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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2016)
10A • January 8, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com SEASIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT 10 Year ʖɚ Review Superintendent to retire after 35 years in district After 35 years, with 19 as superintendent, Doug Dougherty announced his intention to retire at the end of the school year. Dougherty began his career with the Seaside School District as a teacher at Seaside Heights Elementary School in 1982. He also worked as a teacher at Broadway Middle School and the principal of Cannon Beach Elementary School before being hired to replace former superinten- dent Harold Riggan in 1998. Dougherty’s primary role, however, will be working on a new school relocation bond to be placed on the November 2016 ballot. Three of the district’s existing four schools are located in the tsunami inundation zone; they have “long surpassed their useful lives and have a high likelihood of catastrophic collapse in an earth- quake,” Dougherty said. For 25 years, Dougherty and other administrators have worked toward the goal of relocating those schools. A measure to ob- tain $128.8 million to do so was on the ballot in a November 2013 election, but failed. The board accepted his retirement and voted to create a temporary committee to set a process for seeking Dougherty’s replacement, who will start in July 2016. The committee — Chairman Steve 3hillips and board members 3atrick No¿eld and Hugh Stelson — will consider contracting with an agency to assist and creating a committee to help with the interview process, Phillips said. Dougherty accepted a request from the board to serve part time as superintendent emeritus upon his retirement to help transition the new superintendent during the 2016-17 school year. Cannon Beach Academy to open doors The new Cannon Beach Academy, on track to open next year, will get at least $250,000 of the Seaside School District’s budget. Funds will come from the district’s existing four schools in order to serve the charter school students, but where cuts will be made has yet to be de- termined. The academy won conditional approval to open from the district’s board of directors during a special meeting last week. Whitney Westerholm kicked up a storm as homecoming queen and place kicker. The district’s overall budget is slightly more than $21 million. To start, the board will craft a three-year con- tract with the academy administration that allows the school to begin classes with kindergarten and ¿rst grade and then add a new grade level each sub- sequent school year. The academy plans to offer education for kindergarten to ¿fth-grade students. While many parents anticipate sending their children to the new school, administrators are concerned about the impacts. The district is requiring the academy to have a minimum enrollment of 44 students for the 2016- 17 school year, which amounts to an approxi- mately $256,000 contribution from district funds in the academy’s ¿rst year of operation. When the enrollment increases to a capacity of 85 students — the academy’s goal — the district will have to divert about $494,000, Dougherty said. Ballot measure On Nov. 3, nearly 70 percent of voters in Seaside School District 10 passed a ballot mea- sure to renew a local option tax to help fund operations in the district for ¿ve years, starting 2016. The local option tax, in place since 2000, helps fund the district’s operations by generat- ing approximately $1.2 million per school year. Each year the tax will provide funds for the district, from $1.22 million in 2016-17, up to $1.4 million in 2020-21. Overall, more than $6.5 million will be raised through the local option tax. This estimate is based on current data available from the Clatsop County assessor. Seaside’s total school budget for 2015-16 was just over $21 million. The funds will support the district, which includes Seaside High School, Broadway Middle School, Seaside Heights Elementary School and Gearhart Elementary School. The district also will include the Cannon Beach Academy when it opens in 2016. This is the ¿fth time voters had the option to renew the levy. The last local option tax vote took place November 2010, with 55 percent of the vot- ers approving the measure to continue to fund a reduction in classroom sizes and provide a wider range of programs for Seaside students. With passing of the local levy, the district set the stage for a future bond to build a new school outside of the city’s tsunami inundation zone. Such a plan failed in 2013. JEFF TER HAR PHOTO/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL The board accepted his retirement and voted to create a temporary committee to set a process for seeking Dougherty’s replacement, who will start in July 2016. The committee — Chairman Steve Phillips and board members Patrick No¿eld and Hugh Stelson — will consider contracting with an agency to assist and creating a committee to help with the interview process, Phillips said. Dougherty accepted a request from the board to serve part time as superintendent-emeritus upon his retirement to help transition the new su- perintendent during the 2016-17 school year. Seaside School District 10 board members discuss a motion to in- clude the Cannon Beach Acade- my as a public charter school within the dis- trict on numer- ous conditions. Looking ahead Dougherty has indicated he plans to seek an- other bond measure in the next year or so to build a new school site outside of the tsunami zone, which puts students at three of the district’s four schools at risk. A bond measure to do so was pro- posed in 2013 and failed. KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL When it’s broken, we can fi x it. For orthopedic care including sports medicine, come to Providence. Brooke Benz, M.D., is here to help you get back in action. If you’ve been sidelined by an injury or pain is stopping you from doing what you love, Dr. Benz gives you personalized care backed by decades of experience in sports medicine and knee, hip and shoulder joint replacement. Board certifi ed in orthopedic surgery with a subspecialty in treating sports injuries, Dr. Benz can help you get moving again. Brooke Benz, M.D. Orthopedic surgery To make an appointment or get more information about our orthopedic services, call 503-717-7060 or visit www.providence.org/northcoast. 725 S. Wahanna Road Seaside, OR 97138