Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 18, 2015 19A
Polk County Schools/Education
WOU grad
rates up to
46 percent
Search for DSD boss
ready for next step
By Emily Mentzer
By Jolene Guzman
Superintendent to be named in March
The Itemizer-Observer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon University’s gradua-
tion rates have increased, but
remain below a 50 percent
completion mark in six years.
David McDonald, associate
provost, said rates have
climbed from 41 percent in
2009-10 to 46 percent in 2013-
14. Because of variables each
year, McDonald said taking
rates five years apart shows a
more accurate measurement.
WOU President Mark
Weiss said the 46 percent was
not good enough during a
presentation to the Central
Lions Club on Monday.
Reasons for students not
earning a bachelor’s degree
in six years or less vary from
not being prepared for col-
lege to having affordability is-
sues or even struggling with
mental health, Weiss said.
The worst-case scenario is
when students drop out of
college, leaving the university
with debt and no degree, he
said.
McDonald added that
some of Western’s programs
are built to get students start-
ed at WOU, but to transfer to
another school to complete
their degree.
Western has developed a
culture of Latino students
graduating, which runs count-
er to national trends. Latino
grad rates have increased
from 35 percent in 2009-10 to
52 percent in 2013-14.
Itemizer-Observer
Central and Dallas school districts have more students this year, based on the state’s
fall enrollment report released this month. Falls City and Perrydale are down slightly.
Enrollment numbers
up at Dallas, Central
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Polk
County’s two largest school
d i s t r i c t s — e xc l u d i n g
Salem-Keizer — saw in-
creases in enrollment this
year, according to the Ore-
gon Department of Educa-
tion’s 2014-15 fall enroll-
ment report.
Meanwhile, Falls City and
Perrydale school districts
saw small decreases in en-
rollment from 2013-14.
The report, which was re-
leased Feb. 4, uses enroll-
ment tallies provided on the
first school day in October.
According to the report,
Central School District’s en-
rollment increased to 3,110
in 2014-15 from 3,060 last
year.
Dallas School District
jumped from 3,177 in 2013-
14 to 3,246 this fall.
The report includes a
Dallas senior class tally of
417, but that includes all
seniors at Dallas High
School, Morrison Campus
Alternative School, students
enrolled in Extended Cam-
pus, and various other pro-
grams the district offers at
the time.
Falls City’s enrollment
numbers declined by eight
students, according to the
fall snapshot, with 143 stu-
dents in K-12, down from
155 in 2013-14. Of the 143,
46 are at the high school.
Perrydale’s enrollment
fell slightly from 320 last
year to 316 this year. Perry-
dale High School enroll-
ment is 93.
Statewide, enrollment
grew .66 percent from 2013-
14 and is at 570,857.
To see the report and
those from prior years:
www.ode.state.or.us/search
/page/?=3225.
Polk County Fair Grounds
& Event Center
Fri 1-5pm • Sat 9-5pm • Sun 10-5pm
DALLAS — The Dallas
School Board is ready for
the next step in the process
of finding and hiring a new
superintendent: interviews.
Monday night, the dis-
t r i c t’s s u p e r i n t e n d e n t
screening committee, in-
cluding school board mem-
bers, met to reduce the pool
of applicants to those the
board would take a closer
look at through an initial in-
terview.
The committee, which
consisted of district staff,
city representatives, busi-
ness leaders and communi-
ty members, held its first
meeting Feb. 11 to begin re-
viewing applications and
resumes.
Superintendent search
consultant Mike Taylor said
Dallas will compete with 14
other school districts looking
for a new leader, a number of
them of similar size to Dallas.
“This is very typical of
what we have been getting
in other searches in the
state,” Taylor said of the
number of candidates who
applied for the Dallas job,
though that number was
not disclosed Monday.
As the meeting was held
in executive session —
closed to the public — the
number of candidates cho-
sen for initial interviews
and their names were not
released Monday. The
board approved its superin-
tendent job description,
hiring procedures and
salary range, and took pub-
lic input on the process and
candidate qualifications in
meetings held earlier this
school year.
“We had several opportu-
nities at public meetings
and surveys (for public
comment),” Board Chair-
man Mike Blanchard said
before the first meeting of
the screening committee.
According to the search
schedule, the board will an-
nounce its finalists and
schedule in-district visits
and public meet-and-greet
sessions following inter-
views with the candidates
selected in the “debrief ses-
sion” Monday.
Last fall, Dallas began its
search to replace former su-
perintendent Christy Perry,
who left the district June 30
to accept a similar post with
the Salem-Keizer School
District. The board ap-
proved a job description
and salary range in Novem-
ber and began advertising
the post in January.
If the process stays on
track, the board should
name the district’s new
leader in March.
Taylor said the search
thus far is right on schedule.
“There is a good pool of
candidates in the market
right now,” Taylor said. “We
are confident Dallas will
find the right person.”
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