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
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Morrow County
Grain Growers
350 Mam Street Lexington. 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.
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