Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
July 1, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A District to feed elementary school kids for free Middle- and high-school students could see slight increase By Nancy McCarthy For EO Media Group CANNON BEACH GAZETTE/FILE PHOTO Seaside School District Superintendent Doug Dougherty and geologist Tom Horning at Seaside Heights Elementa- ry School in April. he Weyerhaeuser land site can be seen behind them. SUBMITTED PHOTO Map indicating donated portions of land to the Seaside School District from Weyerhaeuser Co. Building new school could take four years Git from Page 1A A 2013 bond to move the Sea- side schools out of the inun- dation zone failed at the polls when voters rejected a $128.8 million bond proposal. According to Dougherty, there are only four public K-12 schools in Oregon within the tsunami inundation zone. “Weyerhaeuser understands that Seaside School District has three of these four schools and that there is no other suit- able land available,” Dough- erty said. “A Cascadia earth- quake off of our coast will cause large portions of these three antiquated schools to col- lapse and then be submerged by the Paciic Ocean. The av- erage age of these schools is over 63 years and they have outlived their useful lives.” Seaside School District commissioned state research- ers to conduct a comprehen- sive research study to verify a safe elevation to relocate the schools. Researchers recom- mended schools be relocat- ed to stable land that would not liquefy during an earth- quake. Since tsunami waves could rise as high as 90 feet, researchers recommended a term monitoring equipment. After analysis, engineers de- termined that the property di- rectly east of Seaside Heights Elementary School contains land that best meets the state ‘We have had many geotechs evaluating that hillside. They strongly believe that is the very best piece of property to relocate the school district.’ Doug Dougherty Seaside School District superintendent site at least 80 to 100 feet in elevation. According to Dougherty, Weyerhaeuser allowed Sea- side School District to study approximately 1,000 acres of hillside to the east and south of Seaside. Geotechnical engi- neers evaluated potential slide issues, conducted site core drillings and installed long- recommendations. Weyerhae- user Company owns the only suitable property in Seaside, Gearhart or Cannon Beach. “We have had many ge- otechs evaluating that hill- side,” Dougherty said in April. “They strongly believe that is the very best piece of property to relocate the school district.” “We are a part of the coast- al communities in which we operate. Helping the school district keep its students safe and out of harm’s way is the right thing to do,” said Jim Bunker, senior manager of Weyerhaeuser Co. said in the district statement. The school district will now consider asking residents to support relocating its three schools out of the tsunami in- undation zone through a bond measure. The district is gath- ering community feedback as they develop the proposal, Dougherty said. In April, he said the pro- cess of building a new school could take four years. Costs and whether students would be transferred at one time or year by year were not determined. The district will gather community feedback, Dough- erty said Friday. “We will be conducting polling to inform the price and components of the bond.” A vote would take place Nov. 8. McKirdy to retire from Broadway Middle School Teacher brought history to life for three decades By Katherine Lacaze EO Media Group What could students ex- pect when they took a class with Broadway Middle School social studies teacher Kelly McKirdy? Mock elections, out-of- state and overseas trips, in- terviewing a grandparent and learning strange facts, igures and tidbits not often found in conventional history books, to name a few. “I always try bringing in things that are sort of differ- ent,” said McKirdy, who is retiring this month after 30 years at Broadway Middle School. “I try to, if I can, re- late it to something in their life. Anything, even if it’s a small thing, so they can make a connection somehow.” For instance, when teach- ing local history, he shared about the 1960s riots that oc- curred in Seaside and were, in fact, one of his irst introduc- tions to the town. McKirdy started his teach- ing career straight out of col- lege — where he majored in political science — at Can- yonville Christian Academy, previously Canyonville Bible Academy. He spent ive years there, took a temporary job in Brookings for a year and then landed his job in Seaside. He said when he told people where he was moving, they often re- sponded, “That’s where they had the riots.” Not to be deterred, McKirdy still took the job and incorpo- rated information about the in- cidents into his curriculum for students. Using old newspaper clip- pings and images from the Oregon Historical Society, he put together a slideshow and collages about the riots, which involved “a bunch of college kids going crazy, doing all sorts of things,” McKirdy said. They took place Labor Day weekend and lasted three years, before the U.S. Nation- Cannon Beach Library Annual Book Sale! J ULY 2 ND , 3 RD & 4 TH 9 AM TO 4 PM D AILY Three Days of Great Bargains! 131 N. Hemlock Cannon Beach 503.436.1391 Serving Residents and Visitors since 1927 KATHERINE LACAZE/EO MEDIA GROUP Broadway Middle School social studies teacher Kelly McKirdy. al Guard was dispatched to dispel the problem. McKirdy invited a former policeman who served during the riots to present for the stu- dents. McKirdy also led a project during which students selected a state and gathered informa- tion such as the state capital, population and when they might want to visit. This year, he “jazzed up” the project by giving students the route he intends to follow during a 22- week road trip with his wife that starts the day after classes are over. The route includes New England, Tennessee, Georgia, California, Arizona and many states in between. McKirdy also introduced his students to the world of politics, voting and persuasive debate. Since the 1980s, McKirdy held mock elections each year that varied based on current events and what races and topics were on the ballot at the