8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
Schools: ‘We don’t have a lot of time to decide’
campus, but want less expen-
sive alternatives to give the
community options.
Board Chairwoman Deb-
bie Morrow said the district
needs to hire a consultant to
get the community’s pulse
prior to going out for a bond.
One challenge, Jeffery said,
is that Seaside can point to
an impending earthquake and
tsunami as clear reasons to
move schools, whereas War-
renton faces more danger
from looding.
Board member Kelly
Simonsen said the district
also needs to be careful com-
paring its situation with Sea-
side’s $100 million ask for a
new campus. “That might not
be what we need,” she said.
Continued from Page 1A
years. Business Manager Mike
Moha said the bond is similar
to a loan on the full faith and
credit of the district to repay.
He said the district can afford
it by redirecting the $135,000
or so spent each year on build-
ing maintenance.
The bond would help repair
a leaking roof at Warrenton
High School, potentially pur-
chase property near the grade
school for additional parking
and fund the construction of up
to seven new classrooms over
the next ive years.
Jeffery estimates the dis-
trict’s enrollment will grow
another 10 percent by then,
with each new grade from
this year going forward aver-
aging nearly 90 students. “In
ive years, temporary mea-
sures will not work for us,” he
told the school board last week
during a meeting to chart the
district’s future.
A bigger bond?
A small percentage of the
$2 million bond will be used
to prepare for a possible larger,
voter-approved bond to accom-
modate Warrenton’s future
enrollment growth, which Jef-
fery doesn’t see peaking until
2024-25 at 1,159 students.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Kindergartners exercise in the new multipurpose room Wednesday at Warrenton Grade
School. The room was remodeled from two-thirds of the former library.
“I’ve had several people
come out and tell me you can
pass a bond here no problem,”
Jeffery told the school board
last week.
School board member
Greg Morrill had his doubts
the 5,500 residents of Warren-
ton would be willing to shoul-
der an amount similar to Sea-
side’s bond of $100 million,
which would cover an entirely
new K-12 campus on higher
ground.
“It’s just really tough for
an average voter in a small
community to stomach those
numbers,” Morrill said. “We
have to be up front about
what it would cost an average
household annually.”
Board members also dis-
cussed scaled-back options,
such as constructing a second
story to double the space the
middle school occupies inside
the grade school, or moving
the bus barn from the high
school to create more class-
room space. But any expan-
sion requires more parking,
which the district is already
running short on.
Multiple board members
were open to moving the
schools to an entirely new
A return to
Hammond?
Until the early 1980s, sev-
enth- and eighth-graders in
Warrenton attended Fort Ste-
vens Junior High School,
located on a now-vacant lot
just south of Fort Stevens
State Park in Hammond. For-
mer principal Dick Hellberg
said the school was vacated
after the district consolidated
kindergarten through eighth
grade at the grade school.
But the need for more
space has the district look-
ing at a potential return to
Hammond, or another use
for the property. Jeffery said
the property could work as a
modular middle school with a
multipurpose gym space. The
former junior high’s gym was
located on a nearby 1.5-acre
lot the district also owns.
The district had an
appraisal for the larger prop-
erty, still zoned for a school,
done four years ago, showing
little value. But Morrill said
the property could prove quite
valuable if rezoned residen-
tial, subdivided and sold off.
The county owns a soc-
cer ield west of the intersec-
tion of Ridge Road and Eighth
Street, a short drive from the
grade school. Morrill said the
district could also get more
space by reaching out to the
county about building a track
around the ield, allowing the
district to utilize the ield at
the grade school.
Five years may seem like
a long time, Jeffery said, but
the district will need all of it
to ensure class space in the
short-term, plan for and secure
a bond and construct whatever
long-term solution it inds.
“We don’t have a lot of
time to decide,” he said.
“Every month we wait, the
enrollment keeps increasing.”
Debate: Next gubernatorial debate is Thursday in Medford
Continued from Page 1A
reforming land-use laws to
give counties more control over
the cost of land and growth of
urban growth boundaries. He
said local governments also
should to relax design stan-
dards and fees for affordable
house.
“Otherwise, we won’t
have affordably built hous-
ing,” Pierce said.
Brown said expanding
urban growth boundaries
wouldn’t solve the problem.
She cited a $70 million
package passed earlier this
year that dedicated money
to building affordable hous-
ing and giving assistance to
homeowners to avoid fore-
closure. Lawmakers also
lifted a ban on local juris-
dictions requiring afford-
able units in exchange for
certain perks such as tax
exemptions.
Brown promised to fight
for more funding for afford-
able units and to outlaw
no-cause evictions in the
2017 legislative session.
