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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2003)
The INDEPENDENT, December 18, 2003 47J Board sets policy, gets grant for alternative school Chairman Jim Krahn took time at the December 11 meet- ing of the Vernonia School Board to clarify the board’s working organization. Krahn told the audience that research into issues, negotiations and problem solving occurs outside of board meetings at commit- tee meetings, allowing direc- tors to work in their areas of in- terest or expertise to fully ana- lyze whatever the issue may be. A report is then brought to the full board meeting, usually accompanied by a recommen- dation if action is required. However, in line with the Su- perintendent’s policy of solving problems at the lowest level, some problems and issues are resolved in committee and do not receive the attention of the full board. Krahn went on to say that recommendations do not come from the superintendent, but are the product of the entire committee. “The opinions of others are respected on this board,” he said. As an exam- ple, he used the maintenance committee, which was com- posed of maintenance supervi- sor John Lewis, board mem- bers Randy Hansen and Dar- rell Hamblet (Ed Buckner will replace Hamblet who has re- signed.) and superintendent Mike Funderburg. In deciding to remove the trees located next to the shop, for safety rea- sons, the committee deferred to Hansen, who works in the logging industry. Lewis said, in his report, that an additional reason to remove the trees was to open up the area to prevent further vandalism on school grounds. Krahn said this was an example of a decision that did not need the input of the full board. According to Krahn, both standing committees (such as the maintenance committee) and short-term issue commit- tees are modeled after the cor- porate work place. He conclud- ed his remarks by saying, “[this is the] system that we will oper- ate under as long as I’m chair.” In addition to removing trees next to the shop, Lewis report- ed, the committee has decided to remove the hedge from in front of the high school and re- place it with cyclone fencing. Funderburg said this would im- prove the appearance of the school and further limit access to the campus after hours. The most recent vandalism oc- curred when former VHS stu- dents drove onto the grounds by going over the curb in front of the school. The individuals have been apprehended and cited for vandalism. Hansen said that removing the hedge was a tough decision to make because it had been there a long time, but they [the board] had to draw a line somewhere. Hansen has expressed anger and frustration with ongoing vandalism of the grounds sev- eral times over the last few months. OSBA Conference Cari Levenseller, reported on the annual conference of the Oregon School Board As- sociation, where she attended many informative workshops, particularly on negotiations is- sues. Levenseller also reported learning that committee meet- ings should be posted and min- utes kept. This is not currently done in the Vernonia school district. No other directors attended the conference, which was free to board members. Alternative School Funderburg told the board that the alternative school grant of $150,000 has been ap- proved and the district can be- gin purchasing the 25 comput- ers, educational software and online subscriptions planned for the existing program. The goal is to have the school-with- in-a-school completely opera- tional by the end of the first se- mester, when services will be offered to home-schooled stu- dents in the district. Policy Review Seventeen revised or new policies were presented for ap- proval at next month’s meeting, all of them developed by OSBA to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and other changes in education. Two policy revisions and five new policies may be of particu- lar interest to the public. The term “extracurricular ac- tivities” is being replaced by “in- terscholastic activities” to indi- cate that all programs offered are part of an educational whole. A new policy makes this change and also includes pro- visions for disciplining coach- es, volunteers and students for violations of OSAA rules and regulations. Such discipline may include dismissal from in- terscholastic duties (i.e. coach- ing), removal from the team or program, termination of district employment or suspension from school. A policy revision provides that students in violation of the code of conduct may be denied participation in extracurricular activities and may also have ti- tles and/or privileges revoked (e.g., valedictorian, student body, class or club positions, senior trip, prom, etc.). A refer- ral may also be made to law enforcement. New policies include one de- veloped to “play a proactive role in preventing disabling chronic health conditions, un- necessary injury and disease, to help students to take re- sponsibility for their own health and to adopt health-enhancing attitudes and behaviors.” This policy is necessary because Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) examinations will soon include testing on health. A re- lated new policy says that the district shall provide preven- tion-oriented health services. Another CIM-related policy allows students to request a ju- ried assessment in order to demonstrate mastery of CIM subject areas. Students must present a body of student work, teacher evaluations that con- firm mastery of the subject area and a letter from the superin- tendent requesting an impartial review panel. Transfer of credit from one school to another, which has always been difficult, is cov- ered in new policies and regu- lations which outline a method for accepting credit from other schools – public, private or al- ternative – and for students who have been home schooled. Also of interest is a policy designed as a result of law- suits, to protect the district from damaging liability. The policy prohibits the use of “skateboards, roller blades, scooters or similar devices” on district grounds. Such devices will be confiscated by school authorities and placed in the principal’s office for parents to retrieve. Nine policies presented last month were approved without discussion. In other business, the board: • Accepted the resignation of Director Darrell Hamblet, who has moved to Hillsboro. • Appointed Gienah Cheney and Phil Doyle to vacant posi- tions on the board. They will be seated in January. • Agreed to contract with OSBA to facilitate negotiations with both certified and classi- fied staff. • Joanie Jones told the board that she was asked by her students to invite the board to their winter program. • Accepted the retirement of Susan Waters, who will complete the school year by contract. • Hired Rosemarie Rueh- mann as custodian, Jeff Ch- eney as Assistant Junior High Girls Basketball Coach, Luke Ellis as Assistant Wrestling coach, and Rachael Camp as Head Softball Coach. • Elected Randy Hansen vice-chairman of the board to replace Hamblet. Page 13 VHS sports home games schedule Wrestling Jan. 14 – 5:00 p.m. Basketball (Unless otherwise noted ap- prox. game times: JV Girls 3:00, JV Boys 4:30, Varsity Girls 6:00, Varsity Boys 7:00) December 18 vs. Willamina January 2 vs. Gervais (Game times 1:00, 2:30, 4:00, 5:30) Jan. 6 vs. Clatskanie Jan. 9 vs. Ptld Christian Jan. 27 vs. Knappa Jan. 30 vs. DeLaSalle Feb. 6 vs. City Christian Feb. 10 vs. Neah-Kah-Nie 47J starts 2004-05 budget plan It may seem early, but school districts must start con- sidering budget projections for the 2004-05 school year. Last June, Vernonia School District adopted a budget of $4.75 million, based on an es- timated state school fund of $4.8 billion. Local agencies are required to adopt a budget by the end of each fiscal year, June 30, but the legislature hadn’t finished its work and in- creased state funding resulted in a local budget increase to $4.96 million, which allowed the district to “add back” items such as support for special ed- ucation, textbook funds, busi- ness/alternative education, athletic transportation and as- sistant coaches. For the next fiscal year, 2004-2005, budget estimates developed by COSA (Confed- erated Oregon School Admin- istrators) vary widely, depend- ing on voter acceptance or re- jection of the income tax sur- charge approved by the legis- lature to balance the budget at the current level of services. If voters uphold the balanced budget, the projected ‘04-‘05 budget for Vernonia would be $5.0 million. If voters defeat the surcharge, district funds are estimated to come in at $4.46 million. The legislature also created an avenue to appropriate more money to schools if the econo- my improves. If state revenues were to increase by $200 mil- lion, $100 million would go to schools as an additional appro- priation. Under this most opti- mistic vision (with the sur- charge upheld AND an addi- tional appropriation) the Ver- nonia district would receive $5.13 million. To put these varying amounts in perspective, it is im- portant to remember that the school district’s budget for fis- cal year 2000-2001 was $5.18 million. V ALLEY V ETERINARY C LINIC R ABIES S PECIAL 8 $ 50 Thursdays 10 am - 5 pm 58376 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia (Near Sunnyside Cafe)
