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.
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50
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