Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 13, 2016
FCSD officials: Schools need more room Polk’s budget
Board members see gym bond addressing academic and athletic needs
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — In the last
three years, Falls City School
District’s enrollment has in-
creased by 36 students, ac-
cording to the latest enroll-
ment numbers.
That doesn’t seem like a
big jump, but for a district
with fewer than 200 stu-
dents, it’s notable.
“For a district of this size,
it’s huge,” said Superinten-
dent Jack Thompson.
Thompson said the dis-
trict enrolled 145 students
when he took over as super-
intendent three years ago.
The last tally has the student
count at 181.
He attributes the growth
to efforts to improve the at-
mosphere in Falls City
schools, engaging teachers
and simply making school
more fun.
“Staff in this district
w o rk e d re a l l y h a rd t o
change the culture and the
way people view Falls City,”
Thompson said.
It appears to be working,
as Falls City schools have
enrolled students from Dal-
las, Monmouth and Kings
Valley in recent years.
Falls City has always prid-
ed itself on small class sizes,
but the bump in the number
of students is making that
claim a stretch in some
cases.
With 30 kids in the sev-
enth-eighth grade class now
and if enrollment holds, 35
next year, Thompson is rec-
ommending separating the
grades for the 2016-17
school year.
Not that school officials
are complaining, but the
growth creates a planning
challenge.
“We’re starting to get ade-
quate funding and a little
more sustainability that we
can hire and fund a teacher,
but we lack the space,” said
Jami Kidd, the school board
chairwoman.
That scenario brings to
plan approved
Committee ‘tentatively’ approves the
county’s 2016-17 fiscal year budget
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
AC + Co/ for Itemizer-Observer
This preliminary drawing provides the basic idea of what a new multipurpose gym
would look like if built next to Falls City Elementary School with bond proceeds.
light one of the reasons
members of the school
board believe it is critical the
district build an elementary
school gym: It wouldn’t just
be for athletics, but academ-
ics, too.
Currently, the multipur-
pose room in the basement
of the elementary school is
the “gym” and music room.
It’s not half the size of a
true gym, but it could be
converted into two class-
rooms if indoor play could
be moved elsewhere, Kidd
said.
The district is asking vot-
ers to approve a $2 million
bond the May primary to
build the gym. If approved,
the district would get $2 mil-
lion more from the state to
pay for the project through a
grant program.
Falls City is one of nine
districts in the state to be
approved for the state fund-
ing, Kidd said.
The multipurpose facility
would include two full-sized
courts and a cafeteria, solving
the problems of inadequate
sports practice space and
cramped kitchen facilities.
Preliminary plans include
space that is yet-to-be deter-
mined that could be used for
locker rooms or more class-
room space.
Board members see this
election as an opportunity
that shouldn’t be missed,
both because of the state’s
offer of a dollar-for-dollar
match and the need for
room to grow.
K i d d s a i d Fa l l s C i t y
schools need to grow to have
a strong future and provide a
quality education to stu-
dents. If enrollment and
funding decline, the outlook
is dire.
“It is all of our beliefs
(school board members)
that we will not provide a
mediocre education for a
small group of students,”
Kidd said. “If it starts getting
to that point and we are los-
ing funding, we will close.”
The current trend points
in the opposite direction,
which comes with difficul-
ties of a different nature.
“Our student population
is increasing, which we ap-
Falls City March
Enrollment
Pre-K — 10
Kindergarten — 14
First grade — 10
Second grade —12
Third grade — 10
Fourth grade — 12
Fifth grade — 8
Sixth grade — 15
Seventh grade — 20
Eighth grade — 10
Ninth grade — 20
10th grade — 10
11th grade — 11
12th grade — 19
Total: 181
Source: Falls City School
District
preciate, but it is causing a
problem,” she said. “We
tried to answer as many
problems as we could with
one solution. That we get
something that we can grow
on, but meets the most
amount of our needs right
now.”
POLK COUNTY — Fol-
lowing four days of hear-
ings, the Polk County
Budget Committee “tenta-
tively approved” the 2016-
17 budget with no major
changes from the proposed
budget.
Thursday’s approval is
not final. The budget com-
mittee will reconvene in
May to make any adjust-
ments necessary.
“We will probably have
some revenue adjustments
between now and May,”
said County Administrator
Greg Hansen.
The overall budget pro-
posal is $64.9 million, an
increase of 10 percent over
the current budget. The
general fund — the fund
that contains budgets for
such departments as the
sheriff’s office and jail, dis-
trict attorney, community
corrections and assessor —
comes in at $22.2 million, a
12 percent increase.
Next fiscal year’s budget
carries a $3,931,378 contin-
gency, a $1,139,902 in-
crease from the current
year. About half of the gen-
eral fund increases of $2.4
million was placed in con-
tingency to offset anticipat-
ed cost increase, mainly
due hikes in the Oregon
Public Employees Retire-
ment System rates coming
next year.
Transfers from the gen-
eral fund to support other
programs increased by 27
percent, including two new
transfers for the fair fund
and soon-to-be-added vet-
erans services program.
The transfers include:
$830,000 to the juvenile
fund; $275,000 to public
health; $107,500 to dog
2016-17 budget
basics:
General Fund: $22.2
million
Contingency: $3.9
million.
Total budget: $64.9
million.
Source: Polk County
control; $75,000 for the fair
for operations; and $40,000
to veteran services.
Public works also re-
ceived $80,000 from the
general fund, but that
transfer is the result of state
timber revenue sent to the
county for road work.
Approval included rec-
ommended salary adjust-
ments for all elected offi-
cials that would increase
pay by 4 percent, excluding
the district attorney, who is
paid by the state. Polk’s
Compensation Committee,
consisting of the three non-
elected member of the
budget committee, made
that recommendation in
January.
The Polk County Board
of Commissioners has the
final say on that. For the
current fiscal year, the
commissioners increased
pay for other elected offi-
cials, but declined a raise
for themselves.
The budget committee
will meet to vote on a final
recommendation on May
25 at 10 a.m. in the Polk
County Courthouse confer-
ence room, 850 Main St.
Dallas.
“In May you will have a
fine-tuned budget for your
approval,” Hansen said,
adding he anticipates the
meeting going smoothly. “I
d o n’t s e e a n y m a j o r
changes on the horizon.”