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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2019)
OUR 112th Year November 15, 2019 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 Gearhart, SEPRD eye elementary school Property offers limited zoning potential By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal R.J. Marx Reita Fackerell, Dan Jesse and Kerry Smith listen to Skyler Archibald’s presentation seeking Gearhart participation in the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District. Gearhart eyes elementary school, but don’t hold your breath With Gearhart Elementary School on the market at $1.9 million, city officials feel they have a pretty good shot at maintaining the ered outdoor basketball courts. Designated public-/semi-public, zoning code limits uses to a government facility, community meeting building, public service use, or educational purposes. The property is not zoned for residential or commercial use, which would require a zone change. Even a park could require a zone change, Mayor Matt Brown said at the Nov. 6 City Council meeting. property for recreation or community space. Either through the auspices of the city or the Sunset Empire Recreation District, City Council members began the first discussions of a potential buy from the Seaside School District. The elementary school is slated to be closed in June as students move to a new campus in Seaside’s Southeast Hills. The 32,000-square-foot elementary school building sits on 8.4 acres, and includes a main school with gymnasium, cafeteria, four modular buildings and cov- See School, Page A6 BUILDING ATTENDANCE AT SEASIDE By KATHERINE LACAZE For Seaside Signal T he Oregon Department of Education’s recently released profiles on the Seaside School District and its individual schools shows positive signs in the areas of attendance and graduation rates, while students across the district and state continue struggling with achieve- ment in mathematics. The purpose of the Oregon At-A- Glance profiles, released annually in mid-October, is “to give a snapshot of some important markers for school dis- tricts,” Seaside Superintendent Sheila Roley said, adding the data encompassed in the reports “is certainly not represen- tative of everything going on in the aca- demic programs.” “We think they’re important, but we also keep them in perspective as just one part of the picture,” she said. “Ultimately, our job is for students to leave high school and to have the skills to be positive members of their community in a multitude of ways.” Key indicators highlighted in the profiles include the number of regular attenders, or students who attended more than 90% of their enrolled school days; academic performance in English lan- guage arts and mathematics; ninth-grad- ers on track to graduate; the on-time grad- uation rate of 12-graders; and class sizes. Johnna Timmes, executive director of instructional services at the Northwest Regional ESD, said looking at academic indicators and disaggregating the data can help educators have “a clearer pic- ture on who is achieving and where we may need to put more resources in place to close academic disparities.” However, she added, one marker that is hard to mea- sure but has a direct effect on student suc- cess is school climate data. “Do students feel good about their school? Do they have trusting relation- ships with at least one adult in their school building? Are their classes and curriculum engaging and aligned with the world that they live in?” Timmes said. “When stu- dents answer these questions in positive, affirmative ways, you are likely to see a healthy learning environment.” Getting students to school According to the At-A-Glance profiles, the percentage of regular attenders at both Gearhart and The Heights elementary schools increased to 83% for the 2018- 19 school year, which is above the state average of 80%. At Seaside High School, the rate of regular attenders increased by 6% to 72% in 2018-19. Broadway Mid- dle School and Cannon Beach Academy both experienced slight decreases in reg- ular attendance. The high school has been hovering between 62% and 65% for attendance for the last four years, so the increase is a welcome change influenced by concerted efforts made by the district. “We’ve taken some really focused steps on trying to communicate with fam- ilies in the community about the impor- tance of attendance,” Roley said. See Attendance, Page A6 Gearhart considers downtown Students vote on school names, mascots Trillium Coho Creek ban on ‘formula uses’ By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Wendy’s? McDonald’s? Burger King? Probably not in downtown Gearhart if officials move forward with plans to modify city code and prohibit so-called “formula use.” The restrictions would apply to any restaurant or bar that has four or more establishments in oper- ation anywhere in the country. The code could also exclude busi- nesses with standardized merchan- dise, facades, signs or services. It will “take a wordsmith,” City Planner Carole Connell said of the new verbiage regulating down- town uses. The conversation began in Feb- ruary when the Planning Commis- sion heard from Cannon Beach Community Development Direc- tor Jeff Adams on how that city is managing commercial devel- opment downtown. The Planning Commission and the City Council held a work session last week. “Folks were concerned about businesses like Dollar General coming into town,” Mayor Matt Brown said. While the city has a Dairy Queen, U-Haul and Sherwin-Wil- liams in the commercial zone along U.S. Highway 101, code changes would not affect exist- ing businesses. “But it might be See Zoning, Page A6 Elementary, or Pacific Ridge Elementary? By KATHERINE LACAZE Seaside Signal The students at The Heights and Gearhart elementary schools got a taste of a critical democratic pro- cess during Election Day on Nov. 5 as they cast their ballots to determine the name, colors, and mascot for the new combined elementary school. One by one, the students stuck their ballots in voter boxes at each school, which were presided over by Gearhart Mayor Matt Brown and Seaside Mayor Jay Barber. After per- forming the task, they received an “I Voted” sticker. Katherine Lacaze Students offer their choices of a new name and mascot for the elementary school. Gearhart Librarian Laura Stew- art, who is on the Bringing Our Ele- mentary Schools Together Commit- tee, said they handed out hundreds of surveys during registration, at the Seaside Farmers Market, at football See Vote, Page A6