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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2010)
The INDEPENDENT, May 20, 2010 47J Board starts 2010/11 budget process The May 13 meeting of the Vernonia School Board started with the district’s first budget meeting. The proposed budget was distributed to budget com- mittee members, along with the budget message prepared by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. The budget message out- lines a budget for the district that is based on revenue of $6,043,896, or three percent more than last year, but 10.5 percent below the year before. The district made significant cuts in last year’s budget, so this year’s budget did not re- quire significant changes. It also includes one more student contact day than this year. Contingency funds that would usually be held at five percent of the total were cut to 4.5 percent in order to avoid further staff cuts. “The budget does not meet all of the current needs of the students and staff in the district but it does fulfill our fiscal responsibility to the patrons of the Vernonia School District,” Cox stated near the end of his budget message. The next budget meeting will be held May 27, at 6:00 p.m., in the district office. Budget meet- ings are open to the public. After the budget portion of the meeting, grade school prin- cipal Aaron Miller thanked the Vernonia Lions Club for bring- ing their hearing and vision screening bus to Vernonia this week so all first, third, and fifth graders could have free screenings, in addition to stu- dents in other grades who were referred for screening. The board, with regret and thanks for her service, accept- ed the resignation of board member Tammy Jennings. The Jennings’ are moving out of the district over the summer. The district is now accepting appli- cations for this board position. The position will be filled for the remainder of Jennings term, one year, then will be filled by election. Applications are avail- able at the district office and the board hopes to interview prospective members at their July 8 meeting. A $15,000 transfer into the Food Service budget was ap- proved to cover projected ex- penses for the rest of the school year. During the discus- sion on this agenda item, it was mentioned that anyone can buy lunch at the school for less than $4 per day. Check in at the of- fice in the green building, pay for your lunch and join the stu- dents. There is usually an emp- ty table or two and Cox recom- mends the salad bar, in particu- lar, as having many selections from which to choose. Two middle school leader- ship students gave a rundown of activities, including the sixth grade class play coming up Thursday, May 27, at 7:00 p.m. in the Washington Grade School auditorium. Admission will be $3 for adults, $1.50 for students and seniors; kids 5 and under are free. Graduation for seniors will be June 5, and eighth grade promotion will take place June 9, as the school year winds down. The next board meeting, and a budget hearing, will be June 10, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the district office, 475 Bridge St. Page 11 Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Ken Cox. I would like to visit with you about two things that came up at last week’s school board meeting; a resig- nation and the budget. The school board accepted the resignation of Director Tammy Jennings. I for one will be sad to see her leave the board and wish her and her family well in the upcoming move. This resignation presents a unique opportunity for a board mem- ber to serve on the board for a year to determine if they want to make a full four year commitment to serving, since the term ex- pires June 30, 2011, and they would need to run for election. I would encourage anyone who is or might be interested in this po- sition to contact other board members for more information or the district office for an application. If you have one or two evenings a month to give to the commu- nity please consider this opportunity, as the board typically meets once a month. There are occasional workshops (usually on the fifth Thursdays) throughout the year. Becoming a school board member will be challenging and rewarding as we make the nec- essary