant Johnson
Johnson, 63, recently returned to Oregon after four decades away.
He served in the U.S. Air Force for more than 20 years of active duty and another 20 years in civil service as a base training manager in Delaware. He retired in 2021.
Johnson grew up in Hermiston before leaving to join the Air Force. He earned his undergraduate degree in human resource management at Wilmington University in Delaware. Johnson has five children and two grandchildren, none of which attend 4J.
Until recently, Johnson said, he had never considered running for the school board. He said he is running out of concern, saying he wants to establish real connections with the young people and students he would be serving as a board member.
"I'm seeing what it is to be a parent today," Johnson said. "In my phase of life, being retired, I can fully commit to being totally plugged in, to where that you're able to add in a great deal of encouragement to these young people who really need it."
Johnson said if he was a business owner, he would be concerned about students who are graduating and joining the local workforce, saying many may not be equipped for the workforce. He said he is troubled by the outcomes of the public school system "we're paying for." He mentioned low test results and graduation rates.
"They are graduating, and not able to master some of these subjects that are so important," Johnson said. "These are the basic concepts of getting out into real life that you need to have these life skills. Too many of them do not have that."
He said teachers, for the most part, are doing a good job, but he is concerned they might not have the tools they need. Johnson also commended the district for acknowledging inequities between schools, such as the north region compared to the south region. He would like to see more transparency and more efforts to balance out opportunities.
Johnson added that he would like to see more opportunities for parent and student input. He would like to create a better system to allow community feedback that wouldn't be going "into the abyss."
As a veteran, Johnson said, he would bring discipline to the board.
"For all of my adult life, wherever I've been in the world, I see types of obstacles as great opportunities for success," Johnson said. "I bring that mentality to this, to serve our community here."
Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Election 2023: Jonak, Johnson vie for Eugene 4J position 5
