Sean C. Morgan
A bill awaiting the governor’s signature would limit the growth of “fifth-year” high school programs that enroll students in community college and charge a work group with exploring issues and options surrounding the programs.
Sweet Home has about 70 students in its version of the program. Through the program, called Access College Today in Sweet Home, seniors who are eligible for graduation may defer receiving their diplomas. The district receives funding from the state for those students the following year and then pays for the students’ tuition and books at Linn-Benton Community College.
Senate Bill 898 would keep districts from expanding their programs and other districts from starting a fifth-year program. Legislators considered Senate Bill 322 earlier in the year, a bill that would have ended the practice while providing alternative funding mechanisms for students who participate in the programs. The Senate Committee on Education never passed SB 322 out of committee.
Three of four Sweet Home area legislators supported SB 898. Reps. Sherrie Sprenger and Phil Barnhart and Sen. Lee Beyer voted yes. Sen. Fred Girod voted no on SB 898. Sprenger and Girod, Republicans, represent Sweet Home and most of the surrounding area. Barnhart and Beyer represent the area southwest of the Sweet Home city limits along Highway 228.
Critics contended that the program diverted funds from districts that do not operate fifth-year programs and that if every district did this, it would “break the bank” at the state level.
“We’re going to be allowed to continue with it this year for only the students who are already signed up,” Supt. Keith Winslow said. No new districts will be permitted to begin a similar program.
“Some of the senators are going to be convening a task force, a work group, that will study this and come up with recommendations for the Senate Education Committee.
Those recommendations will go to the legislature during its 2016 session, he said. Superintendents in the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District will soon meet with Sprenger to discuss this and other education issues.
“There are other avenues for funding the fifth-year program without coming from the State School Fund,” Winslow said. Through the Gain Share program, some corporations, Intel and Washington County, for example, enter agreements for property tax breaks in return for local investment. Gain Share returns some income tax funding created by the agreements to local governments.
Most area districts have set up a fifth-year program, Winslow said, including Albany, