Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 1, 2015 15A
Polk County Education
Central Health Center Welcomes Public
Dallas board to
examine sports fees
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Hundreds of people attended the ribbon cutting and open house of the new Central Health and Wellness Center
on Thursday afternoon. The center, located at 1601 Monmouth St., Independence, will be open soon to take ap-
pointments, and will serve the entire community, not just students.
Central board declares vacancy
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
After write-in campaigns for
two zones in Central School
District, the board of direc-
tors has a vacancy.
Peggy Clyne, of Inde-
pendence, got the most
votes for Zone 2 and will re-
place Jennifer Mason on the
board.
The second write-in win-
ner, for Zone 7 to replace
Mary Shellenbarger, did not
accept the position by the
deadline, County Clerk Val
Unger said.
Representatives from the
school district were not
available for comment by
press time.
Do I live in Zone 7?
Zone 7 covers that portion of Central School District
consisting of that portion of Marion County, Benton
County and that portion of the district in Polk County
outside the cities of Monmouth and Independence, and
south of the Monmouth-Falls City State Highway.
The term for this position is from Aug. 10, 2015,
through June 30, 2017.
According to the school
board policies, a vacancy
has been declared. The can-
didate must be legally regis-
tered to vote and a resident
within the district for one
year immediately preceding
the appointment.
Candidates should reside
in Zone 7; however, if the
board does not receive
qualified candidates from
within the zone, an out-of-
zone appointment may be
made.
Anyone interested in the
position should submit a
letter of interest to the
School Board, Central
School District 13J, 750 S.
Fifth St., Independence, OR
97351.
The deadline is 4:30 p.m.
on July 21.
The school board is ex-
pected to make the ap-
pointment at its Aug. 10
meeting.
Interested candidates
should plan to attend.
If a candidate cannot at-
tend this meeting, their let-
ter of interest will still be
considered.
The successful candidate
will be sworn in and seated
at this meeting, if in atten-
dance.
The board meets for its
regular sessions on the first
Monday of the month at
6:30 p.m., unless the first
Monday falls on a holiday.
DALLAS — The Dallas
School Board may consider
a proposal in July to raise
athletic fees.
The board discussed pos-
sibly raising the fees — now
at $125 for all sports except
cheerleading, which is at $75
per season (fall and win-
ter) — at its meeting on June
22.
Current fees for sports
have been in place since
2004, said Dallas Athletic Di-
rector Tim Larson.
“My thought is, if we are
not increasing year after
year, we kind of lag behind,
especially if we have some
needs. We have a lot of needs
in the athletic arena,” said
then-board chairman Mike
Blanchard at the June 22
meeting.
He suggested the board con-
sider a plan to raise fees, possi-
bly starting next school year.
Larson said among schools
in the region, South Albany,
Corvallis, and Crescent Valley
charge $150 per sport, while
others charge $100.
Larson said last week he
hadn’t finished putting to-
gether a proposal, but said his
recommendation wouldn’t
increase fees beyond $150.
A $25 increase would raise
approximately $15,000, as-
suming 600 athletes partici-
pate throughout the year.
“It isn’t going to bring in a
whole lot of money,” he said.
“But it’s going to help.”
Discussion on raising the
fees was in conjunction with
a proposal to add staff using
money the district no longer
needs to hold in reserve due
to a better-than-expected
May state revenue forecast.
The board chose the op-
tion that included adding 14
assistant coaches at a cost of
approximately $72,000.
Assistants in many sports
have been working for free.
Larson said a possible fee
increase could be used to
offset part of the cost of pay-
ing assistants.
“I’m grateful to the school
board for passing that budg-
et,” Larson said. “It’s huge for
the kids and for our coach-
es.”
The proposal to raise fees
will be considered by the
board at the board’s July 13
(which could be canceled) or
July 20 meeting.
In other business, the
board:
• Elected Lu Ann Meyer as
board chairwoman and Jon
Woods as vice chairman for
the 2015-16 year.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Dallas’ baseball team charged a fee of $125 for the 2015
season. That fee may be increased.