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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2019)
WEDNESDAY EDITION | JUNE 12, 2019 | $1.00 CGSENTINEL.COM 3 Est. 1889 S entinel C ottage G rove VOL. 131, NO. 24 S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY Grove celebrates its grads (541) 942-0555 SLSD fi nalizes ‘shoestring’ budget Though state and local school budget dollars increased, so have operating costs PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove WEATHER By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Sunny skies with a high of 97 and a low tonight of 58. Full forecast on A5 COMMUNITY Bernie Sanders supporters host BBQ A3 SPORTS — B CGHS seniors prepare for college athletics B1 • RECORDS Obituaries Arrests A2 • LORANE NEWS A5 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B7-B9 PHOTOS BY DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL PHOTOS BY DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove High School 2019 graduates receive congratulations during the opening of Saturday’s ceremony. An Al Kennedy student waves to family after receiving her diploma during the school’s 2019 graduation ceremony on Saturday. CGHS seniors say ‘goodbye’ Al Kennedy grads give thanks By Damien Sherwood By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com dsherwood@cgsentinel.com S eating at the Cottage Grove High School (CGHS) athletic field filled with friends and families Saturday afternoon to celebrate the graduation of the CGHS Class of 2019. The ceremony commenced with graduates pro- ceeding through a congratulatory gauntlet of embrac- es and handshakes from teachers before taking their seats at the center of the field. Following a performance of the national anthem by graduating senior Mer- ridith Gullickson, CGHS principal Mike Ingman welcomed the crowd to the ceremony by extending an appreciation to families, students and school staff. “This staff is kind and caring and pushes our stu- dents to be their very, very best. I couldn’t imagine a better staff to work with,” Ingman said. “While teach- CGHS Salutatorian ers have taught them how Alexandra Istudor to read, write and do math, delivers her speech they have also taught them to classmates. things that meant so much more than just learning state standards. They have both taught and modeled how to be adults — and I firmly believe we have some of the best teachers in the state here in Cottage Grove.” Ingman gave a special thanks to retiring teacher Lori Hanson. “She’s always willing to do whatever is needed to make every single student in this building successful,” he said. To the school office manager Lisa Thoms, who is FOLLOW US FOR THE A l Kennedy High School began its graduation ceremony Saturday morning to a rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance” performed by some of the school’s own educators. Principals Halie Ketcher and Kim Scrima started speeches by directing appreciation toward the school staff. “The staff is kind and caring, but also pushes students to do their best,” said Ketcher. “Thank you for all your efforts and for making a difference in the lives of the youths here in Cottage Grove.” Graduating student Sydney Pate then spoke to the audience in a speech acknowledging her own development through the Kennedy school system. “I’ve grown a lot in the time I’ve gone to school at Kennedy,” she said. “When I Principals Kim began here, I had the mind- Scrima and Halie set that it was my way or no Ketcher welcome way. Over time, I’ve realized friends and family to that need to cooperate and the Al Kennedy High I have learned to work with School graduation. people instead of against them.” Pate thanked the entire staff of the school for bring- ing her to the point of graduation. “Kennedy is a special school to me because, if you want help and are willing to ask for it, every person on this staff will give you all the help and support that you need,” she said. “I’ve always been told that teach- ers want to see you succeed, and here they don’t just say it — they show it by going the extra mile.” See CGHS 7A See KENNEDY 6A Another school year has come and gone, and with it the South Lane School District school board has passed its lat- est budget. While the state school budget that came in at $9 billion was a higher number than ed- ucators had previously feared, it means that in SLSD things will contin- ue to stand pat. “Is the budget suffi - cient? To some degree. We just can’t plan for the future with it,” said SLSD superintendent Larry Sullivan. “This $9 billion budget keeps us even but it doesn’t al- low us to do things that I think we need to do, more professional de- velopment — all those type of things that would build that foundation for the future.” The SLSD budget came in at $32.7 million, a $2 million increase from last year’s budget, which Sullivan attribut- ed to costs — especially the cost of living — con- tinuing to go up. At the early stages of the budget process, the state budget looked like it might come in at around $8.8 billion, an alarming number for educators. For SLSD, this $200 million fl uc- tuation would mean a $400,000 swing one way or the other in the budget. The quick math the dis- trict uses: for every $100 million in the budget, approximately $200,000 makes its way to SLSD. “Even though the bud- get numbers sound really big at $9 billion, that’s across 197 districts. We are a very, very small part of the pie,” said Sul- livan, See BUDGET 10A LATEST NEWS : /CGS ENTINEL @CGS ENTINEL School district in process of hiring multiple positions for new year CGS ENTINEL . COM By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 The end of the school year is in sight, but the South Lane School District is working on new hires for next school year. The administrative hiring pro- cess is in full-swing in an effort to fill the positions of principal and assistant principal/athletic direc- tor at Cottage Grove High School and principal at Lincoln Middle School. “As far as comparing this year to other years, it might seem — since we have three pretty major leader- ship positions open right now — like it’s a big year. But so far, from where we sit right now, it’s proba- bly the smallest in six years,” said Human Resources director Brian EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! EUGENE CRESWELL 622 E. 22nd Ave Suite C 195 Melton Rd. 541.686.1732 541.686.1732 or visit us at www.thornton-ortho.com GIVE US A CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TODAY! McCasline at last week’s school board meeting. “But that’s com- paring spring to August, so it may still grow to a middling year, what have you. But it’s not any higher than we would expect at this time of year.” Final interviews for the position of assistant principal and athlet- ic director were being conducted last Wednesday. As of The Sen- tinel’s print deadline, the person filling that position has not been announced. The interviews for the principal position at the high school are just beginning. Mc- Cassline noted that both positions will be ready for the school board to approve at the June 17 meeting. In May, CGHS principal Mike See HIRING 8A Michele Monroe, LCSW Counseling Services 541-255-8822 • 1450 Birch Ave • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 • Individual and Family Counseling • Insurance and Sliding Scale • Accepting New Clients • Weekend and Weekday Appointments Available
