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Grove celebrates its grads
(541) 942-0555
SLSD fi nalizes
‘shoestring’
budget
Though state
and local school
budget dollars
increased, so have
operating costs
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By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
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CGHS seniors
prepare for college
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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
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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
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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