14
schools/community
november17
2016
School Board Report
At the November 10, 2016 School
board Meeting:
Board Discusses School Bond Fail-
ure – The Board discussed possible re-
percussions and options following the
voters decision to not approve the $6.7
million School Bond. (See full story on
front page.)
District Enrollment – District Business
Manager Marie Knight told the Board
that enrollment is up to 546 with 4 more
students scheduled to enter the District
shortly. This is up from 536 at the end
of September and over the projected en-
rollment for the year of 531. Board Chair
Brett Costley reminded the Board that
the District had a similar trend last year,
before losing students in the second half
of the school year.
Transportation Report – Shelley Hen-
nessey provided a written annual report
to the Board from Curl’s Transportation.
The report indicated that the school
transportation system has five large bus
routes, four small bus routes, and five
van routes, with 11 assigned drivers and
two substitute drivers. There have been
no accidents, no breakdowns, and two
incidents of late buses.
Board Adopts OSBA Resolution – The
Board adopted Resolution 1617-02 the
recommended Oregon School Board As-
sociation (OSBA) Legislative Priorities
and Policies. The priorities and policies
are developed by the OSBA Legisla-
tive Policy Committee and reviewed by
OSBA members, including Vernonia
School Board member and OSBA rep-
resentative Greg Kintz. The Board ap-
proved the resolution unanimously, with
Susan Wagner abstaining, saying she did
not want to vote on an item she had not
had an opportunity to review.
Board Receives School Report Cards
– Superintendent Aaron Miller intro-
duced the new state Report Card for
the District and all Vernonia schools for
2015-16. Miller suggested the Board
review the information contained within
the documents and plan to discuss it at
their next meeting.
Board Approves Policy Updates –
The Board approved the first reading of
several policy updates that have been
recommended by the OSBA and rec-
ommended by the District Board Policy
Committee.
Superintendent Report – Superinten-
dent Aaron Miller shared a response he
received from the Director of ASSE In-
ternational Student Exchange Program
concerning sanctions placed against the
Vernonia School District. Gwen McNal-
lan was unable to provide any specific
information about how the Vernonia
School District violated any regulations,
yet still stood by their decision to not al-
low any basketball playing students to
be placed with families in Vernonia. The
Board discussed no longer partnering
with ASSE to bring exchange students
to the community and to consider other
agencies, but no decision was made.
Miller provided the Board with
information about insurance deductibles
which showed the current policy has a
$5,000 deductible and costs $72,500 an-
nually, and that changing it to a $1,000
deductible would increase the premium
to $77,000. The board asked for some
history on the cost of damages the Dis-
trict has incurred in the past.
The Board approved a letter of
support from the District for the instal-
lation of a community electronic reader
board, but the letter states they are not in
a position to provide any funding toward
the project.
Miller read a letter of apology
from a student who was involved in van-
dalism at Greenman Field. The student
has paid to fix the damage and is sched-
uled to do community service work.
Miller discussed the potential
impacts of State Measures 97, 98, and
Catch the Holiday Spirit Campaign
to Launch across Columbia County
Keep it Local Columbia County
is launching the first coordinated county-
wide holiday marketing campaign called
“Catch the Holiday Spirit” on November
19. The campaign will run November 19
through December 28. The goals are to
connect the communities of Columbia
County and keep local dollars local in
order to strengthen our local economy.
The grassroots campaign volun-
teers have been talking with local folks
who say they want to shop right here in
our Columbia County communities and
support businesses in the place where
they live. The campaign will promote
just that, shopping locally for the up-
coming holiday season.
Why a grassroots campaign?
Why is it so important to shop locally?
American Independent Business Alli-
ance (AMIBA) reports that in a survey
of over 3,000 independent business own-
ers in 2015, published by the Institute for
Local Self-Reliance, there was a power-
ful correlation between sustained “buy
independent/buy local” campaigns and
success of local businesses. Independent
businesses in communities with grass-
roots business alliances consistently
promoting the benefits of buying locally
reported an average revenue increase of
9.3% compared to 4.9% growth among
independents in communities without
such alliances.
The short and sweet is that
grassroots shop local campaigns work.
Here’s how everyone can “Catch the
Holiday Spirit” across Columbia Coun-
ty:
Shoppers:
1. Word of mouth: It works! Tell your
neighbor. Talk up your community.
2. Get social: Follow our Keep It Local
Columbia County Facebook page. Share
and comment. Post on your personal
page showing where you shop and why
you love local!
