August 22, 2007

Alvarado leads district board
Three-year board member Jay Alvarado was elected by the district board to take over chair duties

By Barbara Adams

The Estacada News

After three years as a member of the Estacada District School board, Jay Alvarado (zone 4), has taken on the responsibilities of board chair.

Former board chair, Mark Greene, held the position for the past two years. He decided to step down due to family and work demands–the school board chair position is often like an extra full-time job.

Alvarado moved to Estacada in 2001 with his wife, Debbie, and their three children, who are now 9, 11, and 25. He works as the branch fiscal chief at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland.

He began his involvement with the school district when he joined the Clackamas River Elementary site council. When he met ESD board member Danny Scott, Danny encouraged him to run for an open seat in 2004.

One of the many satisfying aspects of serving on the board is working with the district administrators and district staff, Alvarado said. “They are absolutely fantastic to work with–they’re dedicated people.”

Rather than approach the “challenges” the board faces, Alvarado prefers to view them as “opportunities” to make positive improvements.

“We’re a community that’s on the cusp of more rapid growth, but...the district enrollment has been dipping, and that will make our 2008-09 school year a critical budget year for us,” he said. He added that in addition to the decline in enrollment, there has also been steadily rising costs in payroll, goods and services.

Alvarado, 47, grew up in Southern California where he graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1978. He studied business at Chaffey Community College in Alta Loma, Calif., then finance at California State University in Fullerton. In 1986, he moved to Eugene, Ore., where he worked in the hotel management industry.

In 1991, he went back to school and finished his degree in social science at Portland State University. During that time he also started working for Oregon State Parks as a park ranger in the Columbia River Gorge. “It was an awesome job,” he said. In 1998 he was hired to work as a budget analyst for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

As the new Estacada School District board chair, Alvarado said he plans to provide good leadership that will enable others to take positive action.