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stuff in the
ODE Classifieds
(Off The Mark,
your daily horoscope
and of course
the crossword.)
Emerald
Several hundred local elementary school children must now be relocated after their schools were slated for closure March 21.
Board shutters two schools
■ Citing reduced state
funding, the Eugene School
Board shut two schools
By Aaron K. Breniman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Many felt that the decision to
close Whiteaker and Bailey Hill el
ementary schools was inevitable,
but six raised hands and a confer
ence call from an absent board
member made it official March 21.
The Eugene School Board voted
unanimously to approve the super
intendent’s recommendation to
close Whiteaker and Bailey Hill el
ementary sc'hools next fall.
“For the past ten years, we’ve
been tightening our belts,” board
member Anette Spickard said.
“The political and economic reali
ty is not going to allow us to main
tain what we would like to main
tain — and it sucks, to put it
briefly.”
Superintendent George Russell
said that closing the schools would
reduce the fixed cost for operating
the district.
“For the past ten years, this dis
trict has had to find ways to cut
and slash programs as the re
sources dwindle,” Russell said.
“The total estimated cost for clos
ing Whiteaker will bring the dis
trict approximately $500,000 in
savings.” Russell admitted it may
not seem like much in a $100 mil
lion budget, but he said every dol
lar counts when looking to main
tain programs.
The board also urged concerned
parents and community members to
force the issue of education funding
to be addressed by the Legislature.
“We need to get this story to legis
lators. Right now the feeling is that
everyone is OK with the K-12 budg
et,” board member Beth Gerot said.
“We’ve all got to get this story out
that this isn’t just a Eugene issue.”
Board members compared the
problem with decreased funding
and enrollment in Eugene to Port
land and North Bend, where
school boards have already had to
close schools.
Bailey Hill students will be re
distributed to Twin Oaks and Mc
Cornack elementary schools, with
some students having the option to
attend Crest Drive Elementary if
space permits. Whiteaker students
will be consolidated with the stu
dents at River Road Elementary,
and those who wish to attend Pat
terson Elementary will be permit
ted to do so as space is available.
While many of the recent school
board meetings have been heavily
attended by community members
voicing opinions on the school clo
sures, only three of the more than
50 people in attendance spoke at
the meeting.
Sharon Aly, a parent of a River
koad Elementary student, attend
ing her first board meeting, said
that River Road Elementary will
welcome the new students.
“We welcome the diversity that
the Whiteaker kids will bring us,”
Aly said. “It will give our kids a
chance to broaden their world by
being exposed to different cultures.”
However, Penny Healy feels that
Whiteaker students will be
shunned when they enter their
new schools, where everyone will
look at them as the “poor kids.”
Healy has been adamant in telling
the board that closing a communi
ty school such as Whiteaker will
have devastating effects on the
children. She attended school
board meetings as well as the fo
rums held at Whiteaker and River
Road elementary schools.
“Honestly, a lot of [Whiteaker]
parents left those meetings feeling
that they weren’t wanted at River
Road,” Healy said.
Healy, the mother of a third
grade student and a 6-year-old,
said she plans to move to Spring
field in order for her children to at
tend Moffitt Elementary School,
which she said has the “same feel
as Whiteaker.”
“My youngest doesn’t even want
to go to school anymore,” Healy
said. “She loved that-school.”
News brief
Arson suspected in house fire
The Eugene fire department re
sponded early Tuesday morning to
a fire alarm at the home of the men’s
basketball team head coach Ernie
Kent. The house, at 3335 Park Hill,
was unoccupied at the time of the
fire and was in the process of being
renovated.
Eugene Police Department
spokeswoman Pam Alejandre said
the fire department called police af
ter responding to the alarm because
they suspected arson. Alejandre
said there were several locations
where a fire had been lit inside of
the house, and there were no fires lit
outside of the house.
“The fires had mostly burned
themselves out by the time the fire
department arrived at the scene,”
Alejandre said, adding there was no
obvious evidence of a break-in. She
said there is no indication of a mo
tive for the fire at this time.
“From here, we’ll process the evi
dence and determine the source of
the fire,” Alejandre said.
Kent was out of town on recruit
ment business but released a state
ment through the University Athlet
ic Department.
“It is very difficult to be on the road
at a time like this and get a phone call
in the middle of the night, because
immediately you start to think about
the safety of your family and your
team,” he said. “It is also very sad that
someone has taken it upon them
selves to do something like this be
cause it is wrong, and whoever did
this endangered the lives of others in
that neighborhood.”
Lindsay Buchele
Oregon Daily Emerald
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403
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school year and Tuesday and Thursday
during the summer by the Oregon Daily
Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the Uni
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member of the Associated Press, the
Emerald operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite 300 of the
Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is pri
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use of papers is prosecutable by law.
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