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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2003)
Vol. 18, No. 10 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” May 15, 2003 Mist School future is topic of dialogues 9209475 Vernonia budget is so tight it squeaks With a budget so tight that it includes actual reductions in some salaries, the budget mes sage for the City of Vernonia is remarkably upbeat. At the first meeting of the budget com m ittee, May 12, City Administrator and Budget Officer Mike Sykes specified some of the factors that are squeezing the budget: - The state is keeping all Cigarette Taxes, which tradi tionally have been shared with local governments. - The unfunded liability of PERS has required the city to increase rates between 3.5 to five percent of total payroll. - Health insurance rates are scheduled to increase by 21 percent. - Workers Comp has in creased from $20,800 to $38,000, primarily the result of three on the job injuries in the past couple of years. - City water revenues are projected to decline by $20,000. This is attributed to the large number of residential foreclosures. In spite of problems the city can’t control, Sykes empha sized the positive: “ ...m any City employees, some with binding Union con tracts were willing to step up and give back salary increases that had been agreed to during better times. One of Vernonia’s greatest assets is the people who work for the City and the elected City Councilors who give their time to help guide the City’s journey toward the fu ture. Even though this year’s budget includes cuts that can be characterized as setbacks, the spirit and enthusiasm ... coupled with the strong com munity-wide commitment Ver- nonians have toward their com munity, will give us the momen tum needed to withstand the current economic recession and build a strong, vibrant com munity." In recognition of the national economy and the increase in unemployment, Sykes and Public Works Director Robyn Please see page 5 Vernonia School Board has been engaged in a series of public dialogues over the last two weeks, about the future of Mist Grade School (MGS). In order to develop a budget doc ument for the budget commit tee to work with at their May 22 meeting, the board had to make a decision about the structure of the elementary schools, explained Superinten dent Mike Funderburg. At a May 1 board workshop, several areas of concern were raised by parents and teachers associated with MGS. These were addressed at the April 24 meeting. Funderburg first presented a comparison of district enroll ment trends and state revenue. In September, 1996, enrollment was 842 and has declined by about 20 students per year since then. As of April 30, 2003, enrollment in the district was 721. Because of declining en rollment, the Vernonia district receives less revenue annually, compounded by reduced re sources from the state. This problem is common to many districts throughout the state, especially in rural areas. Lincoln parents say “no” Elementary principal Kirk Sherrill reported that a survey sent to all Lincoln Grade School (LGS) parents asked whether they would support their child being transported to MGS, given a scenario with full classes of 25 students at MGS. The overwhelming response was “no”, they would not sup port having their children bused to MGS. More than 50 percent of Lincoln parents responded. K-3 class options One of several options dis cussed April 24 was dividing kindergarten, first, second and third grades (K-3) evenly be tween MGS and LGS. This would set up two facilities with a student body that corre sponded to the state testing benchmarks, first given at the third grade level. MGS and LGS would each have approx imately 75 students in grades K - 3. Funderburg told the board that benchmark schools make state testing data easier to use. This design would not require any blends in the district (ex cept a possible K-1 at MGS). However, the K-3 structure would require additional Title I and special education services in Mist. Special Education Di rector Laurie Harrison told the board that, if there were 75 stu dents at MGS, nine of them would likely require special ed ucation services, which would require a quarter-time teacher. Cost analysis presented Deputy Clerk Dawn Plews presented a cost analysis for three alternative structures, a K - 3 benchmark school, continu ation of the current structure and a K - 5 blend with three full classes, all at MGS. Funder burg shared a list of concerns about using MGS under any of the alternatives, including: • The ethics of taking advan tage of the remote small school funding correction • Less daily instruction time at MGS • Isolation of teachers • Difficulty of providing tech nology, special education, li brary, art, PE, clerical support and administrative support. K-5 class options An option for a K -5 school at Mist, with 75 students and three teachers, would provide the dis trict with approximately $60,000 revenue. However, it would re quire blended classrooms at Mist, Lincoln and Washington. Board member Leslie O’Leary said about 18 percent of MGS Please see page 8
