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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
FROM PAGE A1 A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 Hermiston schools grow safety net Board sets fund balance, enrollment target In other business, the board: Unanimously accepted the consent items without discussion. The consent items included personnel resignations for Blaine Ganvoa, athletic direc- tor at Hermiston High School; Cynthia Moran, second-grade teacher at Rocky Heights Elementa- ry; and Sarah O’Gorman, kindergarten teacher at Desert View Elementary. By JENNIFER COLTON Staff Writer PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON Students competing in the Battle of the Books have to prove knowledge of 16 different books this year. BOOKS continued from Page A1 Oregon Battle of the Books is a statewide read- ing motivation and compre- hension program. The pro- gram challenges students in third through 12th grade with trivia and critical thinking questions based on 16 pre-selected books. The Oregon Battle of the Books program is run by volun- teers through the Oregon Association of School Li- braries and partially funded through the Library Ser- vices and Technology Act. The students of the YMnMs — Maria Tejeda, Sally Wooster, Yaloani Al- varado, Mirely Reyes and Nazly Chavez — have been involved with Battle of the Books for years and said they participate be- cause they like to read, it’s fun, and it’s a challenge. HWY 395 continued from Page A1 During a workshop be- fore the council’s regular meeting, city planner Clint Spencer stressed that the Transportation System Plan is not a construction plan, but rather a “conceptual- ization” of what the city’s transportation needs might be over the next 20 years. The state won’t give the city money for projects if they aren’t included in the plan, so he said it was im- portant to include all proj- ects that the city might be interested in pursuing. Spencer said the amend- ment process began after conversations with a “large retailer” interested in devel- oping a portion of Highway “The hardest part is re- membering the details. The best is getting to read good books — and a variety of books. It isn’t all the same genre,” eighth-grader Na- zly Chavez said. This year, each Armand Larive and Sandstone mid- dle schools received a grant from the Oregon Battle of the Books organization that covered the registration fee and a book box with one copy of each of the 16 books used in the middle school divisions. Delia Wallis, librarian for Hermiston High School, Sandstone and Armand Lar- ive Middle school, said the program challenges students and promotes reading. “You have to know your stuff, You have to know what color was the bicycle Bob rode down the street,” :DOOLVVDLG³,W¶VYHU\GLI¿- cult.” )RUWKH¿UVWWLPH+HUP- iston High School will launch an Oregon Battle of the Books team next year. For the 2015-16 school year, students are keeping their eyes in their books and on the next stage. The winners of the building competitions advance to the regional competition: March 5 at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton. While the YMnMs have already earned their place, other students are heading LQWR WKHLU EXLOGLQJ ¿QDOV this week. At Hermiston elementa- U\VFKRROV¿QDOVDUHWDNLQJ place in school gyms this week: Rocky Heights Elemen- tary, Thursday at 9:15 a.m. Desert View Elementary, Friday at 8:15 a.m. Sunset Elementary, Fri- day at 10:10 a.m. Highland Hills, Friday at 1:15 p.m. 395 between Hermiston Foods and the Wal-Mart Distribution Center. Plan- ning commission docu- ments in the agenda packet identify that retailer as farm supply and sporting goods store Ranch & Home. He said the retailer had begun the application pro- cess with the city to build a 100,000 square foot store and develop several “lease pads” that could end up hosting restaurants, gas sta- tions or other small retail- ers. Spencer said without a WUDI¿FVLJQDOEHLQJLQVWDOOHG at what is currently known as the “Hermiston Foods GULYHZD\´ WUDI¿F ZRXOG EH limited to a right turn in and right turn out, discouraging visitors to the stores. “The store itself could IXQFWLRQ ZLWKRXW D WUDI¿F signal, but you would need one with the lease pads,” Spencer said. City councilors agreed WKDW D WUDI¿F VLJQDO DW WKH development’s entrance — as well as previously-pro- posed ones at places like Airport Road and the Wal- Mart Distribution Center — were likely necessary but they needed to be stop lights, not roundabouts. ³,W GH¿QLWHO\ VORZV WUDI- ¿F ZD\ GRZQ´ FRXQFLORU Rod Hardin said. Councilors voted unan- imously to continue the public hearing on the mat- ter until their March 14 meeting, allowing staff to discuss with ODOT wheth- er the state transportation commission would still sign off on the Transporta- tion System Plan without adding the recommenda- tion for roundabouts. The Hermiston School District will grow its safety net in the 2016-17 school year. The school board met Monday for a work ses- VLRQ WR GLVFXVV ¿QDQFLDO planning parameters for the 2016-17 school year. The parameters, set by the board, provide the basis for the district budget. The board agreed by consensus to plan for modest enrollment growth and to keep the “ending fund balance,” or the amount of money left in the district accounts at the end of the school year, at a minimum of 8 percent of the district’s total bud- get; however, the board also provided an objective for the district administra- tion grow that balance to at least 9 percent. An 8 percent slice of the district’s budget is about $4 million, and the balance provides both a safety net for the district and allows operating ex- penses during the sum- mer months before state funding is distributed in the fall. For the 2015-16 school year, the district is at an 8.75 percent level, accord- ing to Deputy Superin- tendent Wade Smith. The management objective for the 2015-16 school year was to keep the balance above 8.5 percent. “We still haven’t fully Heard a presentation from Rocky Heights Elementary staff about recent events, goals and development. Discussed a proposal to move Outdoor School to the fall for the 2016-17 school year. 3URFODLPHG0DUFKDV&ODVVL¿HG(PSOR\HH Week. Met in an executive session to discuss the super- intendent’s evaluation. No action was taken after the executive session. recovered from the reces- sion, so we knew growing that was going to be dif- ¿FXOW EXW ZH DJUHHG WR try to move toward 9 per- cent,” Smith said. Smith said that 9 per- cent could be important while the district faces state-mandated PERS funding increases. PERS increases every two years, so the next increase will be in the 2017-18 school year. In addition to the EFB amount, the board also set the parameter for en- rollment growth at an in- crease of 50 weighted stu- dents. A student’s funding “weight,” referred to as ADMw, includes aspects such as poverty level, En- JOLVKODQJXDJH SUR¿FLHQ- cy and disabilities. Smith said straight increases in enrollment do not always equal straight increases in living with alzheimer’s state funding. “This year, although we’re up 200 students, we think we’re going to get paid an increase of about 80ADMw,” Smith said. “Next year, do we think we’re going to be up 150- 200 students? Absolutely. Do we think we’re going to be up 150ADMw? No.” The 2015-16 increase will offset a loss in fund- ing for teacher experi- ence. Schools with long- term experienced teachers receive additional fund- ing; the hiring increase in Hermiston last year — 62 new hires — meant the district did not receive that experience bonus. During the March school board meeting, the board will discuss WKH ¿QDO WZR IXQGLQJ SD- rameters: the PERS re- serve and the funding per ADMw assumptions. LEASE STK# 16T249. PLUS TTD AND ON APPROVED CREDIT. GROSS CAP COST $19,982. MSRP $21,055. LEV $13,686. TOTAL DUE AT INCEPTION $1,699. 36 MO/12,000 MILE PER YEAR LEASE. AFTER $1,000 LEASE CASH PROVIDED BY TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. LEASE STK# 16T025. PLUS TTD AND ON APPROVED CREDIT. GROSS CAP COST $23,498. MSRP $24,900. LEV $15,189. TOTAL DUE AT INCEPTION $1,549. 36 MO/12,000 MILE PER YEAR LEASE. 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