Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1995)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 1, 1995 School outlines cuts in teachers, programs lone schools generate more than they cost A V V. Morrow County School Dis trict Superintendent Chuck Starr outlined cuts in staffing at district schools at a special budget committee work session at Sam Boardman Elementary, Boardman, on Feb. 27. Starr told the assembly that 11 full time teaching positions, a groundskeeper position and driver's education will be cut in 1995-96 whether the school bond issue passes or fails. The bond issue, up for a vote in March will provide for addi tional classrooms, remodeling and technology. Definite cuts are as follows: -Heppner Elementary-art and music; Heppner Middle School -math, media specialist, science and language arts (grades 7 and 8 will move to the high school); Heppner High School-art; A.C. Houghton Elementary, Irrigon- media specialist; Sam Board- man Elementary-media special ist; Riverside High School, Boardman-media specialist, home ec., and combination personal finance/economics /PE. Cuts in teaching positions amount to $395,000. Total cuts if the bond issue passes add up to $913,000. If the bond issue fails, 25 full time teaching positions, amounting to $955,000, will be cut altogether for 1995-96. Total cuts if the bond issue fails will be $1,313,00. Following are the 25 positions that will be eliminated if the bond issue fails: -Heppner Elementary-music, art; Heppner Middle School- math, media, science, language arts, social studies, home ec./Spanish; Heppner High School-tech ed, art, home ec. /Spanish, music; lone-music, business ed, elementary teach er; A.C. Houghton Elementary- media, art, P.E., music; Sam Boardman Elementary-media, art, P.E., music; Columbia Junior High, Irrigon-counselor, music; Riverside High School- media, personal finance/econ- omics/P.E.; home ec, tech ed, art, music. There will not be any music or band throughout the county except for one posi tion (either vocal or band) at Riverside High School if the bond issue fails. An additional $510,000 will be cut from the budget in . 1996-97 if the bond fails. If the bond passes, however $910,000 will have to be cut, including $360,000 for nine full time teaching positions. Starr also explained the state school funding formula, which is weighted by several factors. The formula takes into account average daily membership, small school status, the number of students for whom English is a second language, special education students, students who are pregnant or are parents, who are under the poverty level and who are in foster care. One hundred sixty students with English as a se cond language generate $328,191 for the district. The small schools correction generates $247,784 at Heppner High School, $196,390 at lone High School and $255,464 at lone Elementary for a total of $699,638. All co-curricular activities, such as sports, drama, FFA and outdoor school, will be cut from all schools next year unless a separate serial levy (not a school district levy) is passed. The "Morrow County Unified Recreation D istrict" was created by the Morrow Coun ty Court at a meeting Monday night in Boardman. If the Mor row County Unified Recreation District" serial levy is put up for a vote in May and is pass ed, the following activities will be reinstated: -Heppner Junior High: foot ball, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, volleyball and track, all two coaches each; baseball, one coach; pep band and extra duty choir, one advisor each. -Heppner High School Toot- ball, boys' basketball, volleyball, three coaches each; girls' basketball, baseball, track, two coaches each; golf, one coach; annual, FFA, rally squad, dance team, extra duty choir, pep band and extra du ty drama, all one advisor each. -lone Middle School: foot ball, track, two coaches each; boys' basketball, girls’ basket ball, volleyball, one coach each. -lone High School: football, boys' basketball, girls' basket ball, volleyball, track, two coaches each; tennis, one coach; annual, rally squad, ex tra duty music, extra duty drama, one advisor each. -Columbia Junior High: foot- Lubricants .1 \ ball, four coaches; boys' basket ball, girls' basketball, volley ball, track, three coaches each; baseball, wrestling, two coaches each; drill team, one advisor. -Riverside High School: foot ball, four coaches; boys' basket ball, girls' basketball, volleyball, three coaches each; baseball, track, wrestling, soft- ball, two coaches each; golf, tennis, one coach each; annual FFA, rally squad, dance team, extra duty choir, pep band, ex tra duty drama, one advisor each. By Chuck Starr, superintendent of Morrow County Schools Why don't we just close lone schools, and solve the School District's financial problems? I assure you that closing any, or all of the schools in lone is not a solution to our financial problems. In fact, such action would have a negative effect on our financial situation. At the present time, and we anticipate this situation will continue through the next two years the schools in lone generate more . i QWIKLIFT {{i - < ■ !•» rï UNIVERSAL TRACTOR FLUID 55 GALLON D R U M S ... 