Milton-Freewater Unified School District, Oregon, elections

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Milton-Freewater Unified School District
District details
School board members: 7
Students: 1,629 (2022-2023)
Schools: 4 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Milton-Freewater Unified School District is a school district in Oregon (Umatilla County). During the 2023 school year, 1,629 students attended one of the district's four schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:

Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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Election rules

View election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Oregon are held on the Third Tuesday in May every two years in odd-numbered years.

See law: Oregon Statutes Chapters 255 and 332

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

• Filing deadline date: March 18, 2027
• General election date: May 18, 2027

Election system

School board members in Oregon are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Oregon are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Statute governing nonpartisan elections governs the election procedures for school district board member elections and prohibits the inclusion of any information or designations on the ballot other than the names of the candidates.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335

Winning an election

The school board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.124

Term length and staggering

School board members in Oregon have four-year terms.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.018

Oregon Statute states that each district must hold a school board election every two years to elect board members to four-year terms. Most districts elect as close to half of their board members as possible every two years.

See law: Oregon Statute Section 255.335

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members in Oregon are elected by voters at large, by voters from zones (sub-districts), or through a combination of the two. Nominating petitions for school board candidates can also contain signatures from the district at large, from voters within sub-districts, or through a combination of the two. School board seats can be nominated from zones but elected at large. School board members are nominated and elected according to position numbers for both at-large seats and by-sub-district seats. School board members are elected at large by default. Zones (sub-districts) for nominating petitions can be established through school board resolution or petition and voter approval processes. Once sub-districts for nominating petitions are established, the school board can also vote to establish that positions nominated by voters from sub-districts must also be elected by voters from those sub-districts.

See law: Oregon Statutes Chapter 332

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The deadline for school board candidates to file nominating petitions and declarations of candidacy is 61 days before the May general election in odd-numbered years. This means the school board candidate filing deadline is in mid-March in odd-numbered years. The filing window is 40 days long.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.235 

School board candidates cannot file nominating petitions and declarations of candidacy until 40 days before the filing deadline. The filing deadline is 61 days before the May general election, which means the window for candidates to file opens 101 days before the May general election in early February in odd-numbered years.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.235

The term of school board members officially expires on June 30 following the election of their replacements, which means the term of newly elected school board members officially begins on July 1 following their election to office.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.138

 

About the district

School board

The Milton-Freewater Unified School District consists of seven members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members

Name	Year assumed office	Year term ends
Tim McElrath		2029
Don Miller		2029
Kathy Silva		2029
Mary Gutierrez	2025	2029
Vince Ruzicka	2025	2029
Kelly Kessler		2027
Claudia Limon		2027

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Milton-Freewater Unified School District

Office Name	Current Officeholder	Party	% School District Covered	% Other District Covered
Oregon House of Representatives District 58	Bobby Levy	Republican Party	73%	3%
Oregon House of Representatives District 57	Greg Smith	Republican Party	27%	1%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Revenue
• Expenditures

Revenue, 2020-2021

SOURCE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Federal:	$2,807,000	$1,702	12%
Local:	$4,566,000	$2,769	19%
State:	$16,526,000	$10,022	69%
Total:	$23,899,000	$14,493

Expenditures, 2020-2021

TYPE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Total Expenditures:	$23,577,000	$14,297
Total Current Expenditures:	$21,719,000	$13,171
Instructional Expenditures:	$13,523,000	$8,200	57%
Student and Staff Support:	$1,289,000	$781	5%
Administration:	$3,250,000	$1,970	14%
Operations, Food Service, Other:	$3,657,000	$2,217	16%
Total Capital Outlay:	$463,000	$280
Construction:	$27,000	$16
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other:	$19,000	$11
Interest on Debt:	$1,316,000	$798

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	PS			PS			PS
2018-2019	29	>=50	PS	24	PS	<50	36
2017-2018	30	<50		24	<50	40-59	38
2016-2017	24	<50		18	PS	<50	32
2015-2016	20	PS	PS	15	<50	21-39	28
2014-2015	21	PS	PS	17	<50	40-59	26
2013-2014	45	PS		38	PS	40-59	50-54
2012-2013	49	PS	PS	43	<50	60-79	56
2011-2012	53	PS	>=50	50	PS	40-59	58
2010-2011	44	PS	PS	36	PS	21-39	55

