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The INDEPENDENT, August 17, 2011
Summit on schools draws good crowd
by Debi Wagner
Approximately 45 people
were greeted by Banks school
board members, hot coffee and
donuts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday,
July 30, in the Banks Junior
High School Gym. The group
had gathered in response to an
open invitation to “Community
Summit: What’s Next for our
School?”
“It is our goal to broaden our
support base,” Superintendent
Jim Foster said, “The purpose
of the summit is to bring in a
group of people…who can give
us insight on getting this bond
passed. Fixing aging buildings
in the Banks district should be
job No. 1 next fall.”
Foster started the summit by
thanking everyone for attend-
ing and asking for input. He
stressed the need for reaching
more people and connecting in
a positive manner with the gen-
eral Banks community. “What
can we do to get the bond
passed this time?” he asked.
Safety is the major concern
for both the junior and senior
high buildings. Stressing that
keeping the children of Banks
School district safe is an obli-
gation, not a luxury, Foster ran
down a list of repairs and im-
provements that passage of
the bond would cover. The Ju-
nior high ranked a minus-1 on
a seismic standards test based
on a scale of 1 to 10. In other
words, it is a very high risk
building in case of a moderate
earthquake. A handout was
supplied that listed in detail the
many problems the bond would
cover, in both buildings.
A walk-through of a junior
high classroom was conducted
next. Scott Rose, of DLR Archi-
tecture, pointed out heating
and cooling problems caused
by the block glass and single
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pane windows, the outdated
wiring and the lack of proper
ventilation. He then took every-
one to the portable classrooms,
which were never intended to
be permanent facilities, and
which have all of the same
problems as the regular build-
ing, plus extremely poor light-
ing and acoustics. The portable
classrooms were purchased in
1992, have given 30 years of
service and are not expected to
last much longer. The tour con-
tinued with a short visit to the
boys’ locker room, and an old
bathroom that has been made
into a makeshift office. Any-
thing and everything that can
be reused or repurposed, Rose
stressed, would be utilized to
keep costs down.
Upon returning to the gym,
former high school principle
Bob Schlegel led an open
question and answer forum.
Several well-thought-out ques-
tions were asked and an-
swered. One community mem-
ber said she voted no last time,
but now feels confident that a
“Yes” vote is appropriate to in-
sure the safety of the students
and the continuing quality of
education offered to Banks stu-
dents.
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School board wonders how to pass bond
by Debi Wagner
The Banks School Board
does not take a summer break.
On July 11, the board members
were hard at work again dis-
cussing the future of the Banks
School District.
Major topics of discussion
were much the same as last
month. How to get the bond
passed this fall being priority
number one. Details of the up-
coming Community Summit:
What’s Next for our School?
were laid out. All of the mem-
bers are hoping for a high turn
out.
Congratulations are in order
for board members Kathy Edi-
son and Laurie Schlegel as
both were re-elected and given
the oath of office.
9-1-1 wants to be able to call you
We all know to call 9-1-1
when we need help, but now 9-
1-1 wants to call you! Washing-
ton County’s central dispatch
center, Consolidated Commu-
nications Agency, has imple-
mented a new emergency noti-
fication system, also known as
reverse 911.
Reverse 911 allows dispatch
to send emergency messages
to people within a given area or
radius of an emergency. The
messages will provide informa-
tion or instructions to help you
know how to react. You can re-
ceive the messages via your
landline telephone, cellular
phone, email, and Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone.
Sign up today at www.
wccca.com/wcens .
Drunk driving crackdown starting
Washington County Sheriff’s
Office is joining the National
Impaired Driving Crackdown
from August 19 to September
5. Thanks to grant funding,
deputies will be working over-
time through the Labor Day
holiday to improve traffic safety
by taking impaired drivers off
the road throughout Washing-
ton County.
You can help! If you see a
suspected DUII driver, call 9-1-
1 immediately. If you drink or
take medications that impair
your ability to drive, do not get
behind the wheel.
Banks BBQ schedule, page 14