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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2016)
10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 6, 2016 B UDGET R EPORT Continued from page 1A measure the experience level of its teachers; it also lost almost $80,000 in transportation funding, and a change in the estimate of the number of students that live in poverty cost another $203,962. The funding ratio the state uses to cal- culate the State School Fund also dropped. “Phil (Scrima) and I had been confi dent since the December esti- mate that everything we were doing was right in line,” Parent said. "But then we get an estimate with almost a $700,000 drop. How do you make those cuts when you have only 2 ½ months left in the year?" Parent said that she and Scrima had worked Monday afternoon to trim an additional $293,000 from the budget, leaving the District short about $600,000 for the remainder of this year. She said the District has the money in reserve to cover the gap, but she likened spending reserves to using the money in a savings account to cover regularly recurring bills. In fact, a lower-than-expected carryover into the 2016-17 school year will create a budget defi cit then, a defi cit the District has al- ready begun planning for. Parent said the District has been placed on a complete spending freeze. The District has not hired additional staff to support the im- plementation of full-day kindergar- ten, an addition that may now have to wait. The administrator position of former Director of Technology and Student Achievement Tim Por- ter will not be fi lled when Porter leaves to become superintendent of the South Umpqua district next year. There will be no new dean of students at Cottage Grove High School. Plans to add a teacher at Bohemia Elementary have been scrapped, and contributions to reserve funds dedicated to main- tenance, athletics fees, textbook adoptions and funds dedicated to cover rising PERS retirement costs have also been lowered. Other possible cuts for 2016-17 include cutting school days (the District saves about $80,000 per cut school day, Parent said), drop- ping the temperature by two de- grees at secondary schools, cutting summer school funding, dropping a second administrator position at Bohemia and closing either Dorena or Latham School (Parent pointed out, though, that the District re- ceives more funding for students at Dorena and London schools due to their rural location). Parent pointed out that cutting school days would have to be ne- gotiated through the District’s two teacher associations, adding that she heard a willingness to cut per- haps three or four days next year. Despite the concerns, she said that budget cuts are nothing new and that the District will manage. “We’ll just keep plugging away. You have a budget worksession where you’ll be joined by the bud- get committee in two weeks. We’ll just keep whittling away at it.” O BON Continued from page 1A are “not just a piece of cloth,” and were worn close to a soldier’s heart as he fought for his country. “When the families see these fl ags again, they believe it is as if the soldier’s spirit has fi nally re- turned,” she said. Cottage Grove’s Kathy Parsons said she isn’t sure how her father, William Arthur Arndt, who en- tered the Army Air Corps in 1943 and was part of the force that oc- cupied Japan following the Allied victory two years later, came to be in possession of his fl ag. But on Saturday, Parsons used the Obon Society exhibit as a way to begin the process of returning the fl ag to the soldier who carried it so long ago, or that soldier’s family. Upon glimpsing the fl ag, Keiko Ziak, clearly excited by its appear- ance at the library, began a quick assessment of the beautiful mark- ings it featured, though she added that others with more scholarship in the language of the period would conduct a more thorough analysis later. Right away, Ziak was able to dis- cern the name of the soldier, Mr. Katsuo Ishida, whom she surmised worked for the Mitsubishi corpora- tion, as its name was clearly fea- tured in one corner of the fl ag. She explained that the fl ag contained “so many mixtures” of messages from well wishers for Mr. Ishida, with many referring to him using nicknames and assuring him that they would take care of the home- land while he was away at war. Ziak believed these to be co-workers of Mr. Ishida. “They’re all very per- sonal messages,” Ziak said, “saying things like, ‘Good luck, buddy,’ and names that express close friendship.” Now, the Obon Society will begin working in Ja- pan to fi nd Mr. Ishida or his family. It’s a process that Keiko Ziak said has taken as little as two days and as long as 18 months. The Obon Society exhibit will be in place at the CG Library through- out April. Continued from page 1A fl exibility” due to the placement of built-in cabine- try. The school’s offi ce/administrative area is extremely cramped, the report states, and would need to be relo- cated, as would the school psychologist’s offi ce. The same is true for the computer testing room and music room. In the report’s cost analysis, McClean estimates a cost of a little over $2.1 million to acquire properties that would allow for Harrison’s expansion, about $1.9 million in site improvements, $4.15 million in deferred maintenance repairs, $1.49 million to reconfi gure the existing building for accessibility (primarily for the restrooms), $4.4 million in new construction costs, $1.2 million in permits, fees and other costs and a $2.3 million contingency, for a total renovation estimate of $17,636,928. At just under the $18.921 estimated cost of a new Harrison facility, renovating the old building isn’t cost- effective, according to South Lane Superintendent Krista Parent. “By the time the report was done and in the hands of the advisory committee, they had decided it didn’t make sense,” Parent said. “It’s basically the same amount of money to build a new school, and the District would have to purchase properties to do it. And you’d still have a seven-acre lot that’s too small for a school that size. We’d end up with a remodeled school that still has defi ciencies for the same money as it would cost to build a new one.” Light the Way to a Cure Luminary Ceremony Friday, 10pm, July 22nd COTTAGE GROVE TAX OFFICE 28 South 6th Street, Suite C Cottage Grove Fast, Reliable, Confi dential Give the gift to the American Cancer Society & keep the light burning with a luminaria in memory of someone lost to cancer, in honor of someone still fi ghting, or in special recognition of someone who has beat the disease. Please complete and return this form to the address below. (Note: to order more than one Luminaria, please photocopy this form.) $25 off NEW CLIENT RETURNS (must present ad) WHITE LUMINARIA $5 • PURPLE LUMINARIA $10 In Honor of: ___________________________________________ In Memory of: __________________________________________ In Support of: __________________________________________ We can personalize the Luminaria for you. List some of your loved ones likes and hobbies. Drop-off Ser vice, Direct Deposit, Saturday Walk-ins ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Call for an appointment today. 541-942-7070 we Please make checks payable to American Cancer Socitey and mail to: Luminaria 2350 Oakmont Way, Ste. 200 Eugene, OR 97401 our libraries! Cottage Grove Library (JCCT$(t .PO5VFTBNQN8FE4BUBNQN Creswell Library 80SFHPO"WFt .PO'SJQN5VFT5IVSBNQN4BUBNQN Drain Branch Library 8FTU""WFt .POQN5VFTQN'SJQN Yoncalla Branch Library &BHMF7BMMFZ3Et 8FEBNQN5IVSQN4BUBNQN Be sure to check out a LIBRARY near you! april 10-16 Oregon’s Main St. “The Folk History” STARFIRE Lumber Co. 2795 Mosby Creek Rd. Cottage Grove 541-942-0168 The Magic School Bus A tree grows in Booklyn Brad’s C.G. Chevrolet Smith Family Bookstore 2775 Row River Rd, C.G. 541-942-4415 525 Willamette St, Eugene 541-343-4717 Where the Wild Things Are The Orchardist Tom Sawyer Sometimes a Great Notion Stacy’s Covered Bridge Restaurant A-Ok Building Maintenance Rosendo Lopez Contracting Kalapuya Books 401 E. Main, C.G. 541-767-0320 Cottage Grove Cottage Grove 541-954-1954 637 Main St., CG 541-942-6143
