Wednesday, May 13, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BuDGET: Community
partners have provided
budget infusion
Continued from page 1
budget, with $12,632,832 in
the general fund. Thanks to
more robust state funding,
that’s about $140,000 bet-
ter than last year’s budget.
However, expenses — almost
entirely made up of person-
nel costs — have gone up.
So, while the district is pro-
jected to receive some $60
more per student, the district
won’t be in a position to hire
more teachers.
“Even though you’ve got
more dollars, you’re not get-
ting more service,” Golden
said.
That could change for the
better if the state legislature
decides to kick more money
into the K-12 budget. The
current local budget is based
on a state budget of $7.255
billion.
“The hope is to get
more money,” Golden said.
“The hope is to get to $7.5
(billion).”
If that happens, Golden
said the district has about
$225,000 in priorities for
the extra money it could
receive. At the top of that list
is a music teacher for Sisters
Elementary School. The dis-
trict would also like to devote
some funds to improving
online programming; allocate
funds to retain its Chinese
language program; fund
instructional coaching; and
get some counseling support
back into the schools, partic-
ularly at Sisters Elementary
School, which lost its coun-
selor position two years
ago and has been working
with Deschutes County per-
sonnel to cover necessary
services.
The “no-layoff” bud-
get does not mean there are
no losses. Two secretar-
ies are retiring from Sisters
High School (SHS) and Rob
Corrigan is leaving teaching
to return to the private sec-
tor, so personnel costs are
reduced through “attrition”
rather than through a layoff.
The level of enrollment
remains a critical issue. Since
state funding is provided on
a per-student basis, the only
way toward a positive bud-
get scenario is for enrollment
to grow. That’s not happen-
ing in Sisters. The district
will end the 2014-15 school
year down approximately 44
students from the 2013-14
year-end enrollment. While
that beat the district’s own
projections, it’s still decline,
not growth.
Golden noted that enroll-
ment is now about the same
as it was when he was first
here in 1996.
Availability of family-
wage jobs and affordable
housing and rentals remain
a challenge for the district to
attract young families with
children.
The district’s innovative
programs, however, remain
a magnet for families inter-
ested in providing their
children with exceptional
opportunities and experi-
ences in programs from
Chinese language instruc-
tion to The Americana
Project music program
to IEE (Interdisciplinary
Environmental Expedition)
classes.
Several local nonprofits
contribute directly to school
district programs.
“I look at the budget as
what keeps our district doing
the Three Rs,” said outgoing
school board member Melvin
Herburger.
He likened the basic bud-
get to a bowl of vanilla ice
cream. Community partners
are contributing the nuts and
chocolate and cherry on top.
On that note, Sisters Folk
Festival Creative Director
Brad Tisdel ran through
with the committee a brief
accounting of the tens of
thousands of dollars the
Sisters Folk Festival (SFF)
nonprofit contributes each
year to school programs.
The festival is just end-
ing the first year of a five-
year “Studio to Schools
Grant” through the Oregon
Community Foundation that
provides a total of $280,000
to develop and support over-
all music programming in the
district. SFF also funds the
SHS luthier (guitar-building)
program; funds a position for
a middle school Americana
Project teacher, and provides
thousands of dollars in sup-
plies, equipment, scholar-
ships and other support.
Other organizations like
the Sisters Science Club sim-
ilarly work to support pro-
grams that would otherwise
not exist.
“We’ve been innovative
and partnered with public/
private entities to improve
our budget,” Golden said.
Budget committee mem-
bers asked a series of probing
questions on how funds and
FTE (full-time-equivalent
personnel) positions were
allocated.
A casual look at the bud-
get would show increases in
administrative personnel in
certain funds — an appear-
ance that some committee
members worry could lead
the public to think the district
was spending more overall
on administration.
The personnel haven’t
changed, according to
Golden, but where they are
allocated in the budget has.
“It’s the same amount of
people; it’s just where you
put ’em,” Golden said.
School board member
Stephen King urged Golden
and financial manager Sandy
Tartaglia to make notes on
the budget that is posted on
the school’s website so that
it is clear where administra-
tive FTE have been moved
around to avoid mispercep-
tions and misunderstandings.
“I think the point is not
so much the reality as the
optics,” he said. “There’s no
reason to raise the ire if we
don’t need to.”
19
Equine illness threatens
state championships
An outbreak of equine her-
pes has put the Oregon High
School Equestrian Teams
state championship event in
peril. As of press time, the
event has been cancelled,
pending the possibility of
rescheduling later in the year.
An outbreak of EHV-1
(Equine Herpes Virus-1)
infected numerous horses
from the Willamette District.
The disease can cause nerve
damage and other long-term
effects. In a letter to par-
ticipants, OHSET officials
stated:
“Due to progressions with
the EHV-1 outbreak the State
Championship Meet has been
cancelled. There is likely
more than one exposure
point and we (the OHSET
State Board and the state
veterinarian) no longer feel
simply keeping Willamette
District horses home pro-
vides enough risk mitigation
to move forward with the
state meet. Given what we
know today about potential
exposure, this is the most
responsible decision we can
make.”
OHSET sent out a survey
to gauge the possibility of
postponing the champion-
ships into June, but it is not
certain that alternative dates
would work. A decision was
to be made late this week.
Outlaws equestrian
Coach Yvette Chandler said,
“Needless to say, this is a
TREATING SPORTS
INJURIES
Children & Adults
heartbreaking blow. A special
consideration goes out to the
seniors who may not get the
opportunity to compete this,
their final high school year. I
totally concur and respect the
OHSET’s board and state vet-
erinarian’s decision to cancel
State for the safety sake of all
equines.
“This has brought about
an amazing show of sports-
manship and horsemanship
statewide, from fine athletes,
families and friends, as well
as all the volunteers that
OHSET depends so heav-
ily on to continue this great
program.”
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