3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018
Knappa: Parents noted schools are isolated from local law enforcement
Continued from Page 1A
such as reporting suspicious
behavior.
“We wear many different
hats,” Johnson said.
The superintendent also
mentioned the most recent
incident at the school during
a discussion of federal student
disclosure laws.
“I know some of you might
have been frustrated when we
had the last threat of violence
that when you called school,
you couldn’t find out the name
of the child,” Johnson said.
“That’s to protect not only you,
but it’s also to protect your
child, and it’s also to protect
the child who did the incident.”
Parents repeatedly noted
that Knappa schools are iso-
lated from local law enforce-
‘It seems like having
somebody on our campus
armed would be a better
option than relying on a
sheriff that might be on the
other side of the county.’
ment and mental health orga-
nizations. Some asked whether
the school district has consid-
ered hiring its own resource
officer to keep watch through-
out the day. One man pointed
out that both the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice and the National
Rifle Association are offering
grants for such positions.
“They’re pretty politically
motivated to give rural schools
money now,” he said of the gun
rights organization.
The school district has
worked with Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, the Clatsop
County Sheriff’s Office, Ore-
gon State Police and Astoria
police to prepare for a potential
emergency. But a school shoot-
ing could happen before police
have enough time to respond.
“It seems like having some-
body on our campus armed
would be a better option than
relying on a sheriff that might
be on the other side of the
county,” one man said. “It’d be
a heck of a lot faster.”
Sheriff’s Deputy Nate Rico
said at least one deputy is
always assigned to patrol the
Knappa area and that officers
from other departments may be
able to respond if they happen
to be closer.
“We might be 20 minutes
away, so that sucks, but we
also try to come to the school
as much as we can,” Rico said.
“We try to be out here so we’re
available. We don’t expect
there to be a problem here but,
you know, if that day comes,
we’re ready. We have a good
plan for the school.”
School
administrators
offered tips on how to prevent
children from reaching a vio-
lent point: Report suspicious
behavior early. Remind stu-
dents to take drills seriously.
“On a spectrum, if we’re
one to 10, we’re probably a
seven. There’s more we could
do, I would agree,” John-
son said. A man in the crowd
added, though, that stronger
safety measures may harm
other aspects of the school.
“To get to a 10, it’s prob-
ably going to take away a lot
of what makes a small school
really nice,” he said. “You have
to have concrete blocks over
all your windows and, you
know, that would just suck for
everyone.”
At one point during her
remarks, Montgomery dis-
cussed a conversation she had
when she worked at another
school. A parent asked her
what guarantees she could
offer that teachers could keep
children safe.
“I don’t know,” Montgom-
ery said. “We’re going to do
our best.”
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
College: Will likely look at borrowing in the short term
Continued from Page 1A
in terms of the current funding
that we’re experiencing.”
Tuition and fee revenue is
one of the largest sources of
funding for the college, along
with property taxes and state
funding. Each $1 increase
translates to about $25,000
in revenue, said JoAnn Zahn,
the college’s vice president of
finance and operations.
Tuition and fee revenue is
down nearly 8.5 percent from
the same point last year, equal
to around $200,000. The col-
lege developed its budget
based on an increase of 8 per-
cent in enrollment from more
course offerings and the rede-
veloped Patriot Hall.
“That’s concerning,” Zahn
said of the drop. “That’s a big
chunk of change.”
The proposed increase
would bring the college from
$99 to $102 per credit, effec-
tive in the summer term. The
college last raised tuition in
2014 by $1, from $98 to $99
per credit, to fill a gap left by
state funding.
“Prior to that, we had raised
it every year in the 14 years
I’ve been on the board,” said
Rosemary Baker-Monaghan, a
board member who has vowed
to not support any more tuition
increases. “I just can’t vote for
it anymore.”
The average tuition and
fees paid by students have
increased statewide by more
than 30 percent over the past
decade. During a recent meet-
ing of Oregon’s 17 community
college presidents, most indi-
cated their tuition would go up
to between $107 and $112 per
credit, Breitmeyer said, add-
ing the college’s increase was
among the most modest and
would still leave it as one of
the more affordable places to
take classes.
“Most institutions are going
up between 5 and 10 percent
for the upcoming year,” Breit-
meyer said.
The college would attempt
to offset the increase in tui-
tion by targeting financial aid
toward lower-income students,
increasing the college founda-
tion’s support and looking at
ways to lower textbook costs,
he said.
College enrollment gen-
erally falls as the economy
improves, and Clatsop County
is experiencing its lowest sea-
sonally adjusted unemploy-
ment rate in more than 40
years.
The college is experienc-
ing the largest drop in enroll-
ment among Washington state
students, who are down about
12 percent from a year ago,
compared to between 8 and
8.5 percent among other stu-
dent groups, Zahn said. The
decline from Washington state,
she said, might be related to
expanded online offerings by
Grays Harbor College.
While enrollment is fall-
ing, the college has increased
spending 11 percent from the
same point last year, mainly
because of costs from Patriot
Hall and new instructors in
welding and Spanish, Zahn
said.
While looking to hike tui-
tion, the college board also
voted Tuesday to provide a 3
percent annual salary increase
to full-time faculty over the
next two years, and the same
pay bump to support staff next
year.
Part-time faculty received
a 4 percent annual salary
increase two years ago. The
college board also voted to
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SEASIDE — Clatsop
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The college board voted
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Tessa Scheller, a stark critic
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smoking in designated shel-
ters, read the motion.
“Thanks everyone,” she
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Teena Toyas, the college’s
physical education teacher and
dean of transfer education, said
the issue had stretched back at
least 20 years.
“It’s been at least three
times in my 18 years we’ve
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