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,”
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cult.”
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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
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this week.
At Hermiston elementa-
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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
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at what is currently known
as the “Hermiston Foods
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limited to a right turn in and
right turn out, discouraging
visitors to the stores.
“The store itself could
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signal, but you would need
one with the lease pads,”
Spencer said.
City councilors agreed
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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.
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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-
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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-
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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
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rameters: the PERS re-
serve and the funding per
ADMw assumptions.
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