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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2015)
12A • October 23, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com School levy up for renewal Seaside robotics team Where to vote Voters can turn in their ballots at several local drop sites: • Cannon Beach City Hall, 163 E. Gower, Cannon Beach • Clatsop County Clerk & Elections Office, 820 Exchange St., Suite 220, Astoria • Gearhart City Hall, 698 Pacific Way, Gearhart • Seaside City Hall, 989 Broadway, Seaside SUBMITTED PHOTO Erin Jackson, left, and Lori Lum, members of the Vote For Kids committee, hold up signs of support for renewing a local option tax for Seaside School District 10 during a football game. The tax will be up for vote during a special election Nov. 3. Tax from Page 1A allowed to ask their patrons for temporary taxing author- ity above the permanent rate limitation. This authority is known as a “local option tax.” Local option taxes are limited WR¿YH\HDUVIRURSHUDWLRQVDQG up to 10 years for capital con- struction purposes. Each year the tax would provide funds for the district, from $1.22 million in 2016-17 up to $1.4 million in 2020-21. Overall, more than $6.5 mil- lion would be raised through the local option tax. This esti- mate is based on current data available from the Clatsop County assessor. Seaside’s to- tal school budget for 2015-16 was just over $21 million. The additional revenue has to be used for operational costs, or to maintain current programs, services and staff- ing levels — items that direct- ly impact students’ classroom experience. It helps offset the costs of extra-curricular activities and sports making them more plentiful and ro- bust, which is “very attrac- tive to prospective teachers” and helps the district bring in and retain quality teachers, Dougherty said. ‘Good education leads to good community.’ Lori Lum, co-chair, Vote for Kids If the measure does not pass, the district will need to make reductions in programs and increase class sizes. Lori Lum, co-chair of the Vote For Kids committee, said she believes the measure “is vital to the school district.” The committee, established All drop sites will be open until 8 p.m. on election day to receive ballots. For more information, visit www.co.clatsop.or.us/ clerk/page/elections. about four months ago, rais- es awareness for the measure through presentations, hand- ing out information and setting up signs. Lum has four children in the school district and has VHHQ WKH SRVLWLYH EHQH¿WV RI the additional revenue, but she said she would still be in favor of the measure, even if she didn’t. “Good education leads to good community,” Lum said. “I’m all for a greater, stronger community and educating our kids.” The local option levy is not related to building new school facilities at a different loca- tion. A bond measure to do so was proposed in 2013 and failed. Dougherty has said the district likely will present a new bond measure some time in the next year and a half. Re- newing the local option tax is WKH¿UVWFRQFHUQKRZHYHU “We’ve been trying to keep that separate,” Dougherty said. CB Academy gets green light Academy from Page 1A undation zone line changes. Stelson said the academy should have an ac- Board Chairman Steve Phillips said the lim- LWHGQXPEHURIVWXGHQWVWKDW¿UVW\HDUZLOOPDNH countability metric to prove it is “just as good as the charter “economically more viable” for the the district.” Vice Chairman Mark Truax said the school district. will be a part of the district and under its respon- Charter had planned higher capacity sibility. While negotiations remain, Hull said none of Cannon Beach Academy had planned on a VWXGHQWFDSDFLW\RIIRUWKH¿UVW\HDU6XSHU- the conditions seem unreasonable. “I think we intendent Doug Dougherty noted the loss of a can achieve every condition imposed,” he add- little more than half that number of students ed. will drain roughly $255,900 from the district. Board member Hugh Stelson said Seaside Building requirements top priority will not only see a small reduction in staff, but Top priority for the academy is meeting likely cuts in programs. physical building requirements at its tempo- “This district seems to piece little pieces rary location at 171 Sunset Blvd. The vacat- together and run on duct tape sometimes,” he ed space, which takes up 3,500 square feet of said. “There’s not a lot of extra money around.” the 6,000-square-foot building, once housed Phillips said Seaside School District 10 will the Cannon Beach Athletic Club. The charter adjust. Cuts have been made in the past and school plans to open next fall if it can meet all “we still have a great school district,” he said. conditions. Other conditions include the academy’s The school district had issued two previous ability to secure proof of its English Language denials to the academy last year, citing lack of Learners program by March 1, building safety an adequate location and secure start-up funds. The school plans to eventually settle into a permits by Aug. 15, proof of insurance by Aug. GRFXPHQWV VKRZFDVLQJ ¿QDQFLDO VWDELOLW\ permanent site south of town and east of U.S. and an ability to comply with any tsunami in- Highway 101. gears up for contest Lighthouse Church, 3-Course Challenge fundraisers help program raise money “Real-world projects have re- al-world costs, and that’s great that students get to work with real stuff, not just tape and string,” Brown said. Since its creation