The independent., March 20, 2003, Image 1

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PRESORTED STANDARD
U S. P o s ta g e P aid
V e rn o n ia , O R 97064
Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley
March 20, 2003
Banks, Vernonia get
state report cards
By Schann Nelson
Help needed for 4-mile
Volunteers will be gratefully
accepted Saturday as the Ver­
nonia Chamber of Commerce
tackles cleaning up four miles
of the Banks-Vernonia Linear
State Park.
Workers will meet at Ander­
son Park at 9:00 a.m., to get
their assignments. Individuals
and groups are all welcome.
Tools needed are brooms,
rakes, gas blowers, shovels
and wheelbarrows. Aside from
one area where drainage is a
problem, the rest of the work
consists mostly of removing a
-V trail cleanup
winter’s worth of natural and
man-made debris, particularly
along the part of the trail that is
adjacent to Highway 47.
Workers should bring their
own gloves. The chamber will
provide bags for debris and
Park Ranger Mike Shannon will
make arrangements to dispose
of the trash. Transportation will
be provided to areas farther
away from town and, because
of the distance, there will some­
one checking workers’ needs.
New Police Chief will start in Vernonia
Mike Cahill, former Junction
City Police Chief and presently
an enforcement officer for the
Oregon Liquor Control Com­
mission, has accepted the top
position in the Vernonia Police
Department. Cahill was one of
four candidates interviewed
from among approximately 30
applicants for the position.
He is in Vernonia this week­
end, but he will finish his job
with the OLCC before reporting
for full-time duty.
state standards in reading, writ­
ing, math knowledge and skills
and problem solving. Each dis­
trict’s overall statistics are com­
pared with statewide averages.
While writing is an area of
strength in the Vernonia district,
with percentages at or above
state average at every level, in
Banks the percentage of stu­
dents at nearly every grade lev­
el and in most areas of evalua­
tion exceed the comparable
statewide statistic. Both dis­
tricts appear to have some diffi­
culty at the eighth grade level,
where the percentage of stu­
dents meeting state standards
drops below the state average
in some areas. However, more
Banks students are meeting
the tenth grade standards than
state averages, in most areas,
whereas an increasing percent­
age of Vernonia students fail to
meet the state standard in all
areas except writing.
The Banks and Vernonia
School
Districts
received
markedly different state report
cards. Also markedly different
was presentation of the infor­
mation to the school boards by
their respective superintend­
ents. Superintendent Mike Fun-
derburg delivered a firm mes­
sage, at last month’s Vernonia
board meeting, that the district
must begin immediately to im­
prove attendance and perform­
ance in mathematics. In con­
trast, Superintendent Marilyn
McGlasson told the Banks
board this week that, in spite of
financial challenges, the Banks
district continues to provide ex­
cellent opportunities.
Unlike individual schools,
districts do not receive an over­
all rating. Instead, district report
cards provide financial data
and overall combined statistics
for each area of evaluation.
School Report Cards
District numbers are compared
The last legislative session
to statewide averages, and the produced changes in the
reports also include ratings for school report cards. The open­
each school in the district.
ing message on the front of
Spending per student
each report card says, “be­
A summary of general fund cause of the rating changes,
expenditures shows the dollars comparisons are not valid be­
spent per student for the 2000- tween this year’s school ratings
2001 school year. While both and school ratings from previ­
districts are funded below the ous years.” Nevertheless, addi­
state average of $6310, Banks tional graphic information is in­
under-spent Vernonia in every cluded about improvem ent
area, but particularly in class­ over time, and comparison fig­
room support, with $733 per ures from the 2000-2001
student to Vernonia’s $1278. school year. 2003 report cards
Total expenditures in Banks base overall ratings for the
were nearly $800 less per stu­ school year 2001-2002 on a
dent, with general fund expen­ com bination of ratings for
ditures of $5400 compared to School C haracteristics, Stu­
Vernonia’s $6197 per student. dent Performance, Student Be­
The report cards do not evalu­ havior, and Improvement.
ate the reasons for differences
The titles for these areas of
in per-student expenditures.
evaluation are m isleading.
Each area is a narrow, statisti­
cally
defined param eter that
District report cards include
a graph showing the percent­ can be used for all schools
age of students meeting the across the state. The new lay-
Writing and math
Please see page 10