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News
October Special E d it
Bond could provide millions in funding for district
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u M ary W ood _________________
Staff Reporter
With financial struggles
in the forefront of the public
consciousness, funding
public schools can seem like
a too much of a sacrifice.
However, the West Linn -
Wilsonville School District
has two money-saving
measures on the Clackamas
County ballot: one of these
measures is a $98 million
construction bond (3-308),
and the other is a $37.5
million measure (3-307) to
pay for teachers and staff.
Neither measure would
increase property taxes.
The lack of tax increase
is a way to provide stability
for the homeowner,
according to Roger Woehl,
superintendent. The district
makes sure it is paying off
old bonds before it tries to
pass new ones.
The measure that would
provide funding for 80
teachers and 80 classified
staff members would give
the district $7.5 million
a year for five years.
Dale Hoogestrat, school
board chairman, told the
Oregonian that the bond
is necessary to go along
with the construction
bond. If the district can't
hire new teachers and staff
m em b e rs, tHey ca n 't m ak e
n ew s c h o o ls . W ith o u t th is
m ea su re p a ssin g , fu n d in g
could be lost, and West
Linn High School could lose
teachers.
"Class sizes would be
huge," Woehl said. He
estimates that some classes
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could have nearly 40 people.
From the construction
bond, approximately $59
million would go to the
creation of new schools.
A 500 student primary
one of the most important
goals of the bond.
"We need a good place
to learn for all students,"
he said. "We're keeping
the quality of education
Primary School will
probably set the standard
for the other construction.
About four million
dollars would go to
improving athletic fields
school would be created
in Wilsonville, and a 300
student primary school
with room for expansion
would be created in West
Linn. The West Linn school
would like be completed
after the Wilsonville school,
according to Tim Woodley,
Director of Operations.
These schools would have
all supplies ready by the
time students and teachers
high." Currently, there
are 400 students in five
schools learning in portable
classrooms, and there are
160 students in leased
facilities like the Arts and
Technology High School.
The bond would allow more
students to be in permanent
classrooms.
Six million dollars
would go to library-
related expenses. New and
and facilities. Turf would be
placed on the football field
at Rosemont Ridge Middle
School, as well as on the
softball fields at Rosemont
and Wilsonville High
School. The plan to resurface
the softball fields was fueled
in part by a desire to make
the fields equal in quality
to the baseball fields, in
compliance with Title IX.
Five million dollars
o ccu p ie d the b u ild in g ,
in clu d in g lib ra ry b o o k s,
im p ro v ed lib ra rie s w o u ld
b e ad d ed to C e d aro ak P ark
w o u ld b e sp e n t on food -
related ex p en ses. O ld
technology and supplies.
This new school budget
would also include a plan
for rebuilding Sunset
Primary School, as well as
a plan for a future middle
school. Woehl considers this
Primary School and Stafford
Primary School, and library
renovations would occur
at Bolton Primary School.
Woodley told The West
Linn Tidings that the latest
remodel at Willamette
appliances, pipes and wires
would be replaced in the
kitchens at Stafford, Bolton
and Cedaroak. A new, large
freezer would be placed
near the district's main
building to replace the old
freezer in Wilsonville.
For other miscellaneous
projects, $24 million would
be set aside. A small
portion of this would be
used to remodel the lower
level of Bolton. It would
also include district wide
technology and a large sum
to go towards maintenance
for parts of schools that
are degrading. Most of this
would go to Sunset, the
oldest school in the district.
The 700 building is not
planned as a renovation
project, but it may be part of
a bond in 2012 according to
Woehl.
Woehl does not see
items being set aside or
postponed. "With a bond,
you make every effort to do
what you said you would
do," he said. Doing more
could be a possibility too
if money is donated. In the
1990's, $1.3 million was
donated to provide artificial
turf in Wilsonville.
"Opportunities arise,"
Woehl said. He mentioned
that when conservation
projects are done, people
are often willing to match
money, which is something
the district might take
advantage of. "When you
try to pass a bond its way
too much money, but later
on it's not enough," Woehl
said.
i
If th e m e a s u r e s d o n 't
pass, it's up to the school
board to decide whether
they'll be placed on another
ballot in the future, but
Woehl is sure it would come
back onto a ballot at some
point.
National Merit commended students named
a
C alley L athrop ________
Staff Reporter
WLHS is known for out
standing academic achieve
ments. This includes the
tradition of numerous Na
tional Merit scholars being
named each year.
This y ear nine sen io rs
received the title of Com
mended Scholars. They are:
Kyle Brooks, Ryan Nesbit,
Rohini Deb, Echo Thomas,
Siena Combs, James Pe
tersen, Veronika Jonsson,
Sachie Hopkins Hayakawa
and Alyssa Aramaki.
"It’s basically just an honor.
We feel proud of ourselves
for being in the top five
percent, it was definitely a
surprise. There may not be
scholarships but it can go
on our college applications
and make us look cooler,"
Aramaki said.
In order to become a Com
mended scholar, students
must score very high on the
PS AT... within the top 5% of
the 1.4 trillion high-school
juniors who took the test.
"I am honored to be a Com
mended Scholar. I didn't think
about it too much when I took
the PSAT, but putting some
effort in paid off," Hopkins
Hayakawa said. "I am put
ting it on my college apps,
and who knows, maybe it
will help."
According to nationalmerit.
org, more than two-thirds or
about 34,000 of the approxi
mate 50,000 high scorers on
the PSAT/NMSQT® receive
Letters of Commendation in
recognition of their outstand
ing academic promise.
Although commended stu
dents do not continue in the
com petition for N ational
Merit scholarships, some of
these students are eligible
for special corporate scholar
ships.
According to Carrie Guy,
W elcom e Secretary, both
private and public colleges
take this accomplishment into
consideration when review
ing applications.
National M erit Semifinal
ists will be featured in the
next issue.
M r?
Commended Scholars from the school were selected based on PSAT scores. Front row: Echo Thomas,
Siena Combs. Second row: Veronika Jonsson, Alyssa Aramaki, Rohini Deb, Sachie Hopkins. Back
row: Kyle Brooks, Ryan Nesbit, James Petersen. Seven semi-finalists were also announced and will
have a chance to become finalists in February. Commended Scholars won't move on in the competition
to become finalists, but they become eligible for special college scholarships.
Photo by Marissa Ness