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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2013)
schools june6 2013 Schools Update: More About Superintendent Retirement Dr. Ken Cox I recently noticed on Facebook that my retirement has raised some questions in the community so I thought I would clarify what’s happening and some background. In the last couple of years, as we neared the completion of the school, I have chosen to be optimistic about the new school and the number of students that would come to Vernonia as a result. Unfortunately, the numbers haven’t materialized yet and as our enrollment numbers have dropped so has our operating funding from the state, resulting in the need to make some rather drastic changes. Our district, with only about 550 students enrolled, can no longer support a full-time superintendent. Because of this, and in order to help balance the budget, I have chosen to retire and only work half time. This will not only save the district half of my salary but the district will not have to pay anything to VHS Spring Sports Awards Golf Justin Ragsdale Most Improved Baseball Austin Cutright Tim Jennings Ethan Johnston Ronnie Maldonado Ruben Fabers Anton Kelm First Team All League, Most Valuable Second Team All League Second Team All League Honorable Mention All League Most Improved Most Inspirational Equestrian Sheyanne Pedersen Makayla McCord Sarah Wagner Most Valuable Most Inspirational Most Improved Track and Field Nathan Flack Samantha Lindauer Mckenzie Titus Daniel Rice Most Valuable Most Valuable Most Improved Most Improved Softball Sara Smith Samantha Wallace Stephanie Castro Kassidy Fetch Riplee Burch Ashley Hernandez First Team All League Most Valuable First Team All League Most Inspirational First Team All League First team All League Honorable Mention All League Most Improved PERS on my salary as well. Our district is not alone in finding that the funding from Salem does not meet the needs of K-12 education in the state. There are a number of districts who are making staffing reductions and cutting days to help balance their budgets. We have had to make cuts for the past few years and as we approached the budget this year there wasn’t much left to cut. The District Budget Committee, in their May 23 rd meeting, approved 19 a budget which reduces days to balance the budget without any teacher reductions (other than a resignation and a retirement). There will be a public hearing on the 2013-14 Budget as part of our regular board meeting on Thursday, June 13 th , which will be held on the stage in the new schools. Everyone is invited to attend. There will also be a demonstration by the Vernonia Loggerbots, our robotics club, prior to the meeting at 5:45 PM. 2012-2013 Principal’s Awards Best Overall Senior Project Janae Easlon Top Community Service Hours Kendrick Leaverton McEntire Math Award Samantha Wallace Alvilda Hearing English Award Janae Easlon John Phillips Sousa Award Rowan Cheney Presidential Scholars (3.5 & above Cumulative GPA) Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday. Our next issue will be June 20. Columbia Humane Society Featured Pet Blackie is a handsome, longhaired blackxwhite neutered male cat. He is approx. 1 year old and was a former stray that a caring couple took in until they could bring him to the shelter. Blackie is a chatty guy that loves to talk and follow you around. He does ok with some dogs but would do best in a home with no other cats. His adoption fee was fully sponsored by the individuals that took him in and so we are now looking for just the right family to take him home with no adoption fee. He is neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, flea treated, microchipped and qualifies for a free vet check. He gets to go home with a cardboard carrier and a take home adoption packet as well. If you are looking for a sociable guy that loves to talk, Blackie is your cat! Come into the shelter and fill out an application for him today. "Blackie" 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, O: 97051 Phone: 503-397-4353 E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org Web: www.columbiahumane.org Ashlee Archer Austin Best-Cutright Savannah Brown Rowan Cheney Janae Easlon Samantha Lindauer Deziree Roberts Lane Sullivan Ellyssa Szlavich Samantha Wallace Marine Corp Distinguished Athlete Nathan Fleck Sara McMahon Marine Corp Scholastic Athlete Dezi Roberts Army Reserve National Scholar/Athlete Samantha Wallace Tim Jennings Albert Brunsman Memomial Award-Athletic Sportsmanship Ethan Johnston Most Inspirational Underclassman Meghan Sullivan Terry Smith Memorial Most Inspirational Senior Athlete Samantha Lindauer Outstanding Athlete Autstin Cutright Vernonia Students of the Month May 2013 Cody Hathcoat , Grade 3 Cody is a very conscientious young man. Not only does he do his best on all of his academic school work, he also makes every effort to always follow the school rules (Be Safe, Responsible, and Respectful); whether he thinks an adult is watching or not. He is a Self-Manager and is very depend- able. Cody says his favorite subject is math. In his spare time he likes to play video games and help take care of his dogs, Honey and Joey. Cheyenne Kemper , Grade 8 Cheyenne is a good academic student who always does what is asked of her. Cheyenne says her favorite subjects in school are art and music. She plays the saxophone in the band and also ran track and played volleyball. She is in the Middle School Leadership Class. In her free time she plays the electric guitar, likes to draw and takes care of her chocolate lab, Denali. Janae Easlon Grade 12 Janae is an Honor Student and a member of the National Honor Society. For her senior project she helped re-start the school newspaper, The Timber- line. She has been a Teaching Assistant for English, does statistics for the boys basketball teams, and was the Senior Class Secretary. She was part of “Walk and Talk” a mentoring program for young girls and has been a councilor at Camp Wilkerson. She says her favorite subject is literature and any social science classes taught by Mr. Baker. In her free time she works at Subway, and enjoys watch- ing movies and hanging out with family. Next year she will attend Western Washington University to study Journalism. Sponsored by State Senator Betsy Johnson
