schools
january18
2018
13
School Board Report
At the January 11, 2018 School Board
Meeting
NWRESD Annual Report – Cindy
Jager from the Northwest Regional
Education Service District (NWRESD)
presented their Annual Report. The
NWRESD provides support services to
school districts, including Early Inter-
vention and Childhood Special Educa-
tion, Instructional Services, Administra-
tive Services, and Technology Services.
The report showed the Vernonia School
District received a total of $231,357 in
services during fiscal year 2016-17.
New Agenda Order – The Board vot-
ed to approve a new agenda order that
would move Public Comment later in
the agenda and will follow reports by
students, principals, and sports, but will
be before Action Items. The change will
also move the Superintendent Report
to earlier in the meeting before Action
Items.
Division 22 Standards – Superinten-
dent Aaron Miller provided the District’s
“Division 22 Report to the Community”
which determines the District’s compli-
ance with Oregon Administrative Rules.
The report showed the District is in com-
pliance and meets all state requirements
for all Division 22 standards, which in-
clude over 50 items like District Curric-
ulum, Prevention Education Programs in
Drugs and Alcohol, Career Education,
Human Sexuality Education, Special
Education, Daily Class Size, Policies on
Reporting Child Abuse, and Required
Instructional Time. The report is self
generated by the District.
Board Approves Out of State Travel
for Students – The Board approved a re-
quest to send all 4 th through 12 th graders
to attend a presentation of “The Chil-
dren of Willesden Lane,” a live perfor-
mance of the true story of Lisa Jura who
fled Nazi-occupied Vienna with 10,000
other young refugees who were sepa-
rated from their parents before WWII.
The story was written by Jura’s daugh-
ter, concert pianist Mona Golabek, and
poet Lee Cohen. All students who attend
will receive a free copy of the book. The
performance will take place on January
24 at the Columbia Theater in Longview,
Washington and required an approval
from the Board for students to travel out
of state, according to District policy.
Discipline Report – Vice Principal Ra-
chel Wilcoxen provided the Board with
a detailed discipline report that tracked
the number of referrals by day of the
week, by gender, and by type of problem
behavior. She also provided the report
form instructors are filling out which
explains the problem behavior, who was
involved, and the solution being imple-
mented.
School Board Recognized – Superin-
tendent Aaron Miller took a moment to
recognize and thank the School Board
by reading a proclamation in honor of
School Board Recognition Month. The
Library was decorated with posters cre-
ated by classes from the Elementary
School and School Board members re-
ceived cookies and treats provided by
Vernonia High School students.
Vernonia School Board members (left to right) Brett Costley, Susan Wagner, Brittanie
Roberts, Greg Kintz, and Katie Cook were recognized at the January 11, 2018 meeting
for their service during School Board Recognition Month.
Superintendent Report – Superinten-
dent Aaron Miller provided an update
on Bond Projects and said he expects
two companies to bid on work at Mist
School. Miller said all the financing for
the Bond has been completed and that
the District is likely to receive money
back, approximately $60,000, from the
pay-off of one of the loans. He said a
contract for an architect for future dis-
trict projects is close to being signed.
Miller said they are moving forward on
new sound systems in the gym and in the
Commons and a new data projector. He
said he is exploring a relationship with
a co-op group which helps districts con-
structing sports facilities by purchasing
materials in bulk in order to save money.
He said the District’s project manager is
beginning conversations with contrac-
tors for the Welding Shop.
Miller told the Board he is
continuing to work on a plan to create a
Home School Charter Program to pro-
vide support for home school students
and that he will be reaching out to the
public in the next month to determine
interest and next steps.
Miller said the District is be-
ginning budget planning for the 2018-
19 school year and noted there are
several positions open on the Budget
Committee for interested citizens.
Miller told the Board that In-
structional Assistant Hayley Watson
has resigned and there are now two po-
sitions to fill.
Miller said next month he will
be sharing drafts of three more one-
page entries into the Procedural Staff
Handbook that is being created.
Student Reports – VHS senior Haley
Lindsay told the Board that the lead-
ership class did some random acts of
kindness by serving jam and toast to
students in the hallways (an idea they
learned about at their OSCA confer-
ence) and also hosted a video game
night. Lindsay also updated the Board
on Winter Festival week in Decem-
ber, a blood drive, Senior Projects, the
upcoming Winter Formal, and winter
sports.
Building Reports – Middle and High
School Principal Nate Underwood
updated the Board on Senior Proj-
ects, Middle School and High School
Vernonia School Board Meetings are held on the second Thursday
of each month. The next School Board Meeting is scheduled
for February 8 at 6:00 pm in the Schools Library.
sports, and the school’s new trophy case.
Underwood also discussed the
On-Track Report Cards for 9 th grade
students that were sent out. The report
cards use four indicators, attendance,
behavior, academic achievement, and
state test scores, to predict graduation
rates. The report cards showed 21% of
freshmen were On Track to graduate,
21% were Nearly On Track, 37% were
at Some Risk, and 21% were At Risk.
Underwood said the numbers are “not
great” but said a team of staff will con-
tinue training and work to address con-
cerns.
Underwood provided a chart
which showed that the District is provid-
ing the required amount of instructional
hours for students.
Underwood also shared a new-
ly created newsletter from the Middle
School for students and parents.
Elementary Principal Aaron
Miller provided a written report which
updated the Board on ODE (Oregon
Dept. of Education) Rural Network
which the District has been accessing for
professional development assistance. A
recent visit to Vernonia from profession-
al educators through the program found
great teamwork among staff to provide
consistent core instruction; progress in
Priority and Focus Schools designation;
positive, polite, and well behaved stu-
dents; and a need to build rigor into the
curriculum and develop more effective
engagement strategies.
Miller’s report also noted that
the Sprouts group is developing a plan to
purchase more playground equipment;
that testing will occur for early literacy
which will be used to assess teaching
effectiveness; and that five substitute
teachers will be used on February 1 to
allow the instructional team to perform
“100% Meetings” to evaluate effective-
ness of overall instructional practices,
and determine strengths and weakness-
es.
Public Comment – Scott Laird told the
Board he disagreed with the proposed
change to Agenda Order that was to be
discussed later in the meeting. Laird
said the proposed change to move Public
Comment towards the end of the meet-
ing would force patrons of the District
to stay through the entire meeting before
being able to address the Board.
Vernonia Students of the Month
December 2017
Elementary School
Roman Martin
Front Row - Afton McClellan
(1st), Hannah Hansen (3rd),
Alana Watts (K). Back Row -
Carter Roberson (2nd),
Kaydence Roberson (5th),
Emma Scheuerman (4th),
Aarieonna Vaughn (3rd), and
Brandon Klock (4th). Not
pictured- Kolbie Bergerson (K)
Grade 6
Roman is known as a hard working and diligent
student. He gives his best effort and is kind to
others. “I really appreciate having him in my
class,” says one of his teachers. Roman says his
favorite subject is math. He is wrestling and has
played baseball. In his free time he says he
really likes to go fishing.
Haley Lindsay
Grade 12
Haley is a member of the National Honor Society,
is involved with the leadership class, and is the
captain of the cheer squad. In her spare time she
likes to play guitar and piano, and has recently
started dancing. Haley says she is waiting to hear
back from some colleges before making a deci-
sion about where she’ll attend next year to study
music technology and theater arts.
Sponsored by Vernonia’s Voice