Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The District 55 School Board next month will consider a proposal by a team of graduate students and professors from the University of Oregon to project long-term trends in population and enrollment growth within the district boundaries.
Supt. Larry Horton and Business Manager Kevin Strong met with the group recently to talk about what it could do for the School District. The group is already working with the city of Sweet Home on a similar project.
Much of the data needed for this task is already collected, Horton said. That means the UO group will be able to do the work for $5,000 to $7,000. A similar study by Portland State University would cost between $10,000 and $12,000.
Horton had hoped to have a proposal before the School Board during Monday night’s regular meeting. Instead, he expects a proposal to the district to arrive by Friday.
With this group, “we’re trying to get our crystal ball out and forecast enrollment growth by geographical area,” Horton said. With projections in hand, the district will be able to create long-range plans for facilities, to be ready for the increased enrollment it is expecting now. It would answer questions about whether the district should buy land now while it’s still available.
Horton and Strong could probably do this work, Horton said, but the UO group has already collected the necessary data.
“I think they are more experienced than Kevin and I at this,” he said.
Three years ago, the district was looking at closing schools because enrollment had had been declining, Horton said. “We were far, far off the mark.”
The district also has considered selling land it owns at Pleasant Valley School, land that it might need in the long run.
Board member Scott Proctor suggested that the district take a look at what the city is getting and see if it fills district needs.
The city is asking different questions, Horton said. The UO group will ask questions that more specifically help the district.
The question is whether it would be worth it to spend that kind of money to have good information to back up district decisions, board member Jason Redick said.
Board member Dave VanDerlip said his issue isn’t with the cost. He wants to make sure the project would elicit information that is useful to the district.
Proctor said he would also like to see the results of similar projects in other districts and find out from them how useful the information was.
The board chose not to vote on the idea until it can take a look at the proposal. The idea will appear again on next month’s agenda.
Present at the meeting were board members Proctor, VanDerlip, Redick, Ken Roberts, Chairman Mike Reynolds, Leena Neuschwander, Jeff Lynn and Diane Gerson.
In other business, the board:
– Appointed former board member Dave Kem to fill the Holley seat vacated by Don Hopkins. Mike Ingram and Chanz Keeney also applied for the seat. While they said they thought all three were good candidates, board members indicated an interest in appointing someone with experience to complete the short term.
Kem will hold the seat until June 30. During the spring, the district will hold an election with the winner taking office on July 1. Redick encouraged Ingram and Keeney to run in the spring and let the community choose.
– Approved a six-year bus lease program to purchase 11 buses at a price of approximately $860,000. The district last purchased buses five years ago.
– Appointed Bessie Lovik , Scott Melcher , Doug DeMille and Jennifer Thompson to vacant seats on the district’s Budget Committee..
– Approved an elementary in-service day for Jan. 22. Another in-service day is anticipated for junior and senior high teachers on March 15, but that will not be approved until in-service planning is complete.
– Approved a contract with the Oregon Jamboree for use of school grounds. The Jamboree will pay a fee of $15,650 for its three-day country music and camping festival held the first weekend of August. The Jamboree uses the athletic fields south of the high school for the event and district property across town for camping.
– Enrollment was down 15 students from last year as of Nov. 3. The enrollment numbers include Sweet Home Charter School, which has 75 students.