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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
Polk County Education/Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 10, 2018 Falls City secures loan for facility By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — The Falls City School District secured a loan to begin the first phase of building a new gym and classroom facility at Falls City Elementary School. A $700,000 loan from Government Capital Corpo- ration (GCC) will finance the first phase, which will build “a shell” to provide el- ementary students an in- door facility for physical ed- ucation and recess. Later phases will provide space for games, locker rooms and more classrooms. “The board has been talking about this for two years,” said Superintendent Art Houghtaling. “We’re ex- cited. The loan really allows it to happen.” Now, the district can hire an architect to get the proj- ect underway. Before build- ing can begin, the district needs to complete soil tests, complete design and take construction bids. The goal to have a “shell” — an en- closed and heated building — complete by fall of this year. Construction of the first phase will be planned with plumbing and other needs for future expansion in mind. GCC is a Texas-based firm specializing in helping public entities (cities, coun- ties and schools) secure fi- nancing. The firm has as- sisted several school dis- tricts get loans for building improvements, updated technology, buying land and buses. Falls City has about 210 students enrolled, an in- crease from 155 tallied in the Oregon Department of Education’s 2013-14 en- rollment report. The loan provides funding to com- plete other smaller proj- ects, such as expanding its cafeteria and adding a classroom at the elemen- tary school. Houghtaling said the dis- JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer The Falls City School district secured a loan for the first phase of a new gym and class- room facility at the elementary school. Now, students use a covered play shed for PE. trict has a goal to provide a teacher for every grade level K-8, and enrollment in- creases are pushing the dis- trict to do it faster than an- ticipated. “We are literally busting at the seams,” Houghtaling said. The district twice asked voters to pass a bond to build a new gym, but both votes, one in May 2016 and the second the following November, failed by slim margins. Without resources to build a new gym, elemen- tary students have with the school playground and cov- ered play area for recess and PE, or riding buses down to the high school gym for PE classes. During rainy days, the covered play area can have up to 60 or 70 students under it at once, not leaving much room for play. “Now we will have an en- closed area for the kids when it’s 38 degrees and raining,” he said. Houghtaling added the gym at the high school is the only place middle school and high school teams can hold practices and games at this point. Adding basketball hoops and locker rooms in the fu- ture will alleviate schedul- ing conflicts and prevent late practices. However, the second and third phases of the gym project will require addi- tional funding through grants or a bond. Falls City Business Man- ager Debbie Pavon said once the first phase is com- plete, the board will explore its next steps. “The most important as- pect of any project like this is funding,” she said. “We’re hoping the community will see the need and will recon- sider, and approve, a bond. You don’t come across a dis- trict of this size, growing at the rate it is, with the re- markable students we have, and not do anything about it.” PERRYDALE ROUNDUP Girls basketball squad earns a pair of victories Itemizer-Observer staff report JEWELL — Perrydale’s girls basketball team earned a pair of league wins, defeat- ing Crosshill Christian 38-14 on Jan. 2 and Jewell 46-23 on Thursday. More importantly, the games marked the first time the Pirates played at full strength since the second game of the season. Senior Vanessa Miller, jun- ior Alyssa Lux and sopho- more Amity Deters, all starters, were out with in- juries. “They bring a lot of matu- rity back to the team,” coach Terry Newton said. “All three of those girls are post play- ers. Since we press a lot, we expend a lot of energy, so having extra bodies is huge.” Newton said younger players, including freshman Cody Lawrence and sopho- more Kaylee Rosenbalm, who have stepped up will continue to see playing time. “We’ll have a deeper rota- tion,” Newton said. The Pirates played Crosshill Christian Tuesday after press time. Perrydale plays at Falls City Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and at Oregon School for the Deaf Tuesday at 6 p.m. BOYS SPLIT GAMES: Perry- dale’s boys basketball team fell to Crosshill Christian 50-44 on Jan. 2 before defeating Jewell 52-29 on Thursday. The Pirates committed 23 turnovers against Crosshill. “We didn’t play very well,” coach Brian Domes said. “That’s two-fold. They are a good team and they created a lot of prob- lems for us that I didn’t expect. We just didn’t react very well to their pressure, but we still had a chance.” Perrydale bounced back for a win against Jewell. Dustin Sil- ver had 20 points and 14 re- bounds during the game. The Pirates played C.S. Lewis Tuesday after press time. Perry- dale plays at Falls City Thursday at 7 p.m. and at Oregon School for the Deaf Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. C.S. Lewis, Perrydale and Falls City entered the week in second, third and fourth in the Casco League standings. “We’re a little undersized and Falls City is definitely not undersized,” Domes said. “That will pose a challenge for us. We’re looking forward to that one. They are our county rival.”
