6A • September 30, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Seaside K-12 design on table
Grant requires expansion
of preschool program
Grant from Page 1A
“It’s really exciting that
we’re getting this off the
ground,” she said, adding if
the program is successful,
the district can re-apply for
sustaining grants.
Part of this initiative will
entail monthly profession-
al meetings involving the
preschool and kindergarten
teachers so they can col-
laborate and “try to build a
very smooth transition from
preschool into kindergarten,
so the preschools are aligned
with what kindergarten read-
iness requires,” Roley said.
The board unanimously
approved a memorandum of
understanding to work with
the recreation district on this
program.
“The funds are channeled
through us; they’re doing
most of the labor,” Roley
said.
Candidate forum at City Hall
SUBMITTED DRAWING
New Seaside School District campus as rendered by architects Dull Olson Weekes.
Tsunami threat drives
$99.7 million bond
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
The Seaside School Dis-
trict has unveiled a site con-
cept for a proposed $99.7 mil-
lion K-12 campus plan.
Drawings by the archi-
tects Dull Olson Weekes il-
lustrate the existing Seaside
Heights Elementary School,
which would be enhanced
with a classroom addition.
New buildings to the south
include a high school, middle
school, gymnasium and cafe-
teria. Main entryways for the
middle and high schools are
shown, as well as roadways,
bus drop-off areas, parking
and athletic ields.
If approved by district vot-
ers on in November, the cam-
pus would be built on portions
of the 80 acres east of Sea-
side Heights Elementary
School donated by Weyer-
haeuser Co.
“It shows the current
Seaside Heights Elemen-
tary School and new addi-
tion, middle school and high
school complexes, the roads,”
Seaside School District Su-
perintendent-emeritus Doug
Dougherty said Wednesday.
“Other than that, the actual
work that goes into drawings
of classrooms or interior piec-
es won’t be done until after
the bond because they are so
expensive to purchase from
the architect.”
Buildings will be either
two or three stories, Dough-
erty said. Utilities and other
infrastructure details will not
be developed until after the
bond is decided.
Seaside School District
serves 1,550 students from
communities across south
Clatsop County. Gearhart El-
ementary School, Broadway
Middle School and Seaside
High School are located near
sea level, endangering all stu-
dents and school staff in the
event of a tsunami. The build-
ings are rated by the Oregon
Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries as having
a high probability of cata-
strophic collapse in an earth-
quake.
The new campus could be
used for the general public as
well as students in an emer-
gency, Dougherty said. Be-
cause of the slope, $2.75 mil-
lion of the total budget must
cover the cost of engineered
pier foundations.
In a fact sheet presented by
Vote Yes for Local Schools,
supporters of the bond said
the major areas removed from
the 2013 bond include re-
placement of Seaside Heights
Elementary School, an audi-
torium, varsity football ield,
varsity boys and girls soccer
ields, varsity baseball ields,
a covered bleachers and lock-
er room complex and all but
the emergency shelter compo-
nents that are required by law.
Will there be add-ons?
“We have no other plans
at this point,” Dougherty
said. “That’s all we can af-
ford, unfortunately.”
District seeks grant money for
safer sidewalks for schoolchildren
Sidewalks essential to
student safety
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
It’s dificult to encourage
students to bike and walk
to school if they don’t have
access to a comprehensive
system of safe sidewalks and
trails. To rectify the situation
in Seaside, which lacks side-
walks along many streets, the
Public Works Department
is leading an effort to start a
local Safe Routes to School
program.
Safe Routes to School,
a national organization that
currently isn’t represented in
Clatsop County, supports op-
portunities to make walking
and bicycling to school safer
and more accessible for chil-
dren through a collaboration
of local governments, schools
and communities.
“This program also pro-
vides for cities to obtain grant
money to put in sidewalks and
make improvements so we
do have safer streets,” Pub-
lic Works Director Dale Mc-
Dowell said during a presen-
tation at the Seaside School
District’s Board of Directors
meeting Sept. 20. “I don’t
want children out walking
in the middle of the street or
even between cars to get to
school.”
To apply for funding, the
community irst must cre-
ate an action plan through a
team-based process. Drawing
conclusions from collected
information, “the team will
be able to recommend pri-
ority projects and activities
that the school, municipality
and community can advance
to promote safe walking and
bicycling,” according to in-
formation from Safe Routes
to School.
McDowell
approached
former Seaside Superinten-
dent Doug Dougherty with the
idea of pursuing funding three
years ago. While Dougherty
was on board, they realized it
was premature, as the school
district is working to move
three of its four school cam-
puses out of the tsunami inun-
dation zone.
