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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2019)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 | 7A DIPLOMAS from page 1A See Jim for your auto sales needs! 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 Quality Pet Grooming 541-99 7-2726 Grooming Products Pet Fashions Natural Shampoos Holistic Treats & Supplements 1751 12th Street • Florence Stocks. Bonds. CDs. IRAs. Mutual funds. Andy Baber, AAMS® Financial Advisor . 1010 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-8755 www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC Chateau Lorane !Wine at the Lake! Memorial Day Weekend May 25-27 • Noon-5pm each day 27415 Siuslaw Rd., Lorane Oregon 541.942.8082 • chateaulorane.com Celebrate spring at our special event facility on the shore of beautiful Lake Louise. Sample over 15 different wines for a $8 Tasting Fee. Picnic supplies available for purchase or bring your own lunch. Be sure to take advantage of our 27th Anniversary Wine Sale ending May 31st Summer Wine Tasting Hours: Daily Noon-5pm 13 miles west of Cottage Grove, 22miles southwest of Eugene Follow the signs! school board, asking for increased teacher involve- ment in the graduation pro- cess. Although the school’s tradition had dictated that school board members hand out diplomas, more than 60 of the 84 graduating seniors signed the petition to have two of their teachers hand them diplomas while still in- cluding the school board in the ceremony. In her speech presenting the petition to the board, Elizabeth Luevano said, “Teaching takes a special kind of courage and com- passion; and when it comes to our class, a very high pa- tience level. The Class of 2019 wouldn’t have come this far without the teachers who were patient despite our impatience. The reason why we are here today is because we humbly request that teachers hand us our diplo- mas this year and the years to follow.” The school board ended the May 8 meeting without coming to a decision and only later agreed to meet for the special meeting Monday to discuss the issue. Twenty-one Siuslaw High School students and com- munity members attended the school board meeting May 20, the first full meeting for all seven directors, two of whom were appointed this spring. The meeting began with Director Guy Rosinbaum reviewing the board’s three powers: setting and imple- menting policy; hiring a su- perintendent; and setting a budget. According to Rosin- baum, the board would not have the authority to create a policy about graduation, as those should fall to ad- ministrators, namely Tatum as principal and Andy Grz- eskowiak as district superin- tendent. “We have three powers as this board, and running the day-to-day operations of the school is not one of those three powers,” Rosinbaum said. “We hire a superin- tendent; he administers the school. If we don’t like the way the school is being ad- ministered, then our goal is to fire the superintendent and hire a different superin- FESTIVAL from page 1A The Rhododendron Fes- tival started on Wednesday with the Rhody Court Cor- onation, which crowned Queen Rhododendra Madi- son Reynolds and King of the Coast Patrick Rowley. “There are just wonderful reviews of the Coronation this year,” Hannigan said. “The kids were terrific, and we love supporting them with scholarships.” The King and Queen’s float was a big part of the Grand Floral Parade on Sunday. The Florence Garden Club thanks the following merchants and other contributors to our annual raffle, helping make the 2019 Plant Sale and Marketplace a huge success! 1285 Resto Bar 3 Rivers Casino Bay Street Grille Bay View Restaurant Big Dog Donuts Bones Nursery Coastal Fitness Every & Owen Marsh Frames of Florence Habitat for Humanity Restore Ichiban Restaurant Kitchen Klutter Krab Kettle Laurel Bay Garden Lovejoy’s Tea Room Mo’s Phil’s Saw Shop Reigning Cats & Dogs River Roasters Coff ee Rosa’s Mexican Restaurant Sandland Sea Lions Caves Silver Lining Boutique Sticks & Stones Gallery Teresa’s Sunrise Espresso URWorth It Salon Waterlily Studio Woahink RV Resort Thanks to community members for purchasing raffle tickets, plants and goods. Your enthusiasm for gardening generates beauty for Florence and scholarships for local students seeking higher education. tendent.” He added that he would worry about future that pe- titions that go straight to the school board instead of fol- lowing the regular process for decision making. Director Bill McDougle said, “If the students had started a little earlier, then the chain of command could have been followed. It could have gone to the principal, and if the students didn’t like the decision it could have gone to the superintendent. If they did not like the su- perintendent’s decision, it would have come to us, and that would have followed the pattern that we like to see. Now, we’re at the top and we have to make the decision, have to do something.” The members of the board wanted to make it clear that they follow set policy for every decision, and those are created by the Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon School Board Association’s (OSBA) recommendations and court precedent. “What we have here is a great civics lesson,” said Di- rector Bob Sneddon. “On the surface, it seems like just a simple request, but due to the timing and a lot of oth- er things involved, it’s a lit- tle deeper than what it may sound like.” Director John Barnett em- phasized that the board did not have to hold the meet- ing at all, and chose to do so even though the original petition had not come in as an agenda item or something on which the board needed to take action. “It’s a lesson on how our schools operate, and this is not how we operate. It’s not a secret — we make known in our agendas and our meetings that things have to be planned a week ahead of time to be on our agenda,” he said. The full week is often used, Rosinbaum said, to research items and understand the is- sues and policies at play. At the May 8 meeting, he said he was caught off guard by the petition and would have liked more time to go over it. At that time, Board Chair Suzanne Mann-Heintz said she was inclined to support the student request. “I feel like it’s their grad- Featuring overturned paint buckets, the float, sponsored by TR Hunter and provided by Gary Foglio, included