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