The district hopes to use
Shasia Fry, the transportation
options specialist for North
West Transportation Options,
who shared with the school
board how the Safe Routes
to School program promotes
healthy lifestyles, environ-
mental awareness, safety and
trafic relief.
More parents today ‘drive their students to school,
creating more congestion and not allowing kids to walk
safely in that traic around the school.’
Shasia Fry,
transportation options specialist
the Seaside Heights Elemen-
tary School site as a starting
point to create campuses for
the other grades. The Novem-
ber General Election ballot
will include a bond measure
to fund that endeavor.
With the potential move
in mind, McDowell said he
would use the funding to in-
stall more sidewalks near Sea-
side Heights, or within a one-
mile radius, according to the
program criteria.
“I can’t get the whole town,
but I want to get as much as I
can,” McDowell said.
McDowell told the school
board he is not oficially re-
questing anything from the
district at this time, but he
eventually will need a school
representative to be on the ac-
tion plan development team.
The representative can help
identify “where our real prob-
lem issues are” and what areas
should be the irst to receive
sidewalks, McDowell said.
The team also will include
In 1969, substantially more
students were walking or bik-
ing to school than were being
driven; now the situation has
lip-lopped, she said. Parents
identiied distance and fear of
trafic as the two main issues.
“Then they drive their stu-
dents to school, creating more
congestion and not allowing
kids to walk safely in that
trafic around the school,” Fry
said.
She and McDowell are
encouraging Seaside to par-
ticipate in the international
Walk and Bike to School Day
on Oct. 5. This will be a way
for them to “gauge the interest
from the parents in this idea
… to see if the Safe Routes to
School program would be vi-
able here,” Fry said.
As the program’s funding
comes from federal tax dol-
lars that are received by each
state’s Department of Trans-
portation, Seaside has contrib-
uted over the years to putting
in more sidewalks in Hood
River, Portland, Eugene, Red-
mond, Bend and Corvallis, to
name a few, McDowell said.
“We’ve provided mon-
ey for them to put sidewalks
in their towns,” he added. “I
think it’s time we put some
sidewalks in our town.”
Candidates for public of-
ice in Seaside and Gearhart
will be featured at a public
forum Monday, Oct. 3, at 7
p.m. at Seaside City Hall.
All are invited to this meet
and greet with an opportuni-
ty for community members
to question those running
for public ofice.
Sponsored by Sea-
side AAUW, this is one of
continuing public service
events held each year to
help inform our communi-
ty about candidates seeking
ofice.
Gearhart council candi-
dates who are running for
re-election are Sue Lorain
and Dan Jesse, both unop-
posed. Matt Brown and Bob
Shortman are in contention
for the mayoral position and
will be present to address
questions.
Seaside council mem-
bers Randy Frank, Seth
Morrisey, and Don John-
son are seeking re-election.
Frank and Morrisey are
unopposed. Tom Horning
will be facing Don Johnson
for the position representing
Ward 3.
All candidates have indi-
cated they will be participat-
ing in the community event.
City Hall is located at 989
Broadway.
DINING
on the
NORTH COAST
Great Restaurants in:
GEARHART
SEASIDE
CANNON BEACH
NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD
R E STAU R A N T S
CANNON
BEACH
503-436-1111
Ocean Front at
Tolovana Park
www.moschowder.com
Excellence in family dining found
from a family that has been serving
the North Coast for the past 52 years
Great
Great
Great
Homemade
pasta,
Clam
Breakfast, lunch and
but that’s
dinner
steaks &
Chowder,
not all...
menu,too!
seafood!
Salads!
Th e Bridge Morning Show With Mark Evans
6 am to 10 am
Spend Aft ernoons With Skye
2 pm to 8 pm
www.949thebridge.com
ANNUAL SEASIDE KIDS
PANCAKE & SAUSAGE
FEED
th
Tuesday, October 11 , 2016 from 5 to 7 PM
Seaside Civic
& Convention
Center
415 1 st Ave., Seaside
Adults - $ 7
Seniors & Children
(under 12) - $ 5
Family - $ 20
All proceeds benefi t Seaside Kids and their programs
Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days)
Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily)
Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144
WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO?
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
BEST
BREAKFAST
IN TOWN!
• Lighter
appetite
menu
• Junior
Something for Everyone menu
Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak
Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib
Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight
All Oregon Lottery products available
1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am
MAZATLAN
M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T
Phone 503-738-9678
1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside
