schools
may19
2016
School District Looks to Make Budget Cuts
District receives two year
forbearance on two loans
to delay $190K in payments
The Vernonia School District
staff made several cuts from the prior
year in the 2016-17 budget they pre-
sented to the Budget Committee at their
meeting on May 12, 2016.
Superintendent and Budget Of-
ficer Aaron Miller presented the budget
along with the Budget Message to the
Budget Committee, and told them that,
due to continued fluctuations in enroll-
ment and the need to pay ongoing debt
service from the General Fund, several
teaching positions would be cut in the
upcoming year.
The Budget Committee in-
cludes the seven person School Board,
along with seven community members.
There are currently three vacant commu-
nity member seats. Current community
members serving on the Budget Com-
mittee are Don Shulte, Maria Lemay,
Angie Handegard and Tobie Finzel.
At the start of the meeting
School Board Chairman Brett Costley
was elected Budget Committee Chair
and Shulte was elected Vice Chair.
Miller, along with Business
Manager Dawn Plewes, explained the
proposed cuts along with a plan to de-
lay, for two years, the payments on two
“Cool School Loans” the District re-
ceived to complete construction of the
new school campus. The two loans,
taken in 2012 and 2013, originally to-
taled over $2.3 million. The School
Board later approved the forbearance
agreements on those loans in their regu-
lar meeting, saving the School District
$190,476 in payments this budget year.
As of June 30, 2016, the Verno-
nia School District’s total debt will be
$4,740,714, of which almost $650,000
is remaining from the construction of
the old middle school which was de-
molished following the 2007 flood. The
balance comes from debt incurred for
construction of the new K-12 campus.
Even after delaying payments on the
two loans the District will still have to
make debt payments of $317,530 next
year. Over the past several years those
debt payments have been covered by
various fundraising efforts.
Miller told the Board that de-
laying the payments on the two “Cool
School Loans” would allow the District
time to continue considering options to
retire the construction debt, including
a new bond measure, and help Verno-
nia get back to, “being a normal school
district.” as Miller explained it. Miller
later told the School Board during their
regular meeting that he has tentatively
scheduled a Town Hall meeting with the
community on Thursday, June 2, 2016
to discuss a potential bond measure and
answer questions.
In order to present a balanced
budget and make those debt service
payments Miller told the Budget Com-
mittee that all Prescribed Cost of Living
Adjustments (COLA) and step increases
in their collective bargaining and other
agreements with employees would be
frozen for the 2016-17 school year.
Miller also told the Board three
teaching positions would be eliminated.
One of four special education positions
and a teacher coaching position will be
eliminated. In addition, two elementary
teachers are retiring at the end of this
school year; the District will only re-
place one of those positions.
While the General Fund bud-
get includes an increase in State School
Fund revenues of $64,846 over last year,
Miller told the Budget Committee that
last year the District estimated enroll-
ment would increase to 569 students
but current enrollment is only at 555.
In this upcoming budget Miller said the
District was decreasing their projected
enrollment to 531, noting “Our recent
projections for modest growth have not
materialized on a consistent basis.”
Miller told the Board an in-
crease of $10,000 in the maintenance
line item for the Mist School was need-
ed to replace the roof. He also noted
that the General Fund includes a con-
tingency fund and an unappropriated
ending fund balance totaling $96,000 or
just 1.5% of the General Fund budget;
Miller said ideally those funds should
be at 5% of the General Fund.
“While this budget does not
meet all of the current needs of the stu-
dents and staff in the Vernonia School
District, it does fulfill our fiscal respon-
sibility of providing a balanced opera-
tional budget, and continues to meet
the state’s minimum instructional hour
guidelines,” said Miller in his written
Budget Message.
While Miller had hoped the
Budget Committee would approve a
recommended budget at the meeting,
the Committee scheduled another meet-
ing for Thursday, May 19 at 6:00 pm.
A final Public Hearing is scheduled for
June 9, 2016, where the School Board
is expected to adopt the final budget as
approved by the Budget Committee.
School Board Considers Proposal
to Sponsor Oregon Virtual Education
The Vernonia School Board heard a proposal by
Paul Peterson from the Northwest Regional Education
Service District (NWRESD) at their May 12, 2016
meeting. Peterson asked the Vernonia School District
(VSD) to become the statewide sponsor of Oregon
Virtual Education (ORVED), an online learning service
operated by the state.
According to the proposal presented by
Peterson, ORVED’s mission is “...to help personalize
the educational experience for every student,” and
“...provide a hybrid program in which students take
courses online yet still have access to courses and
programs available from the traditional public school
serving the student’s residence.”
Peterson told the Board that the Gaston
School District has been sponsoring the program but is
planning to discontinue their sponsorship this year and
that he is offering the VSD the opportunity to become
the new sponsor.
As the sponsor, the program would provide the
VSD with $365 for each student enrolled throughout
the state, plus $15,000 in credit for Vernonia students
to take classes through the program; in May of 2016
there were 55 students enrolled in ORVED. Peterson’s
proposal projects that ORVED will have 200 students
enrolled by the 2019-20 school year.
Peterson told the Board that ORVED is a fully
accredited, public virtual charter school which has been
operating for several years, that provides online courses
typically found in public schools. He told the Board
FULL
SPORTS
PACKAGE!
3
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
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Tobie Finzel
Karen Kain
Aaron Miller
Karen Miller
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Photography
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Scott Laird
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that, with the recent proliferation of online learning
opportunities being offered by private corporations, the
state has decided to also get into the market of online
education to provide an alternative learning option for
some students. The proposal states that all ORVED
teachers are licensed and are either currently working in
Oregon public schools, are retired, or are independent
contractors.
ORVED currently offers a variety of courses
in language arts, mathematics, science, social science,
foreign languages, health and PE, and electives for
both high school and middle school. All courses are
Common Core State Standard Aligned.
Peterson told the Board there would be some
continued on page 7
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