six years ago, the Seaside program has grown from hav- ing a single robot to four full-sized ro- bots and spare parts. By Katherine Lacaze The program only recently started EO Media Group for the 2015-16 school year with an ini- At Seaside High School high school, tial meeting two weeks ago. About 20 the robotics team gives students re- students showed interest. The team will al-world experiences — but that comes solidify in the coming months, and Jan- uary and February comprise the busiest along with real-world costs. Each year, the program tries to raise part of the season for the team. at least $20,000 to cover materials and “The fall is kind of preparation and the cost of traveling to competitions. tune-up,” Brown said. The CYBORG Seagulls — the acro- On Jan. 9, all teams participating the nym stands for “Creative Young Brains FIRST Robotics Competition world- 2EVHUYLQJ DQG 5HGH¿QLQJ *UHDWQHVV´ wide will receive this year’s competi- — got an early boost in fundraising tion design rules. Students then have this year as the recipient of a portion six weeks to build their robot before of proceeds from Lighthouse Christian heading to district tournaments. In past Church’s bluegrass carnival held Sept. competitions, robots have ben pro- 19. grammed to stack boxes, throw Fris- Church secretary Dorene Sheldon bees and shoot baskets. said the barbecue is a long-standing Seaside offers one of three FIRST tradition for the church. Live bluegrass robotics teams on the Oregon coast. music was added a few years back. This Students from Astoria High School year the church expanded the event to join Seaside’s team, Brown said. High include a carnival fundraiser “and then school robotics features “a pretty sup- decided to share with the community,” portive community” that may not be Sheldon said. found in sports or other competitive Church staff asked Seaside High activities, he said. School administrators what would The program also offers a wide va- be a good program to adopt, and they riety of tasks for students with differ- mentioned the robotics program, Shel- ing skills. Sophomore Melanie Castle don said. If the carnival fundraiser be- said she is “more on the artistic side,” comes an annual event, the church may and the designing aspect drew her to choose a different school, organization robotics. Now that she’s a part of the or program to adopt next year, she said. program, “I’m interested in it all.” “We’re hoping to make it a tradi- Senior and returning team cap- tion,” she added. tain Austin Calder joined the team his Once the proceeds from the carnival freshman year with a friend. Over the are calculated, they will be split be- years, he has developed a number of re- tween the church’s women’s ministry al-world and transferable skills through and outreach programs and the robotics the program. team. “It just gives me a more hands-on The carnival featured obstacle experience and gets me closer up and FRXUVHVDGXQNWDQNLQÀDWDEOHERXQF- deeper than a piece of paper would,” he ers, bingo and a bake sale. Seaside stu- said. dents attended the fundraiser to repre- Calder is one of two students taking sent the team, share information about part in a 3-D printing endeavor for their the program and demonstrate three ro- 3DFL¿FD3URMHFW7KHVWXGHQWVZLOOZRUN bots they created. with Enabling the Future to design and Other team members were busy print plastic robotic “helper hands” for the same weekend selling T-shirts children and adults missing their hands. and lending assistance with registra- Castle hopes to help with the project. tion during the Seaside Cross Country To develop critical STEAM — sci- Team’s annual 3-Course Challenge. In ence, technology, engineering, arts and exchange for the help, the cross country mathematic — skills, students need team generally donates about $1,000 to those kinds of hands-on experiences, the robotics program. Brown said. With the addition of the two fund- “The robotics team gives students raisers, the robotics team is starting that opportunity,” he said. “They get to the year off well, with about $15,000, design, they get to build and they get to Brown said. learn to use tools.” SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL Members of the Seaside High School Robotics club. Lighthouse Christian Church in Warrenton helped raise funds for the club’s upcoming efforts. “Astoria rea lly pulled a t m y h ea rt, th e people a n d th e rela tion sh ips h ere a re w h a t brough t us ba ck.” Pa u l Ha yn er, M D Ren a issa n ce Hea lth Paul Hayner, MD and his family recently returned to Astoria to open Renaissance Health, an independe nt primary care clinic. During their time away, they relied on the Daily Astorian to stay informed on w hat was happening in the community and with the people they knew. “I read the Daily Astorian and followed it to know about general developments in town and to keep up on what was happening with former patients and other folks that we had relationships with. Astoria is a spec ial place and the Daily Astorian does a great job in capturing the uniqueness of the community and its people. ” The Daily Astorian is proud to be a part of our dynamic community and to report the news and informa tion that’s important to you and your neighbors. T HE D AILY A STORIAN Prou d to ca ll A storia hom e F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n o r to sub scrib e, visit w w w.D a ilyAsto ria n .co m /sub scrib e o r ca ll 503-325-3211