6A • April 8, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Cannon Beach Academy still fighting for a fall opening
der the conditions, the charter
school would serve at least 44
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grades could be added over
time.
The charter school planned
to open in fall at a temporary
location at 171 Sunset Blvd.,
in a space that once housed
the Cannon Beach Athletic
Club.
Charter school
claims district
set ‘artificial
barriers’
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Cannon Beach Academy
representatives said they were
“extremely disappointed” by
the Seaside School District’s
decision to withdraw approval
for the charter school’s open-
ing this fall.
They say the district erect-
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barriers” to the academy’s op-
eration and should reconsider
the decision.
Eight academy board
members objected in a letter
received by the school district
last week. The school district
withdrew approval last month
based on the academy’s fail-
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ment and English as a Sec-
ond Language requirements
agreed upon in October.
The conditions, which
were to be met by March,
were intended to ensure that
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nancially, structurally and ac-
ademically ready” to open in
the fall.
While
acknowledging
these conditions had not been
met, academy board members
asked the school district to
“accept a certain level of un-
‘Artificial barriers’
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David Vonada, of Tolovana Architects, presents the tenta-
tive site plan of the Cannon Beach Academy’s temporary
location, 171 Sunset Blvd., to the planning commission in
2015.
certainty” relating to enroll-
ment and staff.
The academy board of-
fered to meet with the district
to “further discuss how we
can move forward to com-
mence Cannon Beach opera-
tions for the 2016-17 school
year.”
The public charter school is
prepared to appeal the district’s
decision and seek sponsorship
by the Oregon State Board of
Education if an agreement is
not reached by April 11, board
members wrote.
Long road
In 2013, community resi-
dents sought to bring a charter
school to Cannon Beach, with
the goal of hosting kindergart-
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The school district denied
the academy’s proposal sev-
eral times, citing the lack of
an adequate location and not
enough startup funds.
In October, the Seaside
School District board of di-
rectors unanimously approved
a three-year contract with
Cannon Beach Academy. Un-
In their letter, the acade-
my board said they did not
view the district’s conditions
as reasonable or appropri-
ate when adopted. Board
members were dismayed the
district did not include the
academy in reviewing and ad-
dressing the conditions before
board approval.
However, the academy
trusted the school district
“would be reasonable” in con-
sidering the conditions.
The academy stated the
conditions were imposed to
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the charter school.
“We trust we are incorrect
in drawing this conclusion,”
board members wrote.
One condition required
the school have “all the mon-
ey they need for the 2016-17
school year” in the bank, as
well as a 10-percent contin-
gency, amounting to about
$450,000.
The academy had $145,798
by March 1, falling more than
$300,000 short.
Can you smell ’em? Blue jellies are back
Hydroid polyps
wash up and
decompose on
North Coast
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Millions of bluish-purple
jellies called Velella velellas
have been washing ashore
again on North Coast beach-
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winds.
This year’s population has
been slightly different in that
it consists mostly of juvenile
Velellas, while last year they
were larger, said Melissa
Keyser, the Haystack Rock
Awareness program coordi-
nator.
“We’re seeing little tiny
ones, some of them as small
as a grain of sand,” Tiffany
Boothe of the Seaside Aquar-
ium said. “When we get them
a little later, they’ve grown up
more, so they’re 3 to 4 inch-
es.”
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spotted them in early March.
Beach visitors have asked the
aquarium why the beach is
“stained purple.”
The creatures, which are
slick when stepped on, can
sting to capture prey, but hu-
man skin is too thick to feel
the stings. Velellas give off an
odor because they are decom-
posing.
“Once they hit the beach,
there’s nothing we can do to
save them,” Boothe said.
However, she said there’s
no danger that the Velellas are
dying off. “It’s just a small
portion of them,” she said.
Also called “by-the-wind
sailors,” half of the Velella
colony catches the wind one
way, and the other half catch-
es the wind the other way,
Boothe said.
On the north side of the Pa-
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set in a northwest-southeast
TIFFANY BOOTHE/SEASIDE AQUARIUM
Velella velellas are washing up along the North Coast.
track 45 degrees away from
the shore, but persistent winds
blow them onshore.
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adversely affected by warm
water, while jellies are not,
Hanshumaker said. This is
because higher temperatures,
exacerbated by El Niño and
Tiffany Boothe,
a warm region of water in the
of the Seaside Aquarium
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of plankton available.