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	PS			PS
2018-2019	42	>=50	PS	35	PS	>=50	52
2017-2018	42	>=50		34	<50	60-79	51
2016-2017	41	>=50		35	PS	>=50	50
2015-2016	42	PS	PS	35	<50	60-79	51
2014-2015	35	PS	PS	30	<50	40-59	42
2013-2014	53	PS		40-44	PS	60-79	60-64
2012-2013	60	PS	PS	51	<50	60-79	70
2011-2012	59	PS	>=50	48	PS	60-79	72
2010-2011	73	PS	PS	67	PS	>=80	80

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2019-2020	85-89		PS	85-89		PS	85-89
2018-2019	80-84	PS		80-84		PS	70-79
2017-2018	80-84			80-84		PS	80-89
2016-2017	80-84	PS	PS	>=90	PS	>=50	70-79
2015-2016	70-74	PS		70-74	PS	PS	70-79
2014-2015	70-74	PS		65-69		PS	80-89
2013-2014	75-79		PS	75-79	PS		70-79
2012-2013	65-69		PS	60-64	PS	PS	60-69
2011-2012	70-74			65-69	PS		70-74
2010-2011	60-64	PS	PS	60-64	PS	PS	65-69

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Enrollment
• Demographics

Year	Enrollment	Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023	1,629	-2.5
2021-2022	1,669	1.2
2020-2021	1,649	-1.3
2019-2020	1,671	-6.4
2018-2019	1,778	2.5
2017-2018	1,734	-2.0
2016-2017	1,768	2.0
2015-2016	1,733	-3.5
2014-2015	1,793	-4.6
2013-2014	1,875	-1.1
2012-2013	1,896	-4.2
2011-2012	1,976	-1.3
2010-2011	2,001	-0.1
2009-2010	2,004	1.0
2008-2009	1,984	-2.9
2007-2008	2,041	-0.6
2006-2007	2,053	5.8
2005-2006	1,934	2.5
2004-2005	1,886	-0.8
2003-2004	1,901	0.2
2002-2003	1,898	-4.3
2001-2002	1,980	2.1
2000-2001	1,939	-0.4
1999-2000	1,946	0.0

Racial Demographics, 2022-2023

RACE	Milton-Freewater Unified School District (%)	Oregon K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.4	1.2
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	0.9	4.0
Black	0.5	2.3
Hispanic	59.9	25.3
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.3	0.8
Two or More Races	1.6	7.2
White	36.6	58.7

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Milton-Freewater Unified School District had 104.48 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 15.59.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten:	1.00
Kindergarten:	9.21
Elementary:	65.79
Secondary:	28.48
Total:	104.48

Milton-Freewater Unified School District employed 2.00 district administrators and 8.00 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators:	2.00
District Administrative Support:	5.00
School Administrators:	8.00
School Administrative Support:	12.98

Other staff, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides:	58.84
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors:	2.00
Total Guidance Counselors:	1.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors:	0.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors:	0.00
Librarians/Media Specialists:	1.00
Library/Media Support:	0.00
Student Support Services:	3.60
Other Support Services:	52.63

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Milton-Freewater Unified School District operates four schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

List of schools

SCHOOL NAME	NUMBER OF STUDENTS	GRADES
Central Middle School	386	6-8
Ferndale Elementary School	231	4-5
Gib Olinger Elementary School	478	KG-3
Mcloughlin High School	491	9-12

About school boards

Education legislation in Oregon

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See also

School Boards	Education Policy	Local Politics	Oregon
List of school districts in Oregon Oregon school board elections, 2025 School board elections, 2025 School board recalls School board authority in Oregon	Oregon Department of Education Public education in Oregon	Municipal government Local courts Local ballot measures Recalls	Oregon Oregon elections, 2025 Oregon State Legislature Oregon state executive offices

External links

Office website

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