OUR 114th Year
February 26, 2021
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
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Teachers voice
concerns over
reopening plans
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Seaside Signal
Back to school with
excitement, trepidation
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Seaside Signal
For most kindergart-
ners and first-graders in
Seaside, school’s back in
session — or more specifi-
cally, back on campus.
Pacific Ridge Elemen-
tary School was alive with
a distinctly “first-day-of-
school” vibe last Tuesday,
when in-person instruc-
tion resumed for a couple
cohorts of young students.
“It’s definitely a very
similar energy to Sep-
tember, August,” assis-
tant principal Jeremy Catt
said, noting his own ele-
mentary-aged student was
so excited she was up,
dressed and ready to go
in the early morning. As
students arrived and con-
nected with the teachers
they previously knew only
from Zoom interactions,
Catt said, “There was a lot
of, ‘I know you.’”
“Today was definitely
a
‘bucket-filler,’”
he
said. “It was great to see
and feel that energy of
being back at school that
we’ve missed for so long.
You can’t replicate that
online.”
The excitement was
accompanied by a bit of
trepidation and uncer-
tainty.
Principal
Juli
Wozniak said she could see
the emotion in the eyes of
parents who were dropping
their kids off at school for
the first time. The whole
situation was made more
unusual because parents
and guardians couldn’t
go inside the building or
visit their student’s class-
room, as would be tradi-
tion, because of COVID-
19 restrictions.
“Overall, they were
happy to give them a hug
at the car,” Wozniak said.
The returning students
have been split into two
cohorts. Half of the stu-
dents come for instruc-
tion in the morning on
Monday, Tuesday, Thurs-
day and Friday. They are
picked up and dropped
off by their guardians.
The other half of the stu-
dents — who take the bus
to and from the elemen-
tary school — arrive in the
See School, Page A5
The Seaside School Dis-
trict campus construction
project “has a few more
months to go but we’re
moving forward,” project
manager Jim Henry said
at last Tuesday’s school
board meeting. The project
See Teachers, Page A5
Five seats open for
park district board
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Photos by Katherine Lacaze
TOP: Pacific Ridge Elementary School kindergartners wait to board the bus last Tuesday
during their first day back on campus. MIDDLE: A welcome from staff to returning students.
ABOVE: Students wait to board the bus after school.
After delays, construction end in sight
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside School Dis-
trict is bringing students
back to campus in phases,
but teachers maintain a
variety of concerns, from
worry over contracting
the coronavirus before
receiving the vaccine to
not having access to child
care.
Kindergartners
and
first graders started
in-person instruction at
Pacific Ridge Elementary
School last week, with
second and third graders
set to return March 1 and
March 16. Sixth graders
were back on campus at
Seaside Middle School as
of Monday, and Seaside
High School has started
limited in-person instruc-
tion. Cannon Beach
Academy is scheduled to
resume in-person instruc-
tion on March 29.
While the district
moves forward with its
reopening plans, many
teachers remain burdened
by stress and a variety of
concerns. According to a
monthly survey distrib-
uted among teachers, the
past two months have
seen a dramatic increase
in teacher anxiety, Sea-
side Education Associ-
ation President Chuck
Albright told the school
board during last week’s
meeting.
In February, 73% of
teachers expressed feel-
ing “more stress than
usual” or more stress than
they “have ever experi-
enced” — up from 52%
in November and 50% in
January. While the move
from comprehensive dis-
tance learning to hybrid
instruction is one expla-
nation, “I think it’s more
than that,” Albright said.
“Digging deeper into
the data from these sur-
veys, you notice a thread
of discontent growing,”
he said, adding that the
word “comfortable” has
been thrown around fre-
quently in the past two
weeks. “But there is a
difference between being
uncomfortable and hav-
ing concerns.”
Teachers have been
trying to convey con-
cerns about numerous
issues, from rolling out
hybrid learning prior to
vaccines and the lack of
COVID-19 sick days to
on-site safety and child
care.
“Those
concerns
were dismissed as just
not being in our com-
fort zone,” Albright said.
“The fact is, those con-
cerns are real and need to
be addressed.”
For example, the idea
of district-provided child
care was brought up
during discussions with
district administration but
“dismissed as not really
being something that
many members would
need,” he added. In actu-
ality, on the survey, 90%
rated it as either “very
important” or “somewhat
important,” and 12% said
they would use it.
When asked whether
educator concerns are
being considered when
decisions are being
made, 56% of respon-
dents agreed this was
happening at a building
level, but only 15% said
that is the case with dis-
trict-level administration
and only 14% believe
their concerns are being
dashboard shows the bud-
get and schedule behind,
while scope and commu-
nity engagement are on tar-
get. Project cost is expected
to reach $131 million. To
date, the district has paid
about $127 million in
expenses.
The project, authorized
by voters by a bond in 2016
to move students from
schools in the tsunami inun-
dation zone, includes com-
pletion of exterior work at
the middle school and high
school building and interior
work at Pacific Ridge Ele-
mentary School.
In January, elemen-
tary school crews finished
kitchen and electrical work.
At the middle and high
school, crews provided
interior finishes and added
panels on the west side.
The school district is
finishing replacement of
22,000 linear square feet
of weather barrier after the
first application failed to
meet specifications.
“Weather remediation
is basically complete on
See Construction, Page A3
The Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict Board of Directors
consists of five elected
members. In June, all five
positions will be up for
election.
Candidate
filings
began Feb. 6 and con-
tinue until March 18, the
last day for district candi-
dates to file declaration or
withdrawal.
On Wednesday, John
Huismann filed to run
for the Position 2 seat.
He is a retired business-
man with a background
in sales and marketing
management. On Thurs-
day, Seaside resident Al
Hernandez filed for the
Position 1 seat. A retired
accounting and finan-
cial professional, most
recently he was financial
officer at Sunset Empire
Transportation District.
Vice president and secre-
tary Michael Hinton, who
holds Position 3, is the
board’s longest serving
member and has served
for 19 years. Hinton has
more than 45 years expe-
rience in appointed and
elected positions. He sub-
mitted his application for
candidacy on Feb. 11.
Katharine
Parker,
president of the board,
represents Position 5.
Parker is the head sec-
retary for Seaside High
School and has served
on the park district board
See Park district, Page A3
Seaside football looks for return to championship form
By GARY HENLEY
Seaside Signal
It was a tough start, but
a pretty good finish for Sea-
side football in 2019.
Aaron Tanabe’s first year
as the Gulls’ coach seems
like ages ago as the ath-
letic director and head coach
enters his second season
after the long break.
The Gulls’ last appear-
ance on the field ended in a
first round state playoff loss
at Marist on Nov. 8, 2019.
The game capped a 4-2
finish for Seaside over the
final six games of the 2019
season — a much different
look than the start.
Seaside began the season
with three straight defeats,
which included blowout
losses to Marist (35-3) and
Gladstone (34-0).
The Gulls turned it around
from there, winning three
straight to open league play,
before a 34-6 loss at Banks
in the rematch of the 2018
state championship game.
Tanabe’s team goals
this spring are similar to
how things played out in
the fall of 2019: “Get bet-
ter at something every day,”
said Tanabe, the Cowapa
Gary Henley/Seaside Signal
See Football, Page A5
Junior Carson Kawasoe (8) will be calling the signals and throwing passes for the Gulls this
season.