the entire 2019 Rhody Court. “I’m blown away each year by the number of people it takes to put on the parade,” Hannigan said. Including Florence Am- bassadors and Chamber Event Coordinator Rue Schertell, dozens of people volunteer to guide traffic, assign an order to the en- trants, numbering more than 80 this year, and coordinate requirements of the various equestrian groups, marching bands, bike riders and more. “And then the whole town turns out for the parade,” Hannigan said. People lined Highway 101 uation, and I kind of would like to comply in some way with what they requested,” she said. “I know it’s an im- portant time and most of the students don’t have a strong personal relationship with us.” At the May 20 meeting, she said it was all part of the “democratic process” and was glad the students were working together to accom- plish their goal. The rest of the discussion went between all seven of the board members, who took time to talk about policy, their personal opinions and the past. Sneddon said that gradua- tion ceremonies are of “his- torical nature,” especially as so many community mem- bers graduated from Siuslaw and have distinct memories of their own events. However, for McDougle, he said his ceremony might have had more meaning if his favorite teacher, with whom he is still in contact, had handed him his diplo- ma, instead of a school board member he had never met. Director Paul Burns re- stated his May 8 position in support of the board con- tinuing to hand students di- plomas. “It’s our opportunity to show the community that we’ve invested their dollars wisely,” he said. It’s a culmi- nation of all the effort that we’ve put in over the years to have the students come through. I think it’s a really important piece of our job to be able to have that final- ity in the presentation of the diplomas like that.” Burns has been a Siuslaw School Board member for 15 years, since before the Class of 2019 was in kinder- garten. “I think it’s appropriate that we are involved in that process,” he added. The newest school board member is Dennis King, a retired educator who was appointed to Board Position 5 on April 24. “I am all for the kids de- ciding who hands out their diplomas,” King said. “If they want to decide they want teachers to hand them out, I’m all for that if there’s a system that they’ve come up with that passes muster with Mrs. Tatum. That falls under the administrative umbrella.” At the end of the board discussion, Grzeskowiak said, “There’s got to be some direction coming from the board, because the petition was addressed to the board.” Sneddon moved to ac- knowledge and accept the student petition and to en- dorse the concept of having the high school administra- tion and senior class work together to plan an appro- priate commencement cer- emony. Rosinbaum seconded and the motion carried unani- mously. Mann-Heintz said, “To me, the process that the students went to, the peti- tion they drafted and the fact that a large majority of signed the petition, I am less attached to the outcome than I am to the fact that the students be acknowledged for their process. This is democracy, and this is what we’re wanting them to come out of school feeling that they have a handle on.” Tatum agreed to meet with selected students Tues- day to come up with a plan to take before the rest of the senior class. The meeting included Tatum, Siuslaw High School Counselor Steve Moser, Luevano, Se- nior Class Vice President and petition co-creator Hannah Freudenthal, Se- nior Class President Hailey Meier, the senior leadership class and two community members, who were there to observe. “I feel really good that they allowed it to be handed down to the administration and students,” Luevano said. “I feel so accomplished. Our work has actually payed off. Things are changing.” During the meeting, Tatum and the students came up with a plan on how the senior class would vote for the two teachers who would be handing out diplo- mas. They plan to present it to the seniors at the next Project Grad meeting. The rest of the decisions will be handled by the seniors. “Graduation is about the seniors,” Meier said. “It’s our day. We deserve to have the graduation we want.” from 27th Street down to K i n g - w o o d Street, w h e r e the pa- rade route traveled u n d e r PHOTO BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS the Siu- Davis Shows NW Carnival continues to be a slaw Riv- big part of Rhody Days. See more photos on er Bridge Page A10. and onto Bay Street in His- First Citizen Audrey Lowder. “There’s so much tradition toric Old Town. The Heceta Head Light- involved in Rhody Days,” house was the Parade Grand Hannigan said, “It brings Marshal in honor of its 125th people back each year for anniversary in 2019. Other family get togethers. It’s dignitaries include Florence healthy, clean family fun.” And everywhere were the Mayor Joe Henry and his wife Pam, Florence First Citi- rhodies, many right at the zen Dee Osborne and Future peak of blooming. Coupled with a theme promoting public art, it was appropri- FEATURED HOME OF THE WEEK ate that the City of Florence and the Public Art Commit- tee held a Public Paint at the new mural at Quince Street and Highway 126 to encour- age community involvement in Florence’s art movement. “I’m excited to see what else is going on with art in this town and how it will continue to stimulate our economy,” Hannigan said. Additional information about the Rhododendron Festival is available through the Siuslaw Pioneer Muse- 83980 CLEAR LAKE RD um, 278 Maple St., which WOAHINK LAKE VIEW CLASSIC! 1-level estate-type home. just released “Florence in 3,077 square feet, all 1 level with spacious rooms with an elegant Full Bloom,” a collection of yet cozy feel. Large & effi cient kitchen, brick fi replace with memories of Rhody Days’ woodstove insert in living room. Oversized garage with storage. Additional covered parking & circular driveway. Includes deeded past. Woahink Lake access. Shown by appointment. $550,000 The Florence Area Cham- #11826 MLS#19141767 ber of Commerce Visitor’s Center, 290 Highway 101, “We’re next to the Bridge” will continue to display Josh- ua Greene’s photos of past 100 Hwy. 101 festivals throughout May. COAST REAL ESTATE See all Florence Listings at cbcoast.com more information, visit 541-997-7777 For FlorenceChamber.com.
