Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1979)
PAGE 10 MARCH 30, 1979 (Public Hearing - April 19) Outdoor School, Elementary Counselors Cut From 509-J School Budget Public review of the pro posed 1979-80 District 509-J school budget, which eliminates an elementary counselor pro gram and deletes the Camp Tamarack outdoor school, has been scheduled for Monday, April 9. The hearing will be the last before the final budget goes before the voters on May 22. At their March 8 meeting, the district’s budget committee approved cutting a proposed $59,000 for elementary school counselors and $12,000 which had been tagged for the sixth grad er’s two weekly sessions at Camp Tamarack outdoor school. The other major proposal cut from the budget was $26,000 for an additional third grade tea cher at Madras elementary. The budget committee de feated the elementary counselor program and the additional third grade teacher by a vote of 5-2. The total, budget for 1979-80 now stands at $5.7 million, as compared to $4.9 million for 1978-79. The required levy will be about $3 million as compared to $2.5 million for the current year. That represents a gain of nearly 14.5 per cent over the current levy. Although cutting elementary school counselors from the bud get is nothing new to the 509-J school district, it has been a sensitive and emotional area. Board member Lloyd Smith of Warm Springs fought the cut, noting that the elementary level is the most important in the school system. Smith explained that about 98 per cent of potential dropouts can be identified at the grade school level and said he feels strongly that proper guidance and counseling at an earlier age could cut down on dropouts at upper levels. He said that an elementary school counselor program is hard to sell because it is difficult to evaluate its effectiveness. Although Warm Springs has carried on a grade school counse lor program (funded through Title IV P art A) for the past 6(4 years, the 509-J district has never included such a program in its budget. An elementary school counselor program has been proposed since 1974, but it Hearings Scheduled For Indian Education Funds Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has announced that public hearings will be held at seven locations between March 28 and April 13 on pro posed formulas for distributing Johnson-O’Malley Act funding to schools serving Indian students. Six alternative proposed for mulas were published in the Federal Register March 9 for review and comment. The for mulas will be revised according to comments received by May 1 and submitted to a vote of the tribes. The formula chosen by the tribal vote will be published as a final rule. The 1978 Education Amend ments Act (P.L. 95-561) requires that the distribution formula be established as a regulation in this manner. The Johnson-O’Malley funds are used to provide supplemental programs for Indian students in public schools and other non- Federal education programs. In fiscal year 1979 the appropriation for this purpose, serving ap proximately 171,000 students, was $31,675,000. The current distribution for mula is based on the number of eligible Indian students for whom funds are sought, multi plied by a national average per- pupil expenditure and a weight ing factor which is intended to take into account the differences ip education costs among the states. The public hearings will be held in Anchorage, Alaska, March 28-29; Minneapolis, Min nesota, March 29; Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 6-7; Sulphur, Oklahoma, April 9-10; Fort Hall, Idaho, April 6-7; San Diego, California, April 9-10; and Nash ville, Tennessee, April 12-13. For additional information contact Judith Zundell, Office of the Assistant Secretary for In dian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (202 343-4576). Written comments on the proposed formulas should be sent to the above address for the attention of Deputy Assistant Secretary Rick La vis. has never made it into the final budget passed by the voters. “The elementary counseling program is becoming a sacrifi cial lamb, almost,” commented Assistant Superintendent Ernie Weber. “We’re disappointed, of course, and feel a real need for it,” he added. Weber said he thinks a general lack of understanding of what an elementary counselor does is the problem. He said that the general public needs to be educated in that respect. “We feel that a preventative rather than a remedial approach is best,” he said. It’s important to identify and deal with learning problems and disabilities in a positive way, he noted. According to Superintendent Darrell Wright, the Camp Tama rack outdoor school was elimi nated because it is difficult to get high school senior counselors and because it interferes with the regular school curriculum. , An addition to the 1979-80 school budget was the re-estab- lishment of the forestry clusters at Madras high school, an on going program which was delet- ed from the current year’s budget. Other proposals adopted by the