The INDEPENDENT, July 3, 2003
Page 9
School board hears update on proposed public charter school
Karen Heikes, of Northwest
Regional Education Service
District (NWRESD), gave the
Vernonia School Board an up
date, at their June 12 meeting,
on the development of charter
schools in Columbia County.
Heikes is working with Superin
tendent Mike Funderburg and
Vernonia City Adm inistrator
Mike Sykes to develop a char
ter school proposal that will be
presented to the board in Au
gust. Locally, the focus is on a
charter school that would ex
pand alternative school and
professional technical educa
tion. Approval of the proposal in
August will allow the district to
apply for a $150,000 imple
mentation grant in October. Ac
cording to Heikes, receipt of the
grant would keep the project
moving toward a goal of open
ing the school in September of
2004. Heikes told the board
that the grant money could be
used for many things, though
not for salaries, rental or pur
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Funderburg, the district is in a
unique
situation
because,
working in conjunction with the
city, development of the city’s
learning center and the dis
trict’s charter school will meet
the needs of both, in one facility.
The district is beginning a
new program to build a more
positive student climate at the
high school, Funderburg told
the board, by contracting with
Performance Dynamics, a pro
fessional leadership and men
toring company, to facilitate stu
dent and teacher training. The
program will help participants
gain the skills needed to set
achievable goals, facilitate
meetings, communicate and/or
function more effectively with
others. Teachers have nominat
ed more than 100 students to
participate in Leadership Acad
emy, which is limited to 60 stu
dent participants. As of June
16, only 30 students had com
pleted the short application.
Students are encouraged to
complete applications and re
turn them to the school district
office as soon as possible. Dis
trict staff will be introduced to
the program’s concepts during
August in-service.
Funderburg reported on his
investigation regarding the title
to property in the Birkenfeld
area, supposedly belonging to
the district. Funderburg said
the district has a lease on the
property, dated in 1898, but
that Longview Fibre has an un
recorded deed from 1951. It is
com pletely
surrounded
by
Longview Fibre-owned proper
ty and, according to school
board member Randy Hansen,
who is a Longview Fibre em
ployee, has been planted. The
board agreed with Funder-
burg’s recom m endation that
the district accept Longview Fi
bre’s offer of $1500 to establish
clear title to the land.
Next year’s high school sen
iors will still be required to submit
senior projects, with some modi
fications for increased flexibility.
Funderburg told the board that a
new policy is being developed
that may allow a senior project to
be changed into a career project,
not linked to senior English.
The resignations of several
employees were accepted, in
cluding Elementary Principal
Kirk Sherrill, music teacher Bob
Isted, Jan Bernardi and Barbara
Rainbolt.
The board discussed Isted’s
resignation, which it accepted
with reluctance. Patron Jim King
told the board that his children
had benefited greatly from Isted’s
teaching in band and chorus,
and as coach of the high school’s
winning Quiz Bowl team.
Sherrill has accepted a posi
tion as principal at the Charles F.
Tigard Elementary School, a
K -5 school with a student body
of about 600. He received board
recognition for five years of serv
ice to the district. Sherrill said that
the last five years had been the
“best of his life” and that he loved
coming to work every day.
Bernardi and Rainbolt re
signed at this time because of
the PERS situation.
The board adopted a policy
to handle the retirement of staff
members, as well as regula
tions pertaining to employees
who retire, begin receiving
PERS benefits and seek con
tinued em ploym ent with the
district. An employee who re
tires during a school year may
continue in their current posi
tion, subject to criteria set out in
the regulations. In an effort to
recognize the value of experi
ence, licensed employees will
receive the equivalent of the to
tal compensation package of a
first year teacher. Classified
employees will be compensat
ed at the step and level at
which they retired.
The board approved the dis
trict’s recommendation for text
book adoption. All textbooks on
the adoption list have been re
viewed extensively over the last
year, according to Robyn
Cochran. The total cost for new
math texts, kindergarten through
grade 12, will be $39,396.
At the close of the meeting,
outgoing board member Carla
Strand was recognized for ten
years
of
service.
Strand
thanked her family for their sup
port throughout those years.
She said that, when she began,
she had no idea of the time
com m itm ent necessary, the
amount of work involved, or
that the public would not al
ways accept board decisions.
She also said that the public,
staff and administration have a
great board to work with in the
future.