“The jellies end up taking
direction. On the other side of advantage, so you’ll see more
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WKH 3DFL¿F WKH VDLOV SRLQW LQ jellies and fewer salmon and
IRUDJH¿VKGXULQJDZDUPZD- A close-up of Velella velella
the opposite direction.
“It’s very active natural ter regime,” Hanshumaker said. showing the tiny sail on its
selection,” said Bill Hans- “Jellies are doing well right back that helps the Velella
humaker, Ocean Sea Grant now, which isn’t good for us float parallel to the shore-
&KLHI6FLHQWLVWDWWKH+DW¿HOG because we don’t need them.”
line in mild winds.
Marine Science Center in
Newport. “The sail is to keep
them from dying and if the
sail works, they reproduce.
Keyser said Velellas wash
up most years in large groups,
but not every year. “It is not
fully understood why they
blow in some years and not in
others.”
Each Velella is a colony of
hydroid polyps closely relat-
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The translucent, triangular
“sail” on their backs help the
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shoreline in mild winds.
239 N. Hemlock • Cannon Beach • 503.436.0208
The sail allows them to
‘Once they
hit the beach,
there’s nothing
we can do to
save them.’
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740 Ave H • Ste 2 • Seaside
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Academy board members
said the school “has rea-
sonably and appropriately
GHPRQVWUDWHG¿QDQFLDOVWDELO-
ity based on its cash at hand,
pledges, and the projected
revenue that will come from
public funding of the charter
school.”
The funds raised and
pledges received “demon-
strates an enormous level of
community support for the
school,” academy directors
said.
Enrollment fell short
The academy also objected
to the school district’s condi-
tion of 22 students enrolled in
a district kindergarten class.
The district required a
minimum of 22 enrolled stu-
dents in both kindergarten
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rolled as of March 1.
Superintendent
Doug
Dougherty and Superinten-
Volunteers sought for trail clean-up
North Coast Land Con-
servancy has a growing trail
system at its Circle Creek
Habitat Reserve, at the south
end of Seaside. The conser-
vancy is seeking volunteers to
join them on Saturday, April
23, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to
help get those trails ready for
the spring and summer hiking
season. In addition to the short
Legacy Loop nature trail, the
conservancy is developing a
longer Circle Creek and Wet-
lands Walk that includes a long
stretch of boardwalk. Volun-
teers will brush out and mulch
the nature trail and portions of
the wetlands walk and repair-
ing or replacing footbridges
and anything else disturbed
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from Northwest Coast Trails
Coalition are partnering with
the land conservancy on the
trails clean-up day.
Anyone interested in learn-
ing more or in participating
should contact Stewardship
Director Melissa Reich at
melissar@nclctrust.org in ad-
vance.
Dining on the
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Live Music • Wine Tasting
271 N. Hemlock St., Cannon Beach
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at the Pig ‘N Pancake. Over 35 breakfast varieties and a
complete lunch menu, too. Our dining area overlooks a
beautiful wetland area and downtown Cannon Beach.
NORMA’S SEAFOOD & STEAK
20 N. Columbia, Seaside
503-738-4331
Since 1976 discriminating diners have
sought out this Seaside landmark. There’s a
chalkboard fresh catchlist, exclusively natural
Angus beef and a great regional wine list as
well as local microbrews. From Steak & Lobster to Fish &
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11am-10pm daily. Visit www.normasseaside.com
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• Personal service and
attention to detail
The Cannon Beach Acad-
emy’s logo, designed by
Crowerks of Cannon Beach.
dent-elect Sheila Roley said
without enough students, the
district would be unable to
make necessary adjustments
in programs, class size and
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The academy also lacked
a state-approved English lan-
guage learners program by
proposing an outdated pro-
gram, Dougherty and Roley
wrote.
According to academy
members, the academy had
developed a program using
information from the Oregon
Department of Education that
they “reasonably believed”
to be state-approved, board
members wrote. The error is
“immaterial” and “easily cor-
rected.”
Academy board members
said the district’s decision
was “neither reasonable or
lawful.”
“Oregon law does not pro-
vide for conditional approval
and the purported conditions
which are alleged to have not
been met are themselves un-
reasonable and inconsistent
with the spirit and intent of
Oregon’s charter school law,”
they wrote.
Despite the March de-
cision to revoke approval,
Dougherty and Roley stat-
ed that the district remained
committed to seeing the char-
ter school up and running and
that Cannon Beach Academy
could begin operating in fall
2017, if it meets the condi-
tions.
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