Polk County itemizer observer., February 17, 2016, Page 14A, Image 14

Polk County News
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 17, 2016
New bill to limit
fifth-year programs
Law will track enrollment costs
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Luis Garcias, 13, reads to his sister Saide, 4, while brother Ivan, 6, looks through his own book.
Would you like a book with that?
Burgerville family literacy event is tonight with books and free kids cones
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Burg-
erville conjures images of
Tillamook cheeseburgers
and rosemary shoestring
potatoes with hazelnut
chocolate shakes — all local-
ly sourced in the Pacific
Northwest.
Now, the Monmouth loca-
tion will be synonymous
with literacy. The first of
what organizers hope will be
a monthly Literacy Night at
Burgerville is Wednesday
(today).
“Literacy is very impor-
tant,” said Colleen Spencer,
Burgerville team manager,
who organized the event.
“It’s been in my heart to
have families come togeth-
er.”
Spencer comes from a
background in early child-
hood education and work-
Tonight enjoy a book and cone
What: Burgerville Literacy Night.
Where: 615 E. Main St., Monmouth.
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m., Wednesday (today).
Admission: Free.
Of note: Kids cones will be given out free, in addition to
some books, donated by Goodwill. Kids meals will be $2
of. The event is a collaboration between Burgerville, Mon-
mouth Public Library, Western Oregon University and Mid-
Valley Parenting.
ing with families before join-
ing the Burgerville team
three years ago. General
Manager Robert Henry was
open to the idea of hosting
the night filled with activi-
ties geared toward improv-
ing overall literacy of the
community.
“Literacy can be devel-
oped between different ac-
tivities,” Spencer said.
Gardening with children,
cooking with children — any
activity where there are di-
rections to read and discus-
sions to have can improve
and encourage literacy, she
said.
The evening is in collabo-
ration with Monmouth Pub-
lic Library and Goodwill,
who will donate books to
give out on the night. Mon-
mouth Public Library will
have volunteers and librari-
ans there to read with kids
and hand out literacy re-
sources such as reading lists
and coloring sheets.
“It’s a nice way to meet
people in the community
and support literacy in a dif-
ferent way outside the walls
of the library,” said Carrie
Kasperick, children’s librari-
an in Monmouth.
Paper will be on every
table so families and chil-
dren may write their story,
tell a story, write a letter or
song, Spencer said.
“There’s fun ways to do
something simple for fami-
lies to create literacy,” she
said.
Burgerville will supply
coupons and free kids
cones, as well as the space to
gather and explore literacy.
Henry said he is looking
forward to giving Burgerville
the chance to be more in-
volved in its community be-
sides its fundraising partner-
ships, which raised $13,000
last year for more than two
dozen organizations.
DALLAS — A bill written
to allow school districts to
retain fifth-year programs
for students not eligible for
other community college
opportunities is working its
way through the Oregon
Senate.
The Senate Inter im
Committee on Education
sent Senate Bill 1537 for a
floor vote following a work
session on Feb. 10. SB 1537
would allow Dallas, Central
and Falls City’s partnership
with Chemeketa Commu-
nity College to continue,
but just for those students
who can’t participate in the
Oregon Promise program.
Oregon Promise stu-
dents need to have a cu-
mulative grade-point aver-
age of 2.5 in high school,
have accepted all federal
grants or scholarships to
pay for tuition and pay $50
per term as a co-payment.
Through the program,
the state has set aside $10
million to provide grants of
at least $1,000 to cover any
remaining costs, including
books, transportation and
other expenses.
In the 2015 legislative
session, Oregon Promise
was introduced as a re-
placement for fifth-year
programs developed by 26
school districts across the
state that used K-12 state
school money to pay for
costs.
Senate Bill 322 was in-
troduced to phase out
those programs, but stalled
after outcry from students,
parents and school officials
touting the benefits for stu-
dents in smaller or rural
districts.
Instead, a committee was
formed to find a compro-
mise that would allow the
programs to continue but
reduce the financial impact
to the state’s K-12 fund. SB
1537 is that compromise.
Brian Green, the admin-
istrator of Dallas’ fifth-year
program Extended Cam-
pus, served on the com-
mittee. His most pressing
concern was exclusion of
students who didn’t meet
the GPA requirement.
“In looking at the data, I
went back five years to see
the impact that Oregon
Promise would have on our
Extended Campus, and in
the five years, there were
97 students who would not
have been able to partici-
pate,” Green said.
That group included stu-
dents who stumbled out of
the gate in their freshman
or sophomore years, but
finished high school
strong.
He added many of those
97 students performed bet-
ter in college than they did
at DHS.
If passed, SB 1537 will
allow those students to
continue to attend college
through Extended Campus
and similar opportunities
in other districts.
In addition, it requires
the High Education Coor-
dinating Commission to
track participation and the
amount of K-12 money
spent and report those
numbers to the Senate ed-
ucation committee in 2018.
Part of the purpose of that
report is to find other pos-
sible funding mechanisms.
The bill still faced oppo-
sition in the education
committee, namely from
Sen. Mark Hass, whose
chief concern is the use of
K-12 funding to pay for
college.
While he said he sup-
ports the concept of the
fifth year, he called the
funding strategy “sleight of
hand” on the part of
schools who use it.
See FIFTH, Page 6A