Sherwood School Board Recap | Nov. 17, 2025
Sherwood School Board talks Turkey Trot, inclement weather policy
SHERWOOD, Ore. — The Sherwood School Board met on Monday, Nov. 17. Board Chair Harmony Carson, Board Vice Chair Abby Hawkins, and directors Matt Kaufman, Hans Moller, and Matt Thornton were all present.
The 19th annual Sherwood Give ‘N’ Gobble Turkey Trot is coming up on Thanksgiving day, Thursday, Nov. 27, at 9 a.m. at Sherwood Middle School. Since 2007, the program has raised $500,000 and donated 80,000 pounds of food for local families in need and the Helping Hands backpack meals for kids.
“These guys have been working diligently for food insecurity,” said Moller. “The Turkey Trot … is a huge food bank opportunity. If anybody wants to walk, you don’t have to run.”
Overview
The board heard presentations on inclement weather policies, fiscal updates, high dosage tutoring, and the district's partnership with the Sherwood Police Department having Student Resource Officers in the schools.
Gary Bennet, the school district’s chief financial officer, gave the financial report.
“This number right here is our total resources available: They’re $188,000 above what we budgeted,” Bennet said. “And our total costs are about $78,000 less than we budgeted, so all that is in good shape.”
The board voted unanimously to approve personnel employment updates, acquiring school buses, reopening budget committee vacancies, and Oregon School Board Association board members and committees elections.
The board did not receive any applications for the budget committee following the resignation of member Matt Kaufman, so the position is being reopened for two of a three-year term, ending on June 30, 2027. There are two more open positions on the budget committee that the board is also seeking to fill, which will end on June 30, 2028. The board is aiming to appoint new budget committee members at its regular January meeting.
There was no public comment.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 12, 2026.
Watch the full school board meeting here.
Inclement weather
The Sherwood School District’s policy on cancelling class for inclement weather ideally starts early with planning, preparation, training, and drills. Brady Strutz, chief operations officer with the Sherwood School District, gave the presentation to the board.
“We take a measured, planned approach to every single inclement weather event that we experience,” Strutz said. “Our priority is the safety of our students and our staff and our community.”
Strutz said when the weather is bad and the forecast says it will stay bad, the district makes the call to cancel class the night before and to communicate that with families.
The school district’s process starts at 3 a.m. with the transportation team checking the roads and bus routes for safety, and checking the conditions throughout the town.
“We want to make sure our buses can serve all of our areas, and we want to make sure all of our drivers can navigate through town,” Strutz said.
The operations and facilities team monitors conditions in the school buildings, keeping an eye on power, water, and heat, to report the findings at 4:30 a.m.
“Our goal is to get communication out as early as possible,” Strutz said.
Parents can sign up for the district’s ParentSquare to get weekly newsletters with weather alerts, check the district website, or get information from Flash Alert.
“We really take seriously the opportunity to have our kids on site as much as possible, and when their safety is in jeopardy, we have a process that we stick to and we take really seriously,” Strutz said. “Anytime school is closed, we’re also closed in the evening for all campus events. We’re trying to get people home before there’s any doubt as to the safety of road conditions.”
Evening events are also cancelled when there is early dismissal.
“We have a lot of student drivers and especially getting to and from mainly the high school,” Strutz said. “Sometimes a two-hour delay allows us to say we think it’s clearing, but we also will put out reminders to families to say it’s a family decision. If you want to drive your kid or not let them drive, that’s great, that’s your call.”
Two snow days are built into the school district’s calendar.
“I want our kids to be safe and sound in school and have no weather events,” said Superintendent Aaron Downs. “I used to like snow days as a kid. As a superintendent, I don’t enjoy them as much.”
Staffing schools
Six staff resigned, and two requested unpaid parental leave. The board unanimously approved increasing the hours of 10 classified employees and two extra duty staffers.
They also approved two temporary staffers with contracts slated to expire in May, 2026.
The unpaid parental leave requests include a middle school science teacher who plans to return in June 2026, and a Ridges Elementary School instructional coach who plans to return in March 2026.
The resignations include a third grade teacher at Hawks View Elementary, a Middleton Elementary School instructional assistant, an Independence Academy special education instructional assistant, a Sherwood High School special education instructional assistant, a Sherwood High School extra-duty wrestling coach, and a Sherwood High School extra-duty swim team safety supervisor.
OSBA elections
The Oregon School Board Association is one general state association with up to 24 elected representatives across 14 geographical regions.
School boards that are members vote regularly on the OSBA board of directors and legislative policy committee positions, and also adopt various resolutions presented by the OSBA.
This year, two Washington County board positions are open on the OSBA board, as well as three positions on the legislative policy committee.
The Sherwood School Board voted unanimously for Tristan Irvin of the Tigard-Tualatin School District and Nancy Thomas of the Hillsboro School District to be appointed to the OSBA board of directors.
The Sherwood School Board voted unanimously for Melissa Potter of the Beaverton School District, Becky Tymchuk of the Northwest Regional Education Service District, and Crystal Weston of the Tigard-Tualatin School District to be appointed to the OSBA legislative policy committee.
Buying buses
Sherwood School District needs more school buses for the late 2025-26 or early 2026-27 school years.
The board voted unanimously to purchase two new school buses.
One 24-passenger bus is quoted to cost $165,836; and one 77-passenger bus is quoted to cost $203,167. About 70% of the cost is slated to be reimbursed by the state of Oregon over the next 10 years.
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