A6 • Friday, September 6, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Schools invest to keep students coming back
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Chelsea Archibald was
working as a pastry chef at
the Stephanie Inn in Can-
non Beach when she saw
a listing for a new culinary
teacher at Seaside High
School and decided to take a
chance. Now in her second
year, Archibald runs four
daily classes in one of the
high school’s most popular
programs.
Seaside’s investment in
a culinary instructor was
part of around $750,000 a
year added to the budgets
of Clatsop County school
districts by Measure 98, a
voter-approved initiative to
improve graduation rates,
add career-technical classes
and expand students’ access
to college credits.
As school districts invest,
they are also creating school
improvement plans to secure
even bigger pots of money
from the Student Success
Act. The new gross receipts
tax is projected to add $1
billion a year in funding for
K-12 initiatives statewide.
Oregon voters passed
Measure 98 in 2016 to help
improve the state’s dismal
graduation rate of 74%, the
third-worst in the U.S. The
measure added $170 mil-
lion over the past two years
earmarked for dropout pre-
vention,
career-technical
courses and expanded col-
lege credit opportunities.
The state’s graduation
rate increased to 78.7%
statewide last year, the fi fth
year of improvement but
still nearly 6% behind the
national average.
Measure 98
New and improved pro-
grams have popped up at
school districts around the
county — construction in
Jewell, welding in Knappa,
automotive in Warrenton,
agriculture in Astoria and
culinary in Seaside.
Seaside spent nearly half
its money hiring Archibald,
the fi rst full-time instruc-
tor in several years, and
strengthening a culinary
program Jeff Roberts, the
school principal, said half
the student body was fore-
casted to take.
“Given our community,
with such a strong hospi-
tality base, it dovetails with
our goals to provide kids
Chelsea Archibald/The Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Warrenton-Hammond School District used part of its Measure 98 funding on a back-to-school
night for incoming ninth graders at Warrenton High School.
real-world opportunities,”
he said.
Roberts tracked the
demise of career-technical
programs to Measure 5, a
1990 state ballot initiative
that capped property taxes
and made schools more reli-
ant on more volatile income
taxes.
“When
Measure
5
passed, trade programs were
some of the fi rst to get cut,”
Roberts said. “Now you’ve
seen a shift in attitudes, with
trades coming back into
schools.”
By Halloween, Rod
Heyen, the principal of War-
renton High School, hopes
to be holding automo-
tive and metal fabrication
classes in a new career-tech-
nical building going up next
to the school.
The
building
was
donated.
Its
construc-
tion was paid for by a
career-technical revitaliza-
tion grant. The school dis-
trict tapped into Measure
98 funds to hire new auto-
motive instructor James
Veverka, who is developing
a four-year automotive and
metal fabrication program,
starting with basic automo-
tive classes this fall.
Lynn Jackson, the princi-
pal at Astoria High School,
has spread his Measure 98
funding throughout several
academic programs.
Astoria brought back a
dormant agriculture pro-
gram and restarted a local
chapter of Future Farmers
of America. Tess Hamby,
the school district’s new
agricultural and wood shop
teacher, said the chapter
now has more than 20 stu-
dents. Travel and her class-
room equipment are largely
Research shows ninth
graders who fi nish the
school year on track aca-
demically are four times
more likely to graduate.
School districts have uni-
versally invested Measure
98 funds on easing the tran-
sition into high school, add-
ing tutoring and increasing
staffi ng to keep closer tabs
‘GIVEN OUR COMMUNITY,
WITH SUCH A STRONG
HOSPITALITY BASE, IT
DOVETAILS WITH OUR GOALS
TO PROVIDE KIDS REAL-
WORLD OPPORTUNITIES.’
Seaside principal Jeff Roberts, on the school’s
newly expanded culinary program
paid for by Measure 98 and
a state law passed this year
to help improve agricultural
education.
Jackson advertised to
hire a robotics coach for
the school district’s fl edg-
ling robotics program using
Measure 98, which has
also provided funding for
business courses, another
career-technical program.
“It has allowed us to
develop a wide variety of
interventions and enrich-
ments,” he said.
on students’ progress.
Ian O’Brien, a former
teacher at Warrenton High
School, returned several
years ago from a short stint
as athletic director at Laker-
idge High School in Lake
Oswego. He became one of
Warrenton High School’s
two assistant principals,
overseeing a team of sev-
eral teachers who all focus
on ninth graders.