time. Over the years, eighth-grade Amer- ican history students debated about and voted on congressio- nal races, presidential prima- ries, the U.S. general election and major measures, such as those regarding marijuana and gay marriage laws. “We’ve had some pretty hot topics on the ballot over the years,” McKirdy said. Generally, the students’ voting results mirrored the ac- tual results from each election. For instance, presidential can- didate Sen. Bernie Sanders re- ceived the most votes from stu- dents and also won the Oregon Democratic primary. “Sometimes I think they end up knowing more than their parents do,” he added. THE COASTER THEATRE PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS 9 to 5 The Musical Let’s Murder Marsha The good ole boys meet their match. A comedic romp about murder, double crosses and birthday surprises. JUNE 17 - SEPT. 3, 2016 JUNE 24 - SEPT. 4, 2016 PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. TICKETS: $18 OR $23 TICKETS: $15 OR $20 Sponsored by The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach, Lodges at Cannon Beach, Candi & Jon Holzgrafe and Dennis’ 7 Dees Sponsored by The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach, Lodges at Cannon Beach, Probuild/Milgard and Leland E.G. Larson There’s a saying that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but for Seaside students in kindergarten through ifth grade, both breakfast and lunch will be free next year. Students at Broadway and Seaside High schools, however, will see a slight in- crease for meals. Breakfast prices will rise by 5 cents, and lunch will be 10 cents higher, unless the meals are bought by students in the federal free and reduced meal program. The Seaside School Board voted unanimously June 21 to participate in a new provision offered by the federal School Break- fast Program and National School Lunch Program. The provision is meant to simpli- fy the district’s paperwork, decrease food service costs, streamline meal service and increase the number of stu- dents eating school meals, according to Justine Hill, the district’s business manager. During the irst year of the provision’s four-year cy- cle, the district will offer free breakfasts and lunches to all elementary students. Usu- ally, free and reduced-cost lunches were provided only to students meeting federal economic requirements. At least 70 percent of Seaside Heights Elementary students and 50 percent of Gearhart Elementary stu- dents were receiving free and reduced-cost meals. By following the provi- sion and providing free meals to all elementary students, a “signiicant” decrease in labor costs to collect, track and record applications, veri- ications, payments and meal categories is expected. However, the district must make up the differ- ence between the federal reimbursement and the meal costs. The increases in the prices at the middle and high school could offset that dif- ference, Hill said. In other business at the June 21 meeting: • The school board re- newed the district’s contract with Chartwell’s food ser- vice company. Hill said that since the district contracted with Chartwell’s ive years ago, the district has made “great strides” in reducing its deicit in inancing school lunches. The company also is making changes to in- crease eficiencies, she said. • Dougherty told the board that the district, if it pursues a bond measure to move its schools out of the tsunami zone, could be eligible to participate in a drawing for state funding toward seismic upgrading. About $4 million, which became available after the last legislative session, will be spread among districts selected from the drawing, Dougherty said. So far, he added, federal funding isn’t available. • Dougherty also told the board that a new propos- al will be submitted from the Cannon Beach Acade- my board to start a charter school in Cannon Beach. After hearing an appeal from the academy’s board, the state Department of Ed- ucation asked the school dis- trict and the academy board to discuss the issue again. Dougherty said the state de- partment questioned wheth- er it could act as a sponsor of the charter school since the Seaside School District receives no state funding; the district is inanced by property taxes and timber revenues. The Seaside School Board several months ago turned down the academy’s proposal, citing concerns about the charter school’s budget and curriculum. Dougherty said the district will assist the charter school in applying for state funds that recently became avail- able for charter schools, and the academy board will work with the state educa- tion department to align its curriculum with state educa- tion standards. The charter school must show it com- plies with state and district requirements by next March if it plans to open in Septem- ber 2017. • The board approved a request by Dougherty, who is retiring as district super- intendent July 1, to work full time until Dec. 31 to oversee a bond measure to be submitted to voters in the Nov. 8 general election. The bond would inance the relo- cation of Seaside’s schools to a hillside east of Seaside Heights Elementary School. The amount of the bond measure has not yet been announced. Wine appreciation workshop in Tolovana Destiny Dudley presents Wine Tasting and Appreci- ation 101, Saturday, July 9, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Tolovana Hall in Cannon Beach. Dud- ley, a certiied sommelier and longtime wine-educa- tor, will lead a small group through an informational tasting session. Wine and palate-cleansing snacks will be provided. Dudley works as sommelier for Jonathan Hoffman, two-time defend- ing champion of Iron Chef Goes Coastal. As well as a sommelier, Dudley is a certiied wine educator by the Society of Wine Educa- tors. Tickets are $45; RSVP to tolovanaartscolony.org, email: tolovanaartscolo- ny@gmail.com; 541-215- 4445. NOW OPEN & WE NEED YOU! Pelican Brewing Company is NO W HI RI NG Line Cooks, Janitors, Dishwashers, Servers, Hosts & Bussers APPLY IN PERSON ANYTIME AT: 1371 SW Hemlock, Cannon Beach OR SEND YOUR RESUME TO: Employment@Pelicanbrewing.com Tickets: 503-436-1242 or coastertheatre.com www.yourlittlebeachtown.com/employment 108 N Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR Questions? Call Stephanie 503-965-7779 ext. 307
