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