3. Get active: Participate in the Catch
A Trusted Name in Funeral Service
Angel
Memorials
Headstones
Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt
Funeral Home & Crematory
2308 Pacific Ave.,
Forest Grove
503-357-2161
741 Madison Ave.,
Vernonia
503-429-6611
Granite Markers & Monuments
971-344-3110
Jeff & Kathryn Hoyt
Locally owned in Vernonia
Serving NW Oregon
All Cemeteries Accepted
Order drawing at no charge online
Forest Grove Memorial Chapel
503-357-3126
www.angelmemorialsheadstones.com
To sign the online guest book or to send a
condolence to the family go to
www.fuitenrosehoyt.com
Family Owned & Operated
Formerly Prickett’s Mortuary
the Spirit Campaign by shopping locally
across the county November 19 - De-
cember 28. Find participating businesses
at www.keepitlocalcc.com. Fill up your
“Spirit” Card, and return it to be entered
in the prize drawing (3 prizes worth $50
each will be awarded in each communi-
ty, and one for the county overall)! At-
tend the open houses on November 19,
participate in Small Business Saturday
on November 26.
Business Owners:
1. Join the Catch the Holiday Spirit cam-
paign November 19 through December
28: Customers use Spirit Cards when
shopping at participating stores. For
each $10 they spend or per transaction at
a financial institution, a box is checked.
A Spirit Card will have 20 boxes valued
at $200 spent locally, and a full card
can be entered to win the prize draw-
ings. Business owners must purchase
an advertising package to participate in
the Spirit Campaign. Go to www.keepi-
tlocalcc.com/Campaigns to view more
about each area.
2. Host an Open House on November
19. This is free to participate. Simply
submit your flyer and your events for
free on the online Business Directory
www.keepitlocalcc.com, and the cam-
paign will promote your event.
3. Engage in Small Business Saturday
on November 26. You can order swag
(shop small bags, get banners, balloons
and more) at Free Marketing Materi-
als for Small Business Saturday Shop
Small. If you want to partner, contact
the campaign for ideas.
To learn more and get involved, con-
tact Keep It Local Columbia County:
www.keepitlocalcc.com
keepitlocalcc@gmail.com
Phone (503) 498-1699
99.
Miller told the Board that he
expects the District to hire current em-
ployee Cherise Harbour as the new half-
time fiscal assistant and is working out
the details of the job classification.
Miller told the Board that Cha-
rolette Gilbert will focus just on the
K-12 behavior program and the District
will use a long-term sub to teach Middle
School Special Education for the re-
mainder of the school year.
Miller said the District is work-
ing to determine if it is the responsibility
of the City or the District to fix a water
run-off issue on Missouri Avenue.
Building Reports – Middle and High
School Principal Nate Underwood told
the Board the School had received a site
visit from the AVID Regional Coordina-
tor, who Underwood said was very im-
pressed with the District’s preparations
so far. AVID is a new elective program
for students who need some extra sup-
port getting ready to be successful in
high school and who have the goal of
attending college. This is the Vernonia
School District’s first year offering this
class to students.
Underwood updated the Board
on college and career readiness pro-
grams in the school.
Parent teacher conferences are
scheduled for November 17 and 18.
Elementary School Principal
Aaron Miller and instructor Juliete
Safier told the Board that all teachers
are participating in professional devel-
opment work related to the Formative
Assessment grant. Safier is heading up
the teacher instruction for the District.
Safier said teachers are being trained
in this teaching process this year, and
testing some of the methods in class. It
will be fully rolled out beginning next
year. Safier also updated the Board on
other professional development initia-
tives including behavior interventions,
making sure students are on track for
promotion and graduation, bullying
awareness and prevention, suicide
awareness and training, and Trauma In-
formed Care, which Miller explained is
a process to help teachers, during their
interactions with students, be aware of
and deal with students who have expe-
rienced trauma in their lives.
Miller updated the Board on
disciple numbers this year which are
right around the national average.
Public Comment – Bill Langmaid,
representing the School Bond Commit-
tee, apologized to the Board for not be-
ing successful in helping pass the Ver-
nonia School Bond. “We did the best
we could with the knowledge we had
and I think we are all ready to help sup-
port the School District if they go for a
bond in the future.” Board member Er-
nie Smith thanked the Bond Committee
for their effort.
Darrold Mushatt asked the
School Board to approve mandatory
checks for all students for head lice to
help curb the spread through the stu-
dents in the District. Mushatt volun-
teered to gather other parents to assist
with checks if more help is needed.
Superintendent Aaron Miller suggested
Mushatt contact him to discuss his pro-
posal further.