, _________________________________ __________________________________________________________The INDEPENDENT, January 16, 2003
Page 11
State funding woes may force district to reduce number of days
From page 10
about a project the children in
two of her classes have recent
ly completed. Each student de
signed a toy or gift. First, each
student made a collage using
pictures from magazines to il
lustrate their invention. Stu
dents had to give their toy an
original name and determine a
price for the item. Each student
dictated a short paragraph de
scribing the toy or gift to a
teacher or aide who typed the
paragraph. The descriptions
and illustrations were com
bined, laminated and bound in
a “Wish Book” that includes the
work of all members of the
class. All of Peterson’s students
have difficulties in a regular
classroom. All are significantly
below grade level in reading
and/or writing, many lack fine
motor skills, and a few have be
havior problems. This project is
an example of the kind of indi
vidualized instruction Peter
son’s program provides.
Peterson explained to the
board that students are gener
ally referred to the Special Edu
cation Department by class
room teachers, though any stu
dent who might be served by
the district can be referred by a
parent or from a private school.
After the initial referral and after
meeting with parents, students
are tested and all available in
formation is gathered in order
to design an Individualized Ed
ucation Program (IEP) for each
student.
Funding may force loss
of school days
Banks School District will
now have to look at the loss of
some school days, McGlasson
told the board, as a result of the
December revenue projections,
which showed a continuing de
cline in expected revenue. Until
December, McGlasson said,
the district could have ab
sorbed previous revenue loss
es, as well as losses created if
Ballot Measure 28 fails, be
cause of a larger than expected
cash carry-over created by
conservative spending. She
also announced that the board
would enter expedited bargain
ing with teachers and staff in
early February to negotiate the
reduction in school days.
According to McGlasson, the
few districts that are not cutting
school days have large cash
reserves which, almost without
exception, they will use up this
year. Most districts in Washing
ton County have, or will, cut five
days from their schedule this
year. Banks can cut as many as
five days and still meet state
standards. Districts (like Hills
boro, which may cut up to 18
days) can receive a one-year
waiver for providing fewer
hours than required, however,
waivers can be granted for only
one year. A second year with
fewer hours than required
could result in the loss of state
school funds.
MS 171 Includes many features of Stihl professional models:
• Inertia chain b r a k e ^ ^
• Easy-off filter
cover
• Anti-vibration mounts
• View-through oil and gas tanks
U
14 l a r t é t a l a
MS 311 All the features and more power than the rugged STIHL
290 Farm Boss. Includes:
Anti-vibration systerry|||
• Ematic
guide bar
«
J
• Winterizer kit for cold weather
operation
IntelliCarb compensating carburetor
> Adjustable automatic oiler
■nwt
Wtidcuners
Protective
Kit @1Z2Prtce
Servicing Dealer
JM"
1 0 ’ Bar a e b a li
Over
19 years
Serving
the
Community i
I___ ___ 34515s w - Tuala,in V3lley Highway a n e jo . 10«
North aide of TV Highway, between Hillsboro & Cornelius
Superintendents are current
ly being advised to begin plan
ning next year’s budget based
on the actual revenue projected
to be received this year, a sig
nificant reduction from the
amount originally budgeted for
the 2002-2003 school year.
“W hat’s frightening,” McGlas
son said, “is that now we don’t
have the stones and rocks to
turn over" that were used to
balance the budget this year.
The district will be in “survival
mode,” she added, but she is
pleased to be in a giving com
munity and to have the admin
istrative team that she does.