budget committee included: funding for a second cross-coun try coach, funding for a teacher- principal at Metolius Element ary, hiring one additional P.E. specialist at the elementary level, and the hiring of an Education Conference Set The fourth annual Oregon Indian Education Association Conference will be held April 20-22 in the Winema Hotel at Klamath Falls, Oregon. The conference is open to anyone interested in Indian Edu cation. Among the main topics that should ' be of interest to students include Alcohol and Drug Abuse, student tutors and their impact, colleges and their offerings, and financial aid for college. The External Degree Pro gram from Oregon State Univer sity will be offering Graduate and Undergraduate Credit for the conference. Registration and require ments will be available Friday April 20,1979. Post: Pre-registra tion $20.00 due April 16, 1979. At conference the fee will be $25.00. Make checks payable to: Linda Anderson, Box 515, Chiloquin, Oregon 97624. The Winema Hotel has rooms available with rates $11.66 for single, $20.14 for double and $26.00 for four people. For reservations phone 503-884-4881. For further information contact Lynn Anderson phone 783-2660 or 783-2252. Simnasho Kids Seasoned Travelers Months of bake sales, bottle drives and concessions paid of for twelve Simnasho Grade School students who took their dream trip to Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo during spring vacation. Back home safe and sound after five days of hectic travel, the kids and their four adult chaperones are “recuperating,” according to teacher Rich Little. It will take some time for the excitement to wear off, but Little hopes to tap some of it for classroom lessons. “The kids got a lot out of the trip,” commented Littré, “and they’re going to keep learning from it.” One sobering fact is that the students still need to raise the money they owe for the trip. Although they spent $1,700 less than they expected to, they have Some debts to pay off. No sooner did they return but ■ that the upset stomachs on the Little put them to work at a flight down were not at all quilting and craft session to evident on the return trip. “They produce items for their upcom were all pro’s,” said Little. ing auction. That auction is Only once did a child become planned for April 5 at the separated from the group. She community center (see. calendar wandered away during their visit for more details). | to the San Diego Zoo and gave Besides being fun, the trip her chaperones and fellow stu taught the young travelers some dents a scare. But she wandered important lessons in the concept back a half hour later, after the of time. A tight schedule kept authorities had been alerted, them hopping and very aware of apparently unaware that she had the clock. Even Mr. Little learn been “lost.” ed that there are only 24 hours in Little said he was pleased a day, when he had to drop some with the responses the -group activities from the ambitious elicited from the public. Compli itinerary. ments on their good behavior Students also learned about were frequent and people were traffic, having been tied up in curious about where the kids more than a few jams. Getting were from. The kids happily did anywhere takes twice as long in some P.R. for Simnasho. Los Angeles as it does on the reservation, they discovered. Pictures and more details Flying was a new experience will appear in the next edition of for most of the kids. Little said Spilyay Tymoo. Ilf! 11 / ’ * Look, up in the Sky . . . Warm Springs kids will have (heir heads in the clouds for four weeks in April when Johnson- O’Malley sponsors a glimpse into the mysteries of the universe. Three classroom sessions will be followed by a trip to Pine Mountain Observatory in eastern Oregon where students will view planets and stars through power ful telescopes. Instructor Ben Boswell will introduce interested students and parents to such astronomical phenomena as constellations, the solar system, and the moon. The four week program will begin April 3 at the Warm Springs Community Center. The tentative schedule is as follows: April 3 — 7:00-8:30 — Commu nity Center Theories of the Solar System instructor for the forestry curri culum at Madras High. The proposed budget will be up for public review at the board’s regular meeting April 9 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Support Services Building on Buff Street across from the high school. Galileo’s Observations April 10 — 7:00-8:30 — Commu nity Center Identify Constellations Legends of Constellations (Parents invited) April 17 — 7:00-8:30 — Commu nity Center Tour of the Solar System The Moon April 21 — 4:30:10:30 — Pine Mountain Observatory Tour observatory View star clusters, nebula, planets (Parents invited) ■ Those students interested in attending may simply show up at the Community Center Tuesday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. For more inform ation, co ntact Doyle Whipple or Ben Boswell at Madras Junior High, 475-3131. / •• w è
