community
Charter School Application
forming a charter school,” said Vernonia
School Board President Bill Langmaid.
“We need to expand our efforts to pro-
vide meaningful education for all our
students, and the specialized education
that can be made available through a
charter school could be the perfect fit.”
According to Miller, under ODE
guidelines, at least one entity has to be
maintained under the original school dis-
trict. “For us that may be Mist School,
the Vernonia Elementary School, the
Middle School or the High School-we
would have a myriad of options,” said
Miller. “And those would be options
that the local steering committee would
help us to decide what would be best for
the District.”
Miller says there are several im-
portant benefits to Vernonia becoming a
charter school: moving current programs
forward, increased flexibility in staffing
which Miller says in a concern in many
small school districts, and addressing
debt reduction for the District.
Miller says access to additional
resource opportunities could be used to
expand the District’s natural resources,
science, technology, engineering and
math programing. “These are areas of
study the District is already focusing
on,” explains Miller. “It would provide
resources to move those forward more
effectively and at a quicker pace.”
Miller says resources include
funding for professional development
for staff to help implement new and ex-
panded programing and funding to pur-
chase materials and supplies to comple-
ment curriculum.
In addition, Miller says char-
ter schools in Oregon are not required
to abide by all teacher licensing rules.
“You still have to have highly qualified
teachers in your core areas of reading,
writing math and science,” said Miller.
But in programs like Career and
Technical Education (CTE), Natural Re-
sources, and Forestry, which Vernonia
already implements, or potential sub-
jects like Health Care, Early Child De-
velopment, or Culinary Arts, instructors
from the community with a degree or
real world expertise could be utilized to
teach course work.
Those additional financial re-
sources could also help address the
District’s debt from the construction of
the new school campus. “There is the
potential that this could also impact
our long term debt needs,” said Miller,
“which is directly and indirectly related
to our student’s success. If we have bills
hanging over our heads, that takes away
from what we can do for our kids.”
february5
2015
3
continued from front page
According to Miller, funding
from the state basically doubles for each
student enrolled in the charter school in
its second year of operation. “We would
be looking to maximize that,” said Mill-
er. “Our debt is a very real concern that
hangs over the District. Our new school
building is very nice, it’s energy effi-
cient, it meets the needs of our students
and staff, and it’s a center piece for our
community. But we need to get it paid
off as soon as possible.”
The process for the Vernonia
School District adding a charter school
would involve forming the steering
committee to discuss the specifics of
what the charter school would look like,
which students to target and what the
curriculum would focus on, and how the
charter would be governed. The steer-
ing committee would develop and draft
the charter proposal to be reviewed by
the Vernonia School Board. The School
Board would be required to hold a pub-
lic meeting to consider comments from
the community on the management plan
for the charter school as well as elements
of the curriculum, before making a final
evaluation and decision to approve the
charter proposal and submit it to the
state. The ODE would then have to ap-
prove the application and grant the char-
ter to the District.
Miller feels there are very few
concerns or negatives to Vernonia be-
coming a charter school. Miller did
mention that the community often has a
difficult time finding people to assume
leadership roles, such as School Board
positions, City Council seats or City
Committee members. “Those are tough
positions to fill sometimes in a small
community,” said Miller. “If we move
forward with this there will still be a
need to have a Vernonia School District
Board in place, but there will also have
to be a governing body for the charter
school. Having enough people who are
willing and able to take on a leadership
role and be effective is a concern.”
Public perception to change is
another concern for Miller. “Change
is difficult and hard for people,” says
Miller. “We’ve had a lot of changes
recently in our district and our commu-
nity and we need to recognize the diffi-
culty people have with moving forward
and having things change. So we really
want to be inclusive in gathering input
to make sure we are on the right track.”
“We’ll have to see how it plays
out, but I’m pleased and optimistic
by the support we’ve received during
these initial stages in the process,” said
School Board President Langmaid. “A
charter school would be another magnet
drawing families to our community.”
Miller says the application
deadline is May 1, 2015, which if ac-
cepted, would allow the District to add
a charter school next fall.
There are currently 125 charter
schools in Oregon including St. Helens
Arthur Academy in St. Helens, North
Columbia Academy in Rainier, and
South Columbia Family School and
Sauvie Island Academy, both in Scap-
poose.
Anyone interested in partici-
pating in the steering committee should
contact Superintendent Aaron Miller at
the District Office at 503-429-5891.
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Britt Bensen Steele
Stacey Lynn
Aaron Miller
Karen Miller
Michal Smith
Grant Williams
Photography
Scott Laird
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Vernonia
Veterinary Clinic
2015 Vernonia Sportsman’s Banquet
Small and Large Animals
Saturday, April 18th
6:00 pm at Vernonia Christian Church - 410 North Street
Guest Speaker: Rick Barry
Elected into NBA Hall of Fame in 1987.
Rick will be talking about his career in the
NBA. He would like guests to email him
questions; he will pick several to talk about
during the banquet.
Email: rb24adventures@aol.com
Antler/Horn Show:
Tickets on Sale March 2
at R & S Market $10 each
Only 300 tickets sold!
Door Prizes:
Now Open
Rifle, Shotgun and more.....
Raffle items include:
Mon, Wed & Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Trip for 2 for a wilderness fishing
trip in Alaska. Rifles. Bows. Optics
and much more....
Entries for Best 2014 harvest, best women’s
entry, best youth entry (under 18 at harvest), 100% of proceeds support
Rapha House children's ministry.
best local harvest, best general entry
Catered dinner by Cousin Kenny's BBQ
Call for Appointments
(503) 429-1612
Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470
700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR
Cedar Side Inn
Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7
Lady’s Night Wed 5-12
Sunday Breakfast
Now serving 10am-9pm
Karaoke
Events
Every 2nd & Last Friday
Sat, Feb. 7th
Taco Tuesday
from opening until 9pm
3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25
Ladies’ Night
every Thursday 6pm-close
• Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas
iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events
756 Bridge Street, Vernonia
503-429-5841
Country/Western Night
• Specialty hamburgers
• Draft beer & mixed drinks
• Pool tables & satelite TV
• Pool Tourny Most Friday nights
• Free Wi-fi
with Patrick the DJ
Sat, Feb. 21st
Texas Hold ‘Em
“STILL BIKER FRIENDLY”
• Beer & Kegs to go
Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight •
733 Bridge St, Vernonia
Fri - Sat 11 AM - 2:30 AM
• 503-429-9999
