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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2014)
schools july17 2014 Vernonia School Board Report At the July 10, 2014 School Board Meeting: $50 for elementary band students was added to the schedule, although Super- intendent Miller stated that the fee was Board Elects Chair and Vice Chair- already being implemented, it just was The Board elected Bill Langmaid as not on the schedule. Chair and Jim Krahn as Vice Chair for the 2014-15 school year. Project Updates- Superintendent Miller updated the Board on five current proj- Board Approves New Hires- The Board ects. Construction at Spencer Park is approved two new temporary hires for moving forward and is scheduled to be the 2014-15 school year. complete and ready for use next sum- Laura Blacker has been hired to mer. Board member Ernie Smith ex- teach 4 th grade, replacing Robyn Rich- pressed concern and asked about the mond who is on maternity leave for the City’s plan for maintaining the new field. year. Blacker has been working and The City will hold a Conditional Use volunteering in the district for several Permit Hearing on July 17 concerning years and just finished her student teach- the construction of the new shop build- ing assignment in Vernonia last year. A ing. Following that process, the District resident of the Vernonia community and can move forward with construction active in the local PTA, Blacker served although it is questionable whether the as the coach of the high school golf team shop will be completed in time for the this past year. Blacker received her Mas- start of the school year. The football ter’s Degree in Education from PSU. practice field on the new campus is un- Margi Fry will be the fifth mem- der construction. The District will move ber of the K-2 combined teaching team. forward with construction of a new soft- Fry has taught grades 1-8 over the last ball field on campus this summer and five years, has a Bachelor’s Degree of will hopefully be ready next spring. The Science from Warner Pacific College and District is hoping to complete the proj- is a graduate of Gresham High School. ect with assistance from local contrac- tors. The PTA has purchased the first of Board Approves Student Fee Sched- three phases of new playground equip- ule-The Board approved the Student Fee ment and will install that first phase with Schedule for 2014-15 which includes volunteers before the start of the school a $0.10 increase to full breakfast and year. lunches for elementary, middle and high school students. The Student Body Fee Board Liaisons Encouraged for Dis- for high school students increased from trict Committees- Superintendent Mill- $20 to $25. An Instrument Rental fee of er encouraged Board members to be- PTA Purchases First Phase of Play Structure Installation Planned for August 22-23 The Vernonia PTA is pleased to announce that Phase I of a new playground play structure has been purchased for the school campus. The PTA plans to install the entire structure in three phases as funds become available. Plans call for Phase I to be installed and ready for students on the first day of school this year. The PTA has been hard at work during the last several years raising funds to purchase and in- stall playground equip- ment. The purchase of Phase I will cost just over $7,000. An installation work party has been sched- uled for Friday, August 23 and Saturday, August 24. Work party leaders and volunteers are needed. “This is a huge deal!” says PTA President Melissa Zavales. “Our kids and school have been without a playground! We are so excited and this should be a huge and ex- citing event for our com- munity and students!” A Grand Open- ing celebration is being planned during the School Open House on October 9th. Boosters Buzz Little Guy Football sign-ups will be held at Anderson Park, 6:00-7:30 PM on the following Wednesdays: August 6th & 13th The season starts August 18th! 13 come a liaison to the numerous District Committees which include: Curriculum, Technology, Safety, Health & Wellness, Talented and Gifted, Achievement Com- pact, Career & Technical Education, Sustainability, and Positive Behavior & Intervention Support. Board Assignments- The Board chose assignments for several Committees: Negotiations - Bill Langmaid, Ernie Smith, and Greg Kintz; Policy Review - Brett Costley and Cari Levenseller; Facilities (Long Range Planning) - Jim Krahn, Tim Bamburg, and Ernie Smith; Vernonia Education Foundation - Bill Langmaid and Cari Levenseller. Substitute Pay Increase- The Board was informed that the State has set a rate of $171.52 per day for licensed teachers for the 2014-15 school year. The Board voted to increase the District’s substitute teacher pay from $171 to $172 per day. Board Approves Meeting Schedule- The Board approved the 2014-15 School Board meeting schedule. Meetings will be held on the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM with the excep- tion of November when it will be held on Wednesday, November 12 due to a scheduling conflict with the OSBA annual convention. Workshops were scheduled for October 30, January 29, and April 30. A Board retreat was scheduled for August 21. Aaron Miller has assumed the superintendent responsibilities for the Vernonia School District. Board Assigns Designees- The Board voted to designate Aaron Miller as Chief Administrative and Budget Officer, as Custodian of Funds, and as Represen- tative of Federal/State Fund and Grant Applications. The Board also desig- nated US Bank and Government Pool as Depository of Funds; Grove, Muel- ler & Swank, P.C. as District Auditors; Brown & Brown Northwest as Insur- ance Agents of Record, Garrett, Her- mann, Robertson, Jennings, Comstock & Trethewy as Attorney of Record and Vernonia’s Voice as Newspaper of Re- cord. These were the same as last year, with the exceptions that Aaron Miller has now assumed Superintendent duties and the Insurance Agent of Record has changed their name from Beecher Carl- son. The Board also voted to set a Bor- rowing Limit of $150,000. Schools Update: New Campus Softball Field By Aaron Miller The Vernonia School Dis- trict (VSD) continues to move for- ward with facilities development on the new schools’ campus and one of the next projects to be un- dertaken is the development of our sports fields. The Vernonia Educa- tion Foundation (VEF) is charged with raising funds to help with the overall debt retirement of our new facilities, but also with generating funds to help complete these facili- ties. A new, on-campus, varsity softball field is the initial focus of the VEF Sports Initiative. The VEF Sports Initiative Committee has worked diligently to raise funds for our sports facili- The ties and their plan is to begin work this summer on the softball field at the new site. If all goes well the softball field will be completed in time for next year’s season. While the majority of funding is in place for this project, it will take a con- certed effort by VSD staff, the VEF and local volunteers to make this lofty goal a reality. Athletic staff, administra- tion, VEF board members and the field designers have been meeting regularly to determine a plan of ac- tion and are now looking for other volunteers who are ready, willing and able to help with the project. Volunteers and/or donations to help with these items would be greatly appreciated. Here is a list: Birk the old house of music “it’s not that far” www.thebirk.com • Excavation • Dirt transport • Purchase and installation of drainage and irrigation systems • Grass seed procurement • Grass seed installation • Fence and backstop construction • Dugout construction If you, or someone you know, is interested in helping out with this, or any other volun- teer project at the schools, please contact Aaron Miller at 503-429- 5891. Your help and support will be greatly appreciated as we con- tinue to move forward to make our schools and facilities the best they can be. 291 A Street call Kim Lovable service at a reasonable price • Bathing • Haircuts • Nail Clipping • Nail Polishing • Specialty Shampoos
