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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2002)
Voi. 17, No. 5 “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” D ifficult decisions facing school board A good read... The latest recipient of funds earned by the Vernonia Friendship Jamboree Committee was the Friends of the Library, which will use the $500 donation to help supply materi als or activities the public library can’t afford. Jamboree Committee President Randy Parrow presented the check to Friends President Jennifer Butcher. Looking on, left to right, are Librarian Nancy Burch, Jamboree Vice-president Glenda DeLemos, EIDonna Williams (in back), Enid Parrow, Randy Parrow, Myron Lane (in back), Butcher and Joann Glass. Another donation, for $250, went to Echoing Evergreens Youth Camp. Council adopts design guidelines Vernonia City Council Adopt ed Design Guidelines for the downtown commercial area at their March 4 meeting, and made appointments to three committees that will be dealing with different aspects of the city's future. The purpose of the Design Guidelines is to acknowledge V ernonia’s historic heritage while providing a fram ework within which to improve the ap pearance, econom ic vitality, and livability of dow ntow n through future changes. The guidelines consider building materials, sign placement, size „ and. design;. building heights March 6, 2002 and facades, awnings and much more. They will be ap plied to remodeling projects, as well as new construction. A committee appointed to develop plans for utilizing the recently com pleted Vernonia M arketing Analysis, included Marcie Gwin, Kerry Lyon, Gil Tavares, Isabelle McDaniel, Janelle Serafin, Royce Hagel- stein, Jerry Keenon and Coun cilor Shirlee Daughtry. A group appointed to study requirements for a Technology Center, possibly in the old city hall, included Darlene McLeod, LV Schoonover, M argaret Dena, Councilor Cindy Ball and City Administrator Mike Sykes. The third group of ap pointees will be studying how to incorporate Smart Develop ment principles into the city’s zoning and developm ent codes. This will require a re view of existing codes and rec ommendations for changes. Smart Development com mit tee appointees include Carol Sawyer, Matt Davis, Lisa Edgar, Susi Siote, Nancy Dai ley, Don Wallace, Jay Nesmith, Noni Andersen and Councilor Ball. The next council meeting will be March 18 at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall. 4 « 9 - Who? and How? dominated the Vernonia School District Board of Directors, at their workshop and meeting Febru ary 27. Chair Carla Strand and directors Randy Hansen, Cari Levenseller, Leslie O’Leary and Jim Krahn focused on two high- pressure items of business - the search for a new superin tendent and setting budget pri orities. Director Tim Titus was unable to attend. In January, the board dis cussed alternatives to the cur rent adm inistrative structure (superintendent/principal/vice- principal, etc.) with the present adm inistrative team. At that time, the board determined that it would probably be best to hire an interim superintendent until a permanent superintendent is selected. In this way, the district could save money and retain experienced leadership until the transition is complete. Interim superintendents gen erally are retired superinten dents who agree to work with a district for a specific period of time, usually one year. They bring with them a wealth of ex perience and are able to take a fresh look at whatever issues and difficulties a district may be facing. Vernonia used the services of an interim superintendent, Jim Ulum, during the 1996-‘97 school year. Ulum guided the district through the FEMA maze after the flood, helped conduct a superintendent search at the same time, and started repair ing problems left over from pre vious administrations. John Young, of the Oregon School Boards Association, ex plained the executive search services provided by OSBA. As director of the executive search staff, Young’s goal is “to handle the details so board members are free to concen trate on choosinq the best Der- son for the job." OSBA can fa cilitate a search for a superin tendent and also maintains a roster of qualified people who are interested in serving as in terim superintendents. The cost for an interim search is deduct ed from the fee for a superin tendent search. A full superintendent search may be a six-to-twelve month process. When selecting a su perintendent, the board is re quired, by statute, to get input from the com munity at large in determining the selection crite ria. Though this is not required for interim superintendents, the O SBA’s interim search is a four-to-six w eek m ini-search process that w ould require com munity meetings and spe cial board meetings to secure the best candidate for the dis trict. Q uestioned by the board about the availability of quali fied superintendent candidates, Young indicated that a district of Vernonia’s size should re ceive applications from about 25 to 30 candidates for perm a nent positions. About 30 candi dates are on the current list of those seeking interim positions. Because they w ere in a w orkshop, not a business meeting, directors could not vote on a course of action. Be cause the retirement of Super intendent Larry McClellan will take effect this summer, the board will make a decision at their regular board meeting on March 14. Budget priorities and fiscal restraint In spite of the dominance of school funding issues in the news, and even though it is the board’s responsibility to provide the superintendent and other administrators with specific pri orities fo r developm ent of the Please see page 13
