schools
july16
2015
Schools Update: No Charter School
By Aaron Miller
The Vernonia School District’s efforts to
become a public charter school were rebuffed by the
Oregon Legislature’s recent passage of House Bill
2150. This bill removed the initial “double funding” of
new charter schools, and the district was unsuccessful
in grandfathering itself into, or making Vernonia an
exception to, those new rules. Because of this change,
the district has withdrawn its charter application to the
Oregon Department of Education, and will continue
moving forward as a “regular” public school district.
Although the District will not become a charter
school, the work that was completed by the Charter
Steering Committee was very valuable in gathering
input from the community on what they would like to
see from the curricular and instructional efforts of our
school district. As a district, we will utilize that input
as we focus on building solid academic foundations
in core subjects, integrating STEAM (Science-
Technology-Engineering-Art-Math) instruction and
activities into those core subjects, creating more Career
and Technical Education pathways for our students to
transition into the real world, and utilizing our business
and agency partners to provide our students the best
education possible. Without dedicated funding from
the Charter process these efforts will be slower, but will
continue to be District priorities.
This input was provided by over 30 community,
staff and Board members who volunteered many, many
hours to help position the District to become a Charter
if the financial rewards had remained in place. Each
Schools Board Report
At the July 9,2015 School Board
Meeting:
Newly Elected Board Members Sworn
In – Katie Cook, Brittanie Roberts and
Greg Kintz were all sworn in as School
Board members. Cook and Roberts are
new members to the Board; Kintz was
reelected.
Kitchen, Library, Classrooms, Lobby,
athletic fields, parking lot, and custodial
services. Student clubs and groups will
not be charged to use facilities.
The Board also approved a fee
for non-enrolled student tuition of up
to $450 for each semester course. The
fee would be assessed to students not
enrolled in the District, such as home
schooled students, who wish to access
courses offered by the District.
Board Chair and Vice Chair Elected–
Brett Costley was elected as Chair of
the School Board and Ernie Smith was
Board Approves Surplus of Athletic
elected as Vice Chair.
Items – The Board approved the
Board Approves Substitute Teacher declaration of numerous sports uniform
Pay – The Board approved establishing items as surplus, The items will be
substitute teacher pay for the 2015-16 donated to the upcoming “2 nd Biggest
school year at $175 per day. Last year the Class Reunion” on August 16 to be
rate was $172/day; the state minimum is used as a fundraiser. Items include:
set at $173.76/day.
volleyball, softball, and basketball
Board Approves Meeting Schedule– jerseys and shorts; Athletic polo and golf
The Board approved their meeting shirts; basketball and wrestling warm
schedule for the upcoming year and will ups, and black and orange tube socks.
continue to meet on the second Thursday Charter
School
Application
of each month at 6:00 pm. They have Withdrawn – Superintendent Miller
also scheduled Workshops on August told the Board that, due to the passage
27, October 29 and March 31.
of HB2150 by the State Legislature,
Board Approves Fee Schedule – The
Board approved the Fee Schedule for
the 2015-16 school year. Changes from
the previous year included an increase
of: 10 cents for student lunches and for
juice/milk and for adult lunch entree and
juice/milk; 20 cents for adult breakfast;
25 cents for student salad and adult
breakfast entree, lunch and salad. A new
65 cent fee was added for water.
The Board also approved the
addition of a series of Facility Use Fees
for use of the school campus and include
charges for use by district affiliated,
non affiliated and non-profits groups
for use of gymnasiums, Commons area,
no extra funding at the state level is
available to fund Charter Schools and the
District will no longer pursue becoming
a Charter School. (See full story on this
page.)
Miller also told the Board that
no other debt reduction initiatives at the
state level that the District was lobbying
for were successful.
Board
Receives
Report
from
Metropolitan Group – The Board
received a detailed report from the
Metropolitan Group on their efforts
to raise funds for the District during
the last fiscal year. The total amount
secured was $433,000, which included
13
and every parent, community member, staff member
and board member that helped develop our charter
application deserves the utmost in appreciation for
their work to support our students.
While this is not the best of news, the District
will continue to move ever forward in our ongoing
recovery from the flood. The District’s focus, as always,
is on the well-being and success of our students, as we
work to do the best job possible for our children.
Thank you again to everyone who helped make
the Charter application a reality, and for your ongoing
efforts to support our children and our schools. Together
we can truly make a difference.
If you have any questions regarding the Charter,
or other Vernonia School District happenings, please
contact Superintendent Aaron Miller at 503-429-5891.
$212,300 in FEMA mitigation funds and
$110,000 of SDC funds waived by the
City of Vernonia. The report also details
strategies for the upcoming year.
Project Updates – Superintendent
Aaron Miller told the Board that work
is continuing on the new Shop facility
and should be complete in time for fall
classes.
Miller told the Board that Robert
Watts has signed a contract and will
begin construction of the new softball
field on the school campus. Plans are
to have the field finished in time for the
spring season.
Miller told the Board that the
PTA has purchased the next phase of
the play structure and plan to have it
installed by the start of the school year.
Board
Establishes
Committee
Liaisons and Assignments – Board
member Katie Cook will serve as
liaison to the Curriculum Committee,
the Safety Committee, and the
Technology Committee. Brett Costley
will be the liaison to the Health and
Wellness Committee. Brittanie Roberts
will serve as the liaison to the Talented
and Gifted Committee and the Positive
Behavior & Intervention Support
(PBIS). Ernie Smith will be the liaison
to the Sustainability Committee.
Ernie Smith, Greg Kintz and
Brett Costley were assigned to the
Negotiations Committee, which will
deal with contracts for both teachers
and classified employees this fiscal
year. Katie Cook and Brittanie Roberts
were assigned to the Policy Review
Committee. Smith and Costley were
assigned to the Facilities (Long Range
Planning) Committee. Cari Levenseller
and Kintz were assigned to the Vernonia
Education Foundation.
Board Makes Designations – The
Board approved numerous designations
for the upcoming fiscal year, which
included naming District Superintendent
Aaron Miller to several positions: Chief
Administrative & Budget Officer/Clerk,
Custodian of Funds, and Representative
of Federal/State Fund & Grant
Applications. The Board also designated
US Bank & Government Pool as
Depository of Funds; Grove, Mueller &
Swank, P.C. as District Auditors; Brown
& Brown Northwest as Insurance Agent
of Record; Garrett, Hemann, Robertson,
Jennings, Constock & Trethwy, P.C. as
Attorney of Record and Vernonia’s Voice
as Newspaper of Record. The Board
also set a Borrowing Limit of $150,000.
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