30
Wednesday, April 26, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
ENROLLMENT: Funding
is directly tied to
student numbers
Continued from page 1
based on enrollment num-
bers, fewer students means
less money in the coffers.
The state this year provides
$7,548 per ADM (average
daily membership — a num-
ber that does not correspond
exactly to per-student fund-
ing, since some students are
counted differently for fund-
ing purposes). Coming in
31.5 students below projec-
tions means the district will
come up short in expected
state funding to the tune of
roughly $235,000.
Part of the shortfall,
according to Superintendent
Curt Scholl, is a loss of inter-
district transfers (about 15
fewer than projected). The
superintendent notes that
while Sisters continues to
offer small class sizes and
innovative programing, there
are more education options
available than ever across
the region, including online
education and the Redmond
Proficiency Academy, which
draw students looking for
more educational flexibil-
ity and a different learning
environment.
Additionally, there were
approximately 39 home-
schooled students in the dis-
trict at the beginning of this
year.
Scholl believes that stu-
dents that migrate toward
alternatives are “students we
should be able to get back.”
He believes that the key
question in attracting and
retaining such students is,
“How do we as a small dis-
trict keep expanding our
options for our kids — and
what does that look like?”
A more difficult hurdle is
the demographics and eco-
nomics of Sisters. Though
the local housing market is
healthy, there is a critical
dearth of rental housing and
the demographics of those
moving to the area means
that more people does not
necessarily correlate to more
students.
“Growth is happening,”
Scholl said. “For us, we get
a higher percentage of folks
who are retiring instead of
families.”
The challenge of attract-
ing family-wage jobs to
Sisters and the challenge of
creating workforce housing
that is in the reach of younger
families puts downward pres-
sure on enrollment.
“I think those are the two
equal challenges that we
have,” Scholl acknowledged.
Small district size means
that the comings and goings
of just a few families has a
big impact. Scholl noted that
one family this year came to
Sisters on an extended vaca-
tion. They enrolled several
children in the district —
then pulled them out again
when their time in Sisters
was done.
That sort of thing also
makes projecting enrollment
hard to do.
“It’s not an exact sci-
ence,” Scholl acknowledged.
And, subsequent to The
Nugget’s interview with
Scholl last week, the district
received enrollment paper-
work for four new students
for next year.
Going into budgeting ses-
sions, the district is pegging
enrollment projections for
2017-18 at last February’s
number of 1,080, which is
down from last year’s projec-
tion of 1,109.
That means tightening
the belt, and tightening the
belt means reductions in per-
sonnel. Scholl reported that
the district will “absorb one
retirement” and has already
notified one teacher that they
won’t have a position next
year.
The district is now await-
ing word on where per-stu-
dent funding is coming in
from the State of Oregon for
next year. Though the district
must complete its budget in
June, the actual amount of
state funding is not expected
from the Oregon legislature
until some time in July.
TICKETS: Event is set
to spur out second
weekend in June
LISTING: For ODA,
state issues unrelated
to each other
Continued from page 3
Continued from page 1
On Sunday, the Kiwanis
Buckaroo Breakfast will be
served from 7 to11 a.m. and
the Cowboy Church Service
will be held at 9 a.m., both at
the rodeo grounds.
Emylia Breckel, Sisters
PRCA Rodeo Queen, will
reign over the 77th annual
rodeo. Each performance will
feature the grand entry, wild
horse race, tie-down roping,
bareback riding, steer wres-
tling, saddle-bronc riding,
team roping, bull riding, and
barrel racing. The Xtreme
Bulls event is bull riding
only.
Cathy Williams, director
of ticket sales said, “Tickets
are selling fast. It is wise
to order now if you have
a group or want specific
locations.”
The ticket office is open
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Monday through Saturday.
For tickets and informa-
tion, call the ticket hotline at
541-549-0121 or 1-800-827-
7522, or stop by the ticket
office at 220 W. Cascade Ave.
in Sisters from 10 a.m. to
noon and 2 to 4 p.m. Visit the
webpage, www.sistersrodeo.
com for more information.
Sisters Rural Advisory,
LLC, the entity under which
the activist group Save Our
Skies operates, submitted
testimony asking that ODA
not approve the listing and
take no further action. The
group cited concerns over
ODA’s process, and the
recent Oregon Department
of Transportation demand for
the return of nearly $400,000
in grant funds that had been
allocated to the airport for
improvements.
They also cited the ongo-
ing issue of a runway “run-
out” that was built on prop-
erty belonging to the home-
owners association of Sisters
Eagle Air Estates, land that
may be considered wetlands.
The group argued that
it, “create(s) confusion and
frustration among the public
when one arm of State gov-
ernment, Oregon Department
of Aviation (ODA), provides
Classifieds are online at
NuggetNews.com
recognition by an upgrade
in listing at the same time as
ODOT and Division of State
Lands (DSL) are conduct-
ing significant investigations
involving the same airport.”
A representative of air-
port owners Benny and Julie
Benson informed The Nugget
last week regarding the
ODOT demand, that “Since
receiving the notification
from ODOT the Bensons have
reviewed the request and have
requested and been granted a
meeting with ODOT on May
3, 2017.”
The Department of State
anticipated making a site visit
regarding the wetlands ques-
tion this week.
ODA has noted repeatedly
that the various airport issues
are separate and unrelated.
ODA Director Mitch
Swecker told The Nugget,
“The timing of the results of
the investigation by ODOT
are coincidental, unfortu-
nately, and therefore could
be conflated to be linked to
Appendix M/Exhibit 2. Per
our legal advice, our job is to
follow the law and continue
to be fair to all the parties.”
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