Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 28, 2016)
SIUSLAW NEWS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ❚ MAY 2016 SCHOOL ZONE A Monthly Newsletter for the Siuslaw and Mapleton Schools and Florence Community PTA PRIMARY ELECTION 2016 W he n t e am s ju st C L I C K V OTERS PASS M APLETON BOND , DEFEAT S IUSLAW ’ S Siuslaw Middle and High School Lego Robotics team participates at North Bend competition Levy for OSU Extension Service and 4-H programs also supported M COURTESY PHOTOS Siuslaw students who participated in the 2016 Oregon Regional MATE ROV competitors were Alex Bloomfield, Emily Bloomfield, Chandler Call, Darin Clarke, Michael Guttierez, Dillon Hutchinson, Anthony Jojola, JessyLynn Keppol, Topher Keppol, Alex Osbon, Jon Tregoning, Nic Wilkinson and Paige Williams. S iuslaw Middle and High School Lego Robotics team ends the 2015-16 school year with a healthy dose of com- petition and teamwork. Siuslaw sent a team to the Marine Advanced Technology Education Remote Operated Vehicle (MATE ROV) competition at the North Bend High School Aquatic Center. It was a success and students had a great time competing. The purpose of this competition is to simulate the real world actions of professional marine engineers, designers and technicians. The STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills students learn will be applicable in future jobs in the marine, robotics and mechanical fields. As a part of this program, students in college will find internships in the STEM industries such as NASA, NOAA and many others. The MATE ROV program is a great way to introduce students into this field so that they may build the skills needed in 21st century economy. MATE ROV had students from ele- mentary, middle and high schools col- laborating and building these skills that will serve them well when they go to college, or if they decide to get a job after high school in a related field. Advisers to the after-school Twilight program were Greg Jorgenson, Susan Hawke and Jon Hornung. We are proud of our students for working multiple months after school to improve themselves and showing graciousness in competition. — Submitted by Susan Hawke Stream Team completes quarter with exploration S iuslaw Stream Team and teachers Stephanie Rogers and Susan Hawke send a hearty thanks to the Quarter 4 Stream Team parent volunteers and the volunteers with the Dunes Use area Invasive Species clean up day on April 20 for Earth Day, a visit to Cape Perpetua on May 4 and the field trip to Heceta Head Lighthouse on May 18. COURTESY PHOTOS A special thank you to Sea Lion Caves and Boomer for allowing Stream Team and vol- Siuslaw Middle School to take one unteers visited coastal last field trip on May 18 for the and forest regions sixth- and seventh-grade Stream during Quarter 4. Team students to visit the light- house and the Sea Lion Caves. Grey whales at the Light “A huge thank you to Boomer House.” Wright of Sea Lion Caves The following are the who stepped forward parent volun- and gifted our final teers that have field trip to the caves made the field and Heceta Head trips possible: Lighthouse. It helped Dan Rankin complete our quarter Lori Olson of awesome field Shannon Slaughter trips to the Siuslaw Nichole Lewis National Forest and Brian Jefferis surrounding areas Michelle Rose of Florence,” said Stephanie Colton Hawke. “Another Merissa Ceridono plus goes to the Charlotte Rau Siuslaw PTA for providing grant Amy Galvan-Mendez Rogers said. funds for the purchase of 14 binoc- “Thank you for your continued —Submitted by Stephanie ulars which were used to view support of Siuslaw Schools,” Rogers and Susan Hawke CYAN MAGENTA YELLoW BLACK apleton School District voters approved a $4 million bond measure for school improvements, while Siuslaw School District voters rejected a proposed $36.9 million new high school in the May 17 Primary Election. Lane County voters also approved measure 20-239 to support 4-H and Oregon State University B Y J ACK D AVIS Extension Service Siuslaw News programs. The five- year levy will increase property taxes by 1.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Siuslaw was the only Lane County school dis- trict bond measure to fail, with 3,169 (53 per- cent) voting against it and 2,801 (47 percent) in favor. Bonds for Mapleton, Junction City and South Lane school districts all passed. Of the four Lane County school district bond measures, Mapleton School District’s $4 million bond had the highest voter approval with nearly 63 percent in favor. The last bond measure passed by the school district expired in 1961. Mapleton voters approved a much smaller bond measure, but it has a significantly higher cost per $1,000 property value rate than the Siuslaw district bond. Mapleton “We appreciate the voters’ residents will overwhelming support of the see an annual schools.” increase of —J ODI O’M ARA M APLETON S UPERINTENDENT $1.59 per $1,000 of assessed property value, while Florence voters rejected Siuslaw’s projected 29-cent annual increase per $1,000 of assessed property value. Mapleton Superintendent Jodi O’Mara said, “It was great to see the community supporting the schools by such a large margin.” According to O’Mara, the district will be able to start some projects this summer, but the majority of the work will be completed over the next three years. “We appreciate the voters’ overwhelming sup- port of the schools,” she said. In addition to the $4 million from the bond measure, Mapleton received an additional $4 million grant from the state of Oregon that was triggered by the passage of the bond. Mapleton will also apply for two state seismic improve- ment grants of up to $1.5 million each for the high school and elementary school buildings in July. “They are competitive grants, so those funds are not guaranteed,” O’Mara said. “They can only be used to improve the seismic stability of the buildings and to create ‘shelter in place’ areas to be used in the aftermath of an earth- quake.” The Siuslaw district will lose an additional $4 million state grant award that was contingent upon approval of the bond. Siuslaw Superintendent Ethel Angal said, “I feel sad that what we did in this shortened process was just not enough for our community. We had good support; we just didn’t have quite enough.” According to Lane County records, there were 368 more “no” votes out of a total of 5,970 total votes cast. “The same problems still exist,” Angal said. “We are going to have to deal with them in some way. There is not enough general fund money to provide instruction and take on huge capital projects. At some point we are going to have to bond.” Statewide, 13 of 22 school district bond meas- ures on the ballot passed.