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Oregon Phone 989 8221 97839 1 800 452 7396 As you can see, the SSF (State School Fund) resources generated by just those two fac tors exceed lone School's operation budget by over $270,000. There are a number of reasons for not closing the lone Schools, and as long as the Small Schools Factor is a part of the SSF Formula, finance will be among those reasons. Keep those questions com ing. County court explains operating levy Submitted by the Morrow County Court The preparation of a govern ment budget is a complex pro cess. The end product is com posed of interlocking pieces and is dependent on a wide number of variables. And as so meone recently stated, you can make the numbers say almost anything you want them to say, so facts must be stated very carefully to avoid misinter pretation. Stating that "the county's one year operating levy is down from last year's approved one-year operating levy", which is absolutely true, is not the equivalent of stating that the overall budget is down. Care must be taken to avoid the extremes of either over simplifying a complex issue or a recitation of the Oregon Tax Code on government finance. For excample, the assessor an ticipated that the tax rate per $1,000 of valuation will go down in the '95-'96 fiscal year. However, we cannot simply state that "taxes will go down” as this depends upon a variety of circumstances such as what tax code you are in and whe ther it is under the $10 cap and whether the valuation of your property has gone up or down. Whether your personal taxes increase or decrease depends on your personal circumstan ces, even though it may be true that the overall taxes levied for Morrow County government for every $1,000 of valuation goes down. Another common way of "muddying the waters" is to make a broad brush com parison with other counties, usually those with marked dif ferences in economy, tax base or resources. For instance, one commonly hears Morrow County's taxes compared with Umatilla County's. However, if we are to look at the taxes re quired of each, we must also look at the resources available to each as these have a direct impact on the need for taxes to balance the budget. Umatilla County has almost three times as much timber revenues avail able for use in road building. Many counties are able to fund their entire road operations with these dollars, some receiv ing amounts up to 24 million. Unfortunately, .Morrow Coun ty is not one of them. In fact, of the 31 counties that receive timber revenues, only two counties receive less than Mor row County. Although trying to compare a proposed budget today to some prior year's budget is a time honored critic's gambit, it is an exercise in frustration. For example, an increase to the budget may represent the ad dition of a service that is fully funded by the state or federal government or a specific pur pose grant. The service to be provided on the local level is not paid for with local tax dollars, but the cost of the ser vice will nevertheless be reflected in the total budget as it is still dollars that come in and go out of the county's "pocketbook". Last March, Morrow County asked the Morrow County voters to approve a one-year operating levy of $3,229,726 outside the tax base in order to balance the 1994-95 budget. This March, Morrow County will be asking the Morrow County voters to approve $3,213,069 outside the tax base in order to balance the 1995-96 budget. The difference amounts to a $16,657 reduction in the annual one year operat- SALE ENDS: M a rc h 1 8 th resources from the State School Fund Formula than they cost the District to operate. Let me show you the facts: 1994-95 Budgeted Expen ditures, lone Schools: lone Elementary $377,000; lone Mid dle School $145,000; lone High School $400,000; total 1994-95 budget $922,000. 1994-95 SSF Resources lone Schools: 177 students x $4,200 equals $743,400; Small Schools Factor $451,854. Total 1995-95 SSF (2 Factors) $1,195,254. As you can see, the SSF For the romantics, last week was supposed to be all hearts and flowers. However the amount of snowfall must have been the result of the ground hog seeing his shadow as Mother Nature lashed out for a late winter revenge. It's difficult to understand why the month of February got short changed. It seems to be a month when the seasons get nixed up. From snow drifts to 65 degree weather, one can opt for a gardening crusade rather than drooling over garden catalogs. But except for one's yard, Oregonians have little to say about land management decisions due to land conservation policies and state-wide land use laws. I'm talking about privately-owned land outside of the thousands of acres under state and federal domain. Governor Kitzhaber says he is opposed to any changes in land use planning laws that require counties and cities to adopt plans conforming to state-wide requirements. The majority of farmers and ranchers are the most protective of natural resources in order to sustain their livelihood. Nor do they want housing or industrial developments where they could impact agricultural management practices of prime land or forests. However a secondary lands policy could