Thomason said the $70
million housing package
would finance less than
1,000 units. Thousands of
more are needed to address
the housing shortage.
He proposed subsidizing
$20 per square foot on the
first 500 square feet of con-
struction on affordable hous-
ing with guarantee of rents at
$600 to $800 for units.
“We can build our way
out of this,” while stimulat-
ing job growth, he said.
Graduation rates
Moving on to the state’s
low graduation rate, Miller
noted that Oregon ranks 32nd
in the nation for per-pupil
funding levels, according to
Governing magazine.
“Setting money aside for
the time being, what else do
you think is wrong with Ore-
gon education?” Miller asked.
Thomason suggested giv-
ing all high school sopho-
mores the GED test to give
them “a sense of accomplish-
ment” and the ability to access
jobs and higher education if
they leave school without a
graduation diploma.
Pierce said he would push
for more teacher and lead-
ership training and give stu-
dents tracks to pursue in high
school, including vocational
training and university.
Brown touted the Legis-
lature’s investment in early
education and STEM (sci-
ence, technical, engineering
and math) education and said
her new graduation guru Colt
Gill — a new position she cre-
ated – would be coming up
with more concrete plans for
addressing the problem.
PERS
During the debate, Brown
and Pierce clashed again over
the $21 billion unfunded Pub-
lic Employees Retirement
System. Both repeated argu-
ments they’ve made at past
debates. Pierce has proposed
rolling back future beneits for
current and future employees
to help scale back the state’s
debt. He noted that Oregon is
unique in requiring no contri-
bution from employees.
“When I hear his pro-
posals, I hear lawsuit, law-
suit, lawsuit … back on
the hamster wheel,” Brown
responded. Brown has said
there are no apparent options
to solve the unfunded liabil-
ity apart from giving the Ore-
gon Investment Board more
power to get a greater return
on the state’s investments.
Domestic violence
Miller also brought up
Pierce’s comment at a Sept.
30 debate at the City Club of
Portland suggesting success-
ful women aren’t victims of
domestic abuse. Pierce apol-
ogized again for his assertion,
saying he has since studied
up on domestic violence and
knows it can happen to anyone.
Brown replied that she
leaves it to voters to decide
whether they “want some-
one who just spent the week-
end learning about this issue
or someone who has been
investing her time and energy
and resources in increasing
penalties and making sure
there were more resources
available for more domestic
violence services.”
A recording of the debate
will be broadcast at noon and 8
p.m. Friday on OPB. The next
gubernatorial debate is sched-
uled for Thursday in Medford.
SUPPORT FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS
Court: Nondisparagement clause
included in Barnett’s retirement
Continued from Page 1A
with him in ongoing prosecu-
tions because of doubts about
his credibility.
In Shah’s brief with the
appeals court, he noted that the
9th Circuit has upheld abso-
lute immunity for prosecutors
whose professional evalua-
tion of a potential witness was
“harsh, unfair or clouded by
personal animus.”
Absolute immunity, Shah
argues, applies to civil rights
claims and “protects defendants
regardless of any improper
motive or result.”
Sean Riddell, a Portland
attorney representing Barnett,
said in his brief that Marquis
retaliated against Barnett for
his free speech and led Sea-
side Police to curtail his work
assignments and future eco-
nomic potential, essentially
attempting to end his career.
“Defendants should not be
permitted to hide behind abso-
lute immunity for unethical
conduct,” Riddell wrote.
Barnett, a veteran Seaside
Police oficer, was a longtime
detective before becoming a
patrol sergeant. He was pro-
moted to lieutenant last year.
Barnett received a $20,000
cash payment from the city
when he retired in March. The
agreement included a nondis-
paragement clause that applied
to both Barnett and city lead-
ers and precluded the city from
speaking about the former ofi-
cer’s character or reputation.
This
Place
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including the importance of non-medicine interventions
Visit OregonCarePartners.com to get started today. A little help can
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COMING SOON TO ASTORIA
The following events are part of the This Place
series happening across the state this fall:
October 8: Tillamook
1:00 p.m., Tillamook County Pioneer Museum
Safe Medication Use in Older Adults
October 19, 1:00pm-5:00pm • Holiday Inn Express
Learn more and register for this free class at OregonCarePartners.com. Family members,
all levels of caregivers and walk-ins welcome. CEUs ofered for professionals.
October 14: Astoria
6:00 p.m., Astoria Public Library
To learn more, visit oregonhumanities.org
www.OregonCarePartners.com
1-800-930-6851 • info@oregoncarepartners.com