“We’re just getting in
their business, caring,”
O’Brien said. “We want
Chelsea Archibald, top left, was hired as a full-time culinary
instructor at Seaside High School using Measure 98 funds
meant to support career-technical learning opportunities.
them to succeed.”
The school district has
seen its ninth grade on-track
metrics jump by more than
20% with the increased
focus, he said. Warrenton’s
graduation rate has steadily
increased for at least the
past seven years.
Astoria has paid for its
attendance initiative, Strive
for Five, using Measure
98 funds and hired a grad-
uation coach, along with
other efforts to improve the
high school environment,
said Superintendent Craig
Hoppes.
Student Success Act
The state Legislature this
year narrowly passed the
Student Success Act, a gross
receipts tax estimated to add
$1 billion a year in funding
starting next school year.
Half the money school
districts receive will be
earmarked for reducing
class size, increasing learn-
ing time, safety and well-
rounded learning expe-
riences. Up to 30% goes
toward statewide initiatives
such as fully funding Mea-
sure 98, improving cafete-
ria nutrition, school safety,
equity and other support
funds. At least 20% must be
spent on early learning.
To access the money,
school districts must submit
school improvement plans
to the state by early Decem-
ber. Many are parlaying
their strategic plans into the
application.
Sheila Roley, the super-
intendent in Seaside, said
the passage of the Student
Success Act was fortuitous
with her district just fi nish-
ing up a fi ve-year strategic
plan.
“The focus is emotional
and mental health for stu-
dents,” Roley said of how
funds would be utilized.
Much of the focus is on
increased trauma-informed
care. The education model
takes into account the past
traumatic experiences and
how they affect a student’s
ability to learn.
The legislation will help
school districts expand pre-
school. A recent study found
about 40% of 3- and 4-year-
olds from lower-income
families in Clatsop and Til-
lamook counties are not
going to preschool.
Educators will meet
next month with the state
to ensure they know how to
apply for Student Success
Act money. Many have not
received the application and
don’t know how much to
expect in extra funding.
“It’s a new experience
for us to have more money,
because we’re so accus-
tomed to the budget going
down,” Roley said.
Rotary fundraiser: Tailgate with Team Rotary
Seaside Signal
The Rotary Club of Sea-
side and its Foundation pres-
ent the annual dinner buf-
fet and auction at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 12, at the
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center. The theme this
year is “Tailgate with Team
Rotary — Seaside.”
This is the single larg-
est fundraiser of the year for
the Seaside Rotary Founda-
tion and allows the fouun-
dation to assist in serving
the needs of not only our
local community, but also
worldwide.
Some examples of these
programs include: Schol-
arships for Seaside High
School
graduates,
the
renowned
international
youth exchanges for high
school students; and spon-
sorship of the all night
“alcohol-free and safe” Sea-
side High School grad night
party, which Rotary has
been supporting and lead-
ing for more than 25 years.
Holiday programs includ-
ing Santa’s workshop which
provides holiday presents to
hundreds of area children
and families, Shop with a
Cop and Adopt-a-Family.
Rotary also supports the
needs of seniors in our local
community, providing water
and sanitation in remote vil-
lages in third world coun-
tries, and the eradication of
polio worldwide.
A key component of the
dinner/auction are many
live auction “packages” that
can be bid on. Some exam-
ples this year include a New
York Experience for two
with tickets to the Jimmy
Fallon Show and the Broad-
way musical “Aladdin”
with a backstage tour, four
tickets to the Oregon-Or-
egon State civil war game,
a traditional Spanish paella
dinner for eight and doz-
ens of silent auction items
donated by area businesses.
Tickets are still avail-
able, but don’t delay. Cost
for the buffet dinner/auction
is $65 per person and $650
for a table of 10.
For questions, contact
auction chair Sandy Mac-
Dowall at 503-738-6391.
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Presenting the Pacific Northwest Living Historians.
Between the Beach & the Prom
at Avenue U Trail to the Beach
Seaside, Oregon
www.seasideoregonmuseum.com
503-738-7065
FREE!
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All Ages Welcome — Daily 11-6
810 Broadway — 503-739-7322
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Funded through grant from Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee.
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