After six years as superintendent of the Medford School District, Bret Champion said personal attacks and hostility toward public schools overall led him to resign.
In a statement announcing his resignation in February, Champion said “a small, loud contingency” in the district has shifted its focus to "adult-centered issues."
As the Rogue Valley Times has reported, the district’s school board has recently faced a series of complaints filed between board members and staff.
"At the board table, it has gotten more and more contentious," Champion said on JPR's Jefferson Exchange on Wednesday. "There have been personal attacks and complaints and just a lot of high drama."
He said public schools across the country are also under attack, facing a national narrative that is trickling down to the local level.
"When there are small groups of people in highly orchestrated manners that know that a way to perpetuate a narrative is to disrupt, then that's exactly a playbook that was played out at the Medford School District level," he said. "And it's one — talking to my colleagues across the nation — it's happening all over this country."
Champion said he hopes his departure will put the district back on track and said his resignation has already been effective at sparking more conversations across the district.
"It was just a constant stream of conflict, and that’s all we were talking about," he said. "And meanwhile, our students have more needs than we’ve ever seen before in the history of our time as educators."
Data released in the fall by the Oregon Department of Education shows that in the 2023-2024 school year, the district overall tested below the statewide average achievements rates in math and English language arts and above the statewide average achievements rate in science.
Champion said then that those rates were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing focus on school choice, parents choosing not to send their children to public school, inadequate state funding and a trend of fake emergency calls at schools.
The Medford School District struggled last year with a $15 million funding shortfall. Champion said Wednesday that more budget cuts are not anticipated for the district, thanks to Governor Tina Kotek's current proposed budget. The district's first budget meeting of the cycle is on Thursday night.
On Wednesday, Champion also encouraged the public to get involved in the upcoming school board election this May.
"It is a real opportunity for our community to become engaged in what the future of the Medford School District can become," he said.
Champion's final day in Medford will be June 30. He said he doesn’t have a new job lined up after he leaves.
Deputy Superintendent Jeanne Grazioli has been named his interim replacement.