alleviate a housing shortage and foster higher tax returns if a property owner were allowed to sell small plots of marginal land for development. Under present laws, it's not possible to sell less than 160 acres of marginal land, even it fails to support a jackrabbit. Yet our governor, along with many others, can't seem to see a need to support an amendment for land use policies, especially in eastern Oregon. Presently the United States can produce more food than it can profitably market. Yet set-aside acres are reserved in case of a food shortage that could be created by natural disasters or war. No doubt many urban people feel that if producers can't make ends meet, it's time to get out of the game. Yet in many rural areas, like our own, it's agriculture that supports local govern ment and businesses. Big government officials must think that local policy makers don't have enough sense to manage resources. Subsidies have long ensured a cheap food policy for Americans. Yet changes in land use policies might help some producers to stay in business and cut back on subsidies. Overall there might not be any surplus crops or a need to prop up below-cost agriculture production if the U.S. government had backed ma jor production of ethanol. However the political influence of big oil companies have kept us dependent on foreign oil exports. It's a given that we have no control of the weather. However it's a socialist policy that controls the heritage of some by those that perceive that they are enforcing laws for our own good. ing levy request. The total proposed 1995-96 Morrow County budget is $16,261,662. Other resources, such as state and federal payments, forest receipts, grant monies, the underlying coun ty tax base and contract rev enues support $13,048,593 of the proposed budget. This sum is available to the county without voter approval. The operating levy is the difference between available funds and total budgetary needs. It does require voter approval because it is "outside the tax base". The 1995-96 proposed budget re quires a total of $4,094,973 (levy plus tax base) in property tax Ree. district dollars from Morrow County taxpayers to "balance". This amount represents only one- quarter of the entire budget. Roughly 60 percent or $2,456, 983 of this amount will be paid by utilities, leaving $1,637,990 to be paid by non-utility pro perty owners. All of this information still only represents a fraction of the elements that go into develop ing the County's budget and levy. Those who may be in terested in a more comprehen sive understanding of this pro cess are invited to contact the county finance director or any of the members of the county court. From page 1 ingtion, lone, Boardman and Ir- rigon have all voted to opt in the district. Co-curricular committee member George Koffler says that the district needs to have the three-year serial levy and election of board members on the May ballot, so that co- curricular activities may begin in time for the start of school. Grant said that plans are to continue the pay-to-participate program implemented last fall. He says that it shows that kids are investing in the program too, and also imparts the work ethic. Grant said that the Morrow County Unified Recreation District will contract with the Morrow County School District to administer the program. He also said that the new district would include all present sports. "W e wanted to impact as many students as possible," he said, and added that a plan is in the works to include pre school children and adults in the program. All the activities funded by the newly created district, if the serial levy is approved, will be conducted outside of school hours, and activities will not overlap those provided by various park districts in the county. Val Doherty stressed that the plan is not an attempt to cir cumvent Ballot Measure 5 or violate the Oregon Constitu tion. Committee member Rick Minster, lone, added that an at torney's ruling on the issue has indicated that the recreation district is legal. The city of Ashland has a similar district in operation now. Committee members say that the district would probably be governed by five board members, with representatives from Boardman, Irrigon, rural Boardman and Irrigon, Hepp ner and areas south, and rural areas and lone. Carlson said that unless there are sufficient requests for elec tion on formation of the district, the court will enter an order creating the district. Another hearing will be set on the issue on Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. in lone. Nazarene church begins new program The Nazarene church in Hep pner invites all kids, grades kindergarten through sixth, to join them as they begin a new Sunday School worship ser vice. "God Made You Special" is the kick-off theme for Sun day School beginning March 5 from 9:45-10:45 a.m. Worship service follows at 11 a.m. The church is located on 355 Gilmore, Heppner. C e le b ra te a n A m e ric a n Tra d itio n w ith th e "Fly in g E a g le " C o lle c tio n Authentic Black Hills G old Eagle Collection for him and for her. 4 f <-\K> 1C* Member Jeweler« of America, Inc Peterson’s ^ n Heppner s Jewelers 676-9200 * t, . w ”