decisions to move forward with our new buildings. I would also like to visit with you about next year’s budget. We have been able to build a budget that actually increases our staffing overall, even though we have fewer students and thus less funding from the state. Unfortunately, it is still more than 10% less than our 2008-09 budget. The budget committee will be meeting again on May 27, at 6:00 p.m., to review the budget they received last Thursday. If you have suggestions or ideas on what you would like to see different in our schools, now is the time to share them with us. Not only for budgetary purposes, but also as we come to the close of another school year and will be doing an overall evaluation of how we are doing and what we can do next year to be better. Vernonia High School announces 3rd quarter Honor Roll students The following students were named to the Vernonia High School academic Honor Roll for the 2009-10 third quarter. Grade Point Averages (GPA) are on a scale of 1-4, with 4 equaling a perfect score. Principal’s Honors, 4.00 – Christopher Bamburg, Jacob Bringman, Joshua Butcher, Kaitlyn Carr, Jessica Cox, Austin Cutright, Sarah Dupree, Adrienne East, Rachel Garcia, Brandon Gilbertson, Kristina Halvorson, Cierra Henson, Calie Johnston, Kayleigh John- ston, Alex Lende, Samantha Lindauer, Alyssa Loggins, Jack- son Miller, Sarah Miller, Sou- vanny Miller, Chelsea Patton, Makayla Roach, Deziree Roberts, Melissa Sandstrom, Sicily Scott, Natalie Wallace, Samantha Wallace, and Katie Wilson. High Honors, 3.50-3.99 – Ja- cob Alf, Ashlee Archer, Joseph Benes, Bonnie Birkmaier, Klara Breil, Kelsey Brown, Rachel Brown, Timothy Brown, Riplee Burch, Kaytee Burghard, Crys- tal-Ann Carreon, Rowan Ch- eney, Kaylee Dalebroux, Chris- topher Dass, Karly DeWitt, Kodi Dyer, Zachery Dyer, Janae Easlon, Robin Elliott, Laura Hein, Nora Hieronimus, Petr Jiranek, Lisa-Marie Kleine, Emma Kneubuhler, Kendrick Leaverton, Mickell Maller, Sara McMahon, Samantha Morgan, Courtney Paden, Parker Roach, Mason Roberts, Sierra Roberts, Daniel Shaw, Zachary Shaw, Katy Stevens, Lane Sul- VMS students earn place on Honor Roll The following students were named to the Vernonia Middle School academic Honor Roll for the 2009-10 third quarter. Grade Point Averages (GPA) are on a scale of 1-4, with 4 equaling a perfect score. Principal’s Honors, 4.00 – Makayla Adams, Kayla Aron- halt, Charlette Burghard, Jor- don Cox, Emilee Easlon, Hera Hopkins, Andrew Jennings, Sheyanne Pederson, and Jo- cie-Ranay Roberts. High Honors, 3.50-3.99 – Emily Bergerson, Breanna Gardner, Nicole Glass, Timothy Jennings, Madison Joy, Lilliann Lindsley, Nathen McMillen, Laura Rice, Rowan Scott, Sum- mer Snow, Winter Snow, Dylan Taylor, Dakota Vigil, Jarrett White, and Brittany Young. Honors, 3.25-3.49 – Maken- zie Anderson, Matthew Bring- man, Kassidy Fetch, Hannah Fleck, Jessica Gardner, Nic- hole Gardner, Jazmine Harper, Corey Hieronimus, William (Connor) Larke, Jacob Perry, Leah Rice, Paige Smith, Jessi- ca Smith, Logan Titus, and Damian Young. Honorable Mention, 3.00- 3.24 – Skylar Binford, Tanner Brewer, Stephanie Castro, Zi_Xian Chen, Kara Christie, Scarlet DeBeikes, Courtney Fennell, Macayla Fennell, Julia Fletcher, Jennifer Hayes, Jax- on Lagle, Bryanna Larson, Na- thanael McCroskey-Izzett, Jus- tin Ragsdale, Felica Schirmeis- ter, Meagan Schirmeister, Miki- la Solberg, Bridger Steward, Jared Whitton, and Sara Wilmot. livan, Chantel Szlavich, Ellyssa Szlavich, and Dylan Vaughn. Honors, 3.25-3.49 – Kimber- ly Allen, Jayme Due, Katie Ellington, Nathan Fleck, Wayne Fogel, Mackenzie Frantz, Eliza- beth Garcia, Chelsea Johnson, Su Min Kim, Brandon Krause, Rebecca Levenseller, Brittany Meglen, Nicole Mitchell, Tasia Pond, Kelly Smith, Sean Sol- berg, Roy Stacy, McKenzie Tarkalson, Jacob Titus, Shyla Tungwenuk, Paul Whiteman, and Tyler Young. Honorable Mention, 3.00- 3.24 – Jacob Abbott, Billi Avila, Genesis Castro, Margot Cormi- er, Jesse Edgar, Quinlan Jo- hansen, Jacob Levenseller, Eric Locke, Breonna Maldona- do, Amanda Mikalow, Emily Mitchell, Elizabeth Poulin, Justin Rainbolt, Amy Rethwill, Preston Roach, Sven Sand- strom, Ryan Taylor, Levi Tim- merman, and Jacob Vifquain. 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