The INDEPENDENT, April 21, 2011
School Board told construction on time
The Vernonia School Board
of Directors met for their regu-
larly scheduled monthly meet-
ing on April 14. At the meeting,
it was reported that the district
needs budget committee mem-
bers, as only one is returning,
there are two who have applied
and there are six open posi-
tions. The board approved two
new members; Robert Buch-
holz and DeAnna Pearl. Any-
one wishing to serve should
contact the district office for an
application. The first budget
committee meeting is sched-
uled for 6:00 p.m. on May 26.
Superintendent Ken Cox
gave the board a Facilities
Evaluation Committee Update.
The committee has been dis-
cussing security options from
Sonitrol and ADT though no de-
cision has been made. They
are also working on the LEED
status versus the cost of all
items that would provide
“points” for the status.
Cox told the board that he
and Steve Effros met with the
district’s architect, BOORA,
and P&C Construction on the
Guaranteed Maximum Price
(GMP) contract. The board au-
thorized Cox to accept the final,
as presented, which indicated a
$3.8 million increase, from
$38.2 million to $42 million.
Reasons for the increase in-
cluded an increase in materials
cost (such as asphalt roofing
up 30% and fuel prices up
27%), the late start on the proj-
ect due to FEMA requirements
and wet winter weather, and
energy
efficient
design
changes. The committee in-
tends to continue looking for
additional savings, and starting
work on the Rural Sustainabili-
ty Centers classrooms may be
delayed while fundraising con-
tinues.
On the other hand, Cox told
the board that construction
work is now on schedule and
the first gym wall should be
poured this week.
The board approved staff re-
tirements for Linda Welsh,
Jean Roediger and Steve
Whiteman. Whiteman will re-
turn part-time next year. Board
Chairman Jim Krahn stated,
“We appreciate what they’ve
done and wish them well in
their retirement.
After returning from an exec-
utive session held to review
and evaluate the employment
related performance of the
chief executive officer (which
was closed to the public in ac-
cordance with Oregon’s public
meetings rules), the board
unanimously agreed to renew
the contract of Superintendent
Cox through June 2013.
The next board meeting will
be held on Thursday, May 12,
starting at 6:00 p.m. at the dis-
trict office.
Vernonia High announces Honor Roll
The following students were
named to the Vernonia High
School academic Honor Roll
for the 2010-11 third quarter
Honor Roll. Grade Point Aver-
ages (GPA) are on a scale of 0-
4, with 4 equaling a perfect
score.
Principal’s Honors, 4.00 –
Jacob Bringman, Charlette
Burghard, Austin Cutright,
Daniele Della Rossa, Janae
Easlon, Robin Elliott, Jessica
Gardner, Kristina Halvorson,
Laura Hein, Brandon Krause,
Joshua Liman, Samantha Lin-
dauer, Mickell Maller, Nathen
McMillen, Marina Mekidiche,
Deziree
Roberts,
Mason
Roberts, Sicily Scott, Kelly
Smith, Ellyssa Szlavich, Sarah
Wagner, Natalie Wallace, and
Samantha Wallace.
High Honors, 3.50-3.99 –
Jacob Alf, Ashlee Archer, Sky-
lar Binford, Rachel Brown, Sa-
vannah
Brown,
Kaytee
Burghard,
Crystal-Ann
Carreon, Stephanie Castro,
Holly Cavett, Rowan Cheney,
Christopher Dass, Katie Elling-
ton, Mackenzie Frantz, Mandi
Hartford, Aleksa Jacimovic,
Quinlan Johansen, Kayleigh
Johnston,
Dalibor
Kufa,
Kendrick Leaverton, Alyssa
Loggins, Vaclav Michalec,
Jackson Miller, Kaitlin Paleck,
Heather Patton, Leonie Perron-
Anctil, Elizabeth Poulin, Laura
Rice, Leah Rice, Austin Rum-
bolz, Rowan Scott, Daniel
Shaw, Sean Solberg, Roy Sta-
cy, Lane Sullivan, and Shyla
Tungwenuk.
Honors, 3.25-3.49 – Kimber-
ly Allen, Makenzie Anderson,
Silvia Barberis, Joshua Butch-
er, Dillon Dethlefs, Cierra Hen-
son, Tudor Ionita, Jerrid John-
ston, Rebecca Levenseller,
Samantha Morgan, Courtney
Paden, Justin Rainbolt, Makay-
la Roach, Parker Roach, Sven
Sandstrom, Felica Schirmeis-
ter, McKenzie Tarkalson, and
Paul Whiteman.
Honorable Mention, 3.00-
3.24 – Mackenzie Brown, Cody
Cowles, Jordan Docherty, Shy-
lo Dooley, Ryan Groom,
Danielle Hevron, Adonis Hop-
kins, Jonah Ooten, Jerrian
Pond, Austin Ragsdale, Ariel
Rock, Megan Rock, Bridger
Steward, Kacy Strand, Nicole
Thompson, Jacob Vifquain,
and Chad West.
VMS Honor Roll
The following students were
named to the Vernonia Middle
School academic Honor Roll
for the 2010-11 third quarter.
Principal’s Honors, 4.00 –
Makayla
Adams,
Tristan
Adams, Jacob Butcher, Emilee
Easlon, Brett Jones, Sheyenne
See VMS on page 21
Child safety seat event on May 12
Columbia County Safe Kids
will be holding a child safety
seat check up by appointment
only on Thursday, May 12, in
Vernonia. While the clinic is
free, please call to schedule an
appointment with Natalie at
503-410-3169 to reserve your
car seat check up today!
The clinic provides an op-
portunity to have a child safety
seat checked by a certified
technician, who can correct
misuse, help with installation
and teach you how to correctly
install the seat. Technicians
can also check for seat recalls.
There is no cost to have a tech-
nician check your child safety
seats. Please plan to spend 30-
60 minutes at the event.
Through a grant funded by
ACTS Oregon, Columbia
County Safe Kids can provide
low-cost child safety seats to
families in need. Families who
receive Temporary Assistance
to Needy Families (TANF)
should contact their worker
about payment for a seat. For
more information about the
clinic or the Columbia County
child safety seat program, con-
tact Natalie at 503-410-3169.
Page 11
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a column of information
about Vernonia schools. This column
was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken
Cox.
Spring was a long time coming this year. Who would have
thought we would have snow in April?
One of these days it is going to warm up, in the meantime, be-
sides tulips and daffodils springtime brings budget planning for
the next school year. This year is going to be particularly difficult.
The current state budget forecast leaves the district $800,000 be-
low what it would take to establish a normal school year next year.
Even the much touted $5.7 billion K-12 education budget increase
will only decrease our projected shortfall by about $76,000.
When I became a superintendent I never dreamt that education
funding in Oregon over the past five years would lead us to elim-
inate elementary music, our middle school principal/curriculum di-
rector, middle school counselor, and three elementary teaching
positions, among the many other changes that have taken place,
in order to balance the budget year after year. The unfortunate
truth is that we can’t change our revenue, we can only adjust our
expenses to what the state provides our district.
As we move closer to establishing a budget for next year we
face difficult choices. The district is still looking for community
members to join the budget committee to assist the board in ad-
dressing these shortfalls and to ensure the best possible educa-
tion for our children with the funds that are available.
Please contact me via email or stop by the district office for a
budget committee application. We need your input and your
ideas.
Good essay worth $500 to winner
The Oregon State Bar New
Lawyers Division has released
the topic and reference materi-
als for its annual high school
essay contest, which carries a
$500 cash scholarship prize for
first place, $350 for second
place, and $250 for third place.
It is open to all high school stu-
dents in Oregon. The deadline
is Wednesday May 11, 2011.
This year’s topic involves
freedom of speech and a pro-
posed law restricting the sale of
certain video games to minors.
Students are asked to write
a persuasive essay arguing for
or against the legislation, while
utilizing the legal reference ma-
terials provided.
The contest topic, reference
materials and rules are avail-
able on the Oregon State Bar’s
website at www.osbar.org.
G RAND O PENING & O PEN H OUSE C ELEBRATION !!
Saturday May 7 th 10am
C OME M EET
THE
N EW O WNERS
Raffle for: Cat Spay provided by Vernonia
Veterinary Clinic, Bird Seed, Grooming
Discounts & other Great Products & Prizes!
Columbia County Humane Society
Will be here with Pets You Can Adopt
Creatures
Pet Supplies & Grooming
503-429-PETS (7387)
www.creaturespetshop.com
736 Bridge St. Vernonia