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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2016)
2 Wednesday, April 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Celebrate community and our schools By Winter Lewis Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: Voters’ pamphlets are often used as fire starters on these cold Central Oregon spring mornings. Not this time, not in my house. Curious, I immediately flipped through to find the arguments against the upcom- ing school bond measure. There were none. BUT, there were several pages in favor of the bond. My favorite snippits: “...$10.25 per month”(assessed $300k); and “Our commu- nity supports our kids and our kids support our community.” — J. Bachtold I married into a third-generation Aylor fam- ily from our tiny town of Sisters and often hear stories of pride in how our unique community stands in the gap for each other. As a parent of a 2012 grad, I can attest to the direct impact that Sisters School District was in our son’s success, who will graduate nursing school this Friday after four arduous/grueling years. I’m so thankful for this community and fel- low teachers who supported the prior construc- tion bond 14 years ago, from which Sebastian directly benefitted. I am a homeowner who will be honored to be part of the financial responsibility from this bond. Recently, I heard a keynote speak of the irony of magazine title progression (or deteri- oration). First, it was Life magazine (included everyone, everywhere), then People magazine (a slightly narrower view), then there was Us magazine (whatever group you identify with, but certainly not everyone) and now in 2016 we have Self magazine (because that is who we now only cater to. Really?). Please look up and see how 35 cents a day will positively impact all of us who enjoy this beautiful place we are fortunate enough to call home. Future generations will learn by example what it means to invest in ALL generations, as it is time to rally and invest in theirs. Three yes votes coming from our home (one absentee). Becky Aylor See LETTERS on page 9 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Chance showers Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Sunny Sunny 54/32 60/34 58/34 60/30 70/34 75/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. On May 17, the Sisters School District is proposing a general obligation bond for major maintenance and facility upgrades, Measure 9-108. The intent of a bond is to free up dollars for use in the classroom immediately, take care of “100,000-mile” repairs, and upgrade facili- ties that are no longer in working order. As a preface, it needs to be emphasized that bonds are an integral and nor- mal part of the funding of our schools in tandem with local option levies and fixed tax rates. Since 1990, fixed tax rates for schools have dropped 30 percent per stu- dent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Local levies and bonds help compensate for this drop. A short survey of tax liabilities in neighboring districts demonstrates that the Sisters School District is below Redmond, Bend/ La Pine and Madras schools. With the addition of an over- due bond, the total tax rate for Sisters School District will be at or below these neighboring districts. This is cause for celebration. Our schools have historically performed better, by state academic benchmarks, com- pared to our neighboring districts, at a lower cost. It should be noted that with the State’s “new nor- mal” of school funding, with bonds and levies support- ing reduced fixed-rate dol- lars, school districts must be creative in their financing of building maintenance. As such, building mainte- nance can be divided into two main categories: rou- tine maintenance and major maintenance. Think of it like your car. The Sisters School District has taken care of all regular oil changes, rota- tion of tires, and changed spark plugs through its routine maintenance pro- grams. Major maintenance, or the “100,000-mile” proj- ects, have been funded at a lower rate since 2011 when, in the face of a recession, the District did not reis- sue a bond as others were retired. Measure 9-108 will get us back to healthy bond levels to invest more in major maintenance projects. Beyond the funding nuances, let’s celebrate what is good about this bond, the schools and this community. Notably, the process in which this bond was formed deserves celebration. The new administration and school board engaged the Sisters constituents to help shape the list of major maintenance items to be brought before the voters. They listened, calibrated and are ready to execute the prioritized maintenance with an independent proj- ect manager and separate citizens oversight commit- tee. Building in these new oversight mechanisms will support the District’s goal of sound quality and prudent use of funds. Let’s celebrate that enrollment decline, after years of economic head- winds, has plateaued out with signs of growth. A bond now will help us catch these shifting, favorable winds. Functional facili- ties, improved classroom resources, and a renewed pride in the schools will aid recruitment of new fami- lies and neighboring stu- dents in an open enrollment environment. Let’s celebrate the fact that the presence of strong schools has contributed to the improvement of our per- sonal wealth, locally. Ask any Realtor in town: The presence of good schools supports a strong housing market. Let’s celebrate the sym- biotic relationship of the schools and the community. The intellectual resources available within the com- munity have given our kids programs that are simply not found in any other dis- trict. Flight instruction, Americana Project, Luthier programs, IEE and Ecos are all rich programs that supplement and support our students’ formal educational opportunities. Finally, our new adminis- tration has been busy build- ing on these programs to stay nimble in a dynamic and changing educational landscape. Our future looks bright. Let’s celebrate this. Join me in voting “Yes” on Measure 9-108. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