She praised the ability of all
members of the team to work
together and think “outside of
the box" to find solutions.
insurance Report
Amy Hanson, for Waltz,
Sheridan, Crawford Inc., pre
sented the board with the annu
al report from the district’s in
surance provider. Hanson said
that the district was to be com
mended for their “proactive ap
proach
in regard to loss control,
Adm inistrators’ Reports
BES principal Mary Voge re particularly in response to rec
ported that two teachers are ommendations". Business Man
vigorously working towards the ager Nancy Hall, in particular,
national Board Certification for was exceptionally diligent, ac
Teachers. This is a rigorous, cording to Hanson. Hanson
national standard for profes said her company would be
sional excellence. Voge also marketing the district’s policies
told the board that students to carriers again this year, in an
would be participating in a effort to keep the cost within the
school-wide effort to improve budgeted amount. Hanson said
the recess program. Each class that the industry is predicting
Ye Olde
Dingheiser
SUNSET
LAUNDRYI
Pub & Restaurant
VISA - M C - A T M Access
FOOD, KEGS & ICE TO GO
W ash... $ 1 .0 0
D ry ...2 50
Lunch & Dinner
180 S. Main St.
Banks, Oregon
COCKTAILS • BEER • WINE
Breakfast
Sat-Sun 9 am - Noon
íwbk
Parts * Sales * Service
j
Next year’s budget does
not look encouraging
will have a meeting that focus
es on respect, responsibility
and cooperation. Discussions
with other classrooms, the
counselor and playground su
pervisors will result in findings
that will be discussed at an up
coming teacher in-service day.
Superintendent McGlasson
praised all of the school admin
istrators for their continuing ef
fort to analyze data and find
ways to make improvements.
McGlasson said that it is un
usual for staff to be enthusiastic
about utilizing test data to make
improvements to better meet
student needs, particularly in
the face of larger class sizes
and increasingly limited sup
plies. McGlasson said that
Voge, junior high principal Mark
Everett and high school princi
pal Jim Foster were all exem
plary in their continued dedica
tion to using available data,
rather than simply filing it away.
Daily 11:00 am - Closing
w/Saw
J rr
McGlasson said that two
things ease her fears for the
upcoming budget cycle: Banks’
experience with a similar situa
tion five years ago, when they
were alone while trying to solve
a seemingly impossible budget
crisis, and the community's re
sponse to the needs of the dis
trict five years ago.
3vv“W 0" I tZH
r B IN G O
k CASH PRIZES!!
S trassel ’ s A uto R epair
& H ydraulic H oses
À
2-4-6 S piral W ire
F lange H ead • S uction H oses
A daptors - 3/16” to 2"
B ulk O il P roducts
CLOSED MONDAYS
47100 N W Sunset Hwy.
Manning • 324-4848
27S SiNsn, B hnb
513 324-9111
SUNDAYS 5-8 PM
All Lottery Games
another increase of 25-30 per
cent.
Board member Doug Nord-
holm asked Hanson how the
district’s $3 million combined li
ability coverage compared to
other districts and if she was
comfortable with that amount of
coverage. Hanson responded
that she “ ...w ould be more
comfortable with a $5 million to
tal umbrella" but that the $3 mil
lion figure made sense for a
district the size of Banks.
District website
updated
McGlasson told the board
that N ordholm ’s comments
about the website, at last
month’s meeting, had been tak
en into consideration. Some
maintenance tasks were dis
tributed and teacher e-mail
links for the junior high and high
school
were
completed.
School secretaries now post
the daily newsletter directly to
the website for each school,
which reduces the time needed
to distribute the newsletter, and
teachers can access it in their
classrooms for daily announce
ments. Having the newsletter
on the website makes all of the
information available, including
menus, game information and
other announcements. McGlas
son urged anyone interested in
school information to consult
the website.
In other business the
board:
• Passed a resolution to join
with other districts to authorize
the Oregon School Board As
sociation to appeal, at OSBA
expense, the district’s PERS
rate increase.
• Updated a policy on board
elections with the addition that
the policy be automatically up
dated after future elections.
• Announced that terms of
board m em bers Gene Kelly
and Ann Station would expire in
July 2003. Station said she
would not be seeking re-elec
tion.
• Adopted the Northwest Re
gional Education Service Dis
trict Resolution Plan, which dis
tributes services to all 20 dis
tricts in the ESD.
Banks School Calendar
January 20 - Martin Luther
King Day, no school.
January 23-24 - End of Se
mester, no school.
February 4 - Elementary Mad
Science Assembly, morning.