Adrian Pollut

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When Adrian Pollut was six years old, he volunteered for Meals on Wheels. The start, he said, of a lifelong commitment to trying to help. At 10, he was volunteering for a children’s theater. “After that, I spent a very long time being interested in trying to change the community that I’m in for the better,” he said.  

Pollut moved to Florence seven years ago and has continued to be engaged in his community.

He sits on the board of the Family Leadership Council, (formerly the Parent Advisory Council), served on the United Way’s Governance Consortium, and as treasurer of Siulsaw Family Connection, is a founding board member of Siuslaw Child Care Friends and helps facilitate the Child Care Working Group, run by Siuslaw Vision in Florence.

But it was the March 12, 2025, school board meeting that made him a candidate. It was the meeting where the school board voted to ban a book from the high school library. Less publicized was a board discussion over a proposal to require board approval for supplemental teaching material. That proposal was tabled for further review. Pollut objected to the outcome, but also the process. “I will honestly say I went to that meeting, and I watched what happened, and I listened to all this wonderful testimony from our amazing community members, and I left angry. 

After the meeting, a friend said he should run for a seat on the board. “When I came home, I went and signed up to be in this election,” Pollut said. 

He would not have voted to ban the book “Flamer.” But the bigger issue, Pollut believes, is that the board is micromanaging decisions, rather than making policy. And that these actions, and what he sees as a lack of respect for the teachers and administrators, are pushing good people out of the schools and out of the district.

Pollut, 38, works as a musician and private music teacher. He was born in New Jersey, but his family moved west to Washington, and then at the age of 14, to Oregon. 

All kids need to be respected. He returns to this theme again and again. “I want to help all children succeed through both early childhood education, elementary education, and even beyond that.” Pollut thinks the current board has made decisions that favor one group over another. The book ban highlights that list. He is also concerned about dress code requirements for teachers — an idea he sees as disrespectful. The discussion around supplemental materials and the support for the charter school are other issues top of mind for Pollut. 

It is a sign of the school board overstepping its role, he believes. 

“A school board is about making policy. It should be about supporting administrators and teachers. It should be about raising the quality of education for every kid in the district. The number one thing that the school board should not be about is managing the schools,” Pollut said.

Running the day-to-day in the schools is the job of the principals and superintendent, Pollut said. “I think that is the greatest temptation and the greatest folly of someone who’s put into a position like this. We’re not there to manage teachers. We’re not there to manage principals. We’re there to create policy that helps everyone in the district succeed.”

He believes these decisions contribute to the issue of retention. Teachers feel a lack of respect, and some leave the district. “We shouldn’t expect teachers to just suck it up because they love the job. We should reward them for loving the job. These people are not replaceable. My son will never have another kindergarten teacher. He’ll never be in a classroom with Mr. Morales again. These are not replaceable people. And they don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

Public schools level the playing field, Pollut said. “It is a place where every student comes, every student sits down, and every student is taught by a teacher. Everybody is supposed to have the same chance when they come to this place, you know? It’s the great equalizer, and it’s the place where kids who have nothing get something.”