Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Mike Reynolds says he’s looking forward to moving forward in new areas as he begins serving as chairman of the District 55 School Board this year.
Reynolds was appointed chairman at the July meeting and succeeds Scott Proctor. As he takes the position, the School Board has reached conclusions on two recent major issues, the formation of a charter school and a proposal to open a school-based health clinic inside the high school.
Proctor was chairman through the charter school proceedings, but Reynolds is the one who ended up signing the documents.
Reynolds is starting his fourth year on the board, the last of his current term.
The most immediate hurdle for the district is finding a new assistant principal for the high school.
Reynolds said he is also interested in what board member Ken Roberts will come up with in his research and outreach toward students who have a rough time in traditional classrooms.
“I’m not sure where it will ultimately end,” he said, but he’s looking forward to seeing the results and addressing the needs of students with different learning styles.
District officials have visited a number of programs around the state that look intriguing, Reynolds said. Now that some other issues have been taken care of, “this goal … can come up on the radar,” he said. “(Roberts) has put a lot of effort into it. It would seem foolish not to take it to the next level.
“I don’t know where we’re headed, but I’m sure it’ll be one of the things that’ll get a little more energy this year.”
One big issue still remaining for the board is whether to close the high school campus over behavior issues, Reynolds said. He said the district will see how things go until Christmas break and then will decide what to do.
At the start of the school year, the high school plans to hold an assembly and talk about off-campus issues, probably inviting local merchants to talk to the students.
Enrollment growth is expected, and that means more dollars to work with, Reynolds said. “At the same time, we hope it doesn’t grow so fast that we can’t support the potential influx of students.”
“One of my pet peeves is a not-well-maintained Web site,” Reynolds said. “So if there’s anything I’ll be a pest with, it’s the district Web site.”
Being board chairman will be a new experience for Reynolds, he said.
“I’ll be one that’s probably fairly low key unless something comes up and changes my outlook.”
He praised the board for its work. The board members think similarly but are not 100 percent in agreement all the time.
“We can agree to disagree when the time comes,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds also praised Proctor.
“He did well,” Reynolds said. “Scott worked in the public sector for a long time, and he had a knack for dealing with those he came into contact with. He had a fairly graceful choice of words. They’ll be tough shoes to follow, and Milt (Moran) before that.”
Fortunately, Reynolds said, he has Moran, a former board chairman himself, at the Cascade Timber Consulting office where they both work, so he can bounce ideas off him when appropriate and get some guidance.
Reynolds’ time on the board “has been educational. The contract negotiations part was probably the most educational.”
Coming from the private business environment of CTC, the union and labor negotiations were a new experience. He served on the board negotiating team with the classified employees and as an alternate with teachers.
He emphasized that he believes the district has a great staff that handles the day-to-day operations of the district well.
Reynolds is married to Paula. They have two children, Pam, who is in her fourth year at Western Oregon University, and Melissa who just graduated from Sweet Home High and will attend Linn-Benton Community College next year.
He is the information-technology manager at CTC, where he has worked since 1980. He earned a two-year degree in forest technology at Lane Community College.