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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2012)
Page 12 The INDEPENDENT, June 20, 2012 Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Ver- nonia schools. This column was provided by Su- perintendent Dr. Ken Cox. Things are progressing well at the new school. In the past week I have had a chance to ride on the first elevators ever installed in Ver- nonia, and by the time you read this, all of the tile flooring in the upstairs will have been done. The equipment from the kitchen and the VHS gym floor have both been removed and taken to the new schools. The hardwood floor of the stage and the library shelving are both done, and I have authorized work to begin on the big gym and wrestling room so they will be done be- fore the start of school as well. I would like to thank all the students and staff who have been so helpful in getting things ready for the move. After I visited with David Haggard, P&C Construction’s Site Superintendent, we felt it would be better if the building was closer to completion before we try to move things into the new building. Because of this we have CHANGED the MOVE DAY to JULY 10. We are asking anyone, twelve and older who is able to help move that they please let us know by con- tacting the district office. We will be providing lunch for those who volunteer and need an ac- curate count. We also just received word that we will have the help of two inmate crews for the move and look forward to having them back in Vernonia as they were such a big help right af- ter the flood. Another indicator that this is really happening is that the mods will begin leaving Vernonia this week. We had hoped to coordinate schedules so that we would only have to move furniture once, but with the delay in the MOVE (JULY 10) we had to move all of the furniture in the mods into the WGS basement. Much of this was done by a few of our teachers and classified staff who just want to get things done. Again, my thanks to them for all their work above and be- yond! We have a great group of people who do all they can to make our schools better in so many ways. In order to make sure that we have the entire school ready for the fall we have borrowed some additional funds. We have borrowed $1 million from the Oregon Department of Energy which we will pay back using the anticipated energy savings of the next few years. We have also ob- tained an additional $1.8 million from Wedbush Bank in Portland, which will be paid back from an Oregon Department of Education Facilities Grant that we will receive in March of next year. I can remember in one of our Town Halls last year when someone asked where all the money was coming from and the response was that we are moving forward on faith. Throughout this project, we have moved forward one step at a time, one financial shortfall at a time, one deci- sion at a time, but we have continually moved forward. I want you to know that, for my part at least, it had been very much a matter of faith. I have had faith in our legislators, championed by Senator Johnson, Representatives Witt and Keny-Guyer, and many others from all across Oregon, who showed their faith in us by passing legislation granting us $3.9 million. I have had faith in our local elected and appointed leaders that they will do what they can to help our proj- ect succeed. I also have a great deal of faith in a community that stepped up to pass a bond to get the ball rolling in all of this, and who has and will come together to not only help us MOVE on July 10th, but continue to work with the District to make Vernonia one of the best places in Ore- gon to raise children and get an excellent edu- cation. Many VHS students earn scholarships The following scholarships were awarded to graduates of the Vernonia High School Class of 2012: Five Star Trades, $750, Ja- cob Bringman, Daniel Shaw. Gene Weller Memorial, $500, Joe Benes, Jacob Bring- man, Crystal-Ann Carreon, Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia G OOD F OOD G OOD F RIENDS G OOD T IMES Alyssa Loggins, Samantha Morgan, Kelly Smith. Hancock Forest Manage- ment, $500, Natalie Wallace. Holce Logging, $2,000, Kim Allen, Christopher Dass, Jack- son Miller, Daniel Shaw, Natal- ie Wallace; $1,500, Joe Benes, Kelly Smith and, from Class of 2010, Dylan Vaughn. Ida Loyd Walrod Memorial, $1,000, Natalie Wallace. Kaiser Permanente, $2,000, Crystal-Ann Carreon. Mike Busch Memorial, $500, Jacob Bringman. Mist-Birkenfeld Helping Cir- cle, $750, Christopher Dass. OSEA Chapter 67, $250, Kelsey Brown. PEO, $500, Alyssa Loggins, See VHS on page 17 Middle school sports remain in budget for final board approval The June 14 meeting of the Vernonia School District Board of Directors was preceded by the final budget meeting before the board approved the budget. No changes were made since the last meeting, when the mid- dle school sports program was reinstated, but with changes in coach staffing. Also on money issues, the board approved Resolution #11-09 allowing the district to issue revenue bonds of up to $2,500,000 for interim financ- ing to complete the new school. This amount matches the grants the school has been awarded by the Oregon De- partment of Education and oth- ers, and allows the district to continue the project prior to the arrival of the grant funds. The grant dollars will come in later this year, or in early 2013. Two of the high school’s new forestry program students, Bridger Steward and Cole Har- bour, along with instructor By- ron Brown, gave a PowerPoint presentation of the program, that included prism plotting of stands of timber, selling Christ- mas trees ($900 raised for the program), cutting and selling firewood ($2500 raised) donat- ed by Weller and Pihl, tree planting, surveying, water mon- itoring and tree boring (for age determination). The students were obviously enthused about the activities and learning op- portunities the program provid- ed. After reviewing two instruc- tional calendars for the next school year, and hearing that 60 percent of the staff who re- sponded (58 responders) fa- vored option B, the board voted to adopt option B. This calen- dar option spreads next year’s five furlough days, included in as cost saving efforts, over the entire year. Option A had the district taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off, then taking the remaining two days off with one in February and one in May. The board heard and agreed that option B gave greater flexibility for the possi- bility of snow make-up days. The old school demolition contract was awarded to Trails End Recovery, who the evalua- tion committee felt had a good proposal and had the lowest bid at $467,400. The other three bids received were all for amounts over $700,000. The name “Washington Grade School” will not continue at the new school, with the board approving a change to “Vernonia Elementary School”. Though there will be only one building, it will contain three schools: Vernonia Elementary School, Vernonia Middle School and Vernonia High School. The next regular meeting will be held July 12, at the cur- rent district office location, starting at 6:00 p.m. The move to the new school, with help from the community, has been changed to July 10 from the original June 26. Come join us on June 23rd for the St.Helen’s Community Parade Starting at Noon on the corner of Columbia Blvd. & Hwy 30 We will have Hot dogs, Cotton Candy,Popcorn 831 Bridge St. Vernonia, OR 503-429-0214 & Coffee as a fundraiser for Relay For Life Open: Mon - Fri 9 to 5, Sat 10 to 4 2017 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens Phone 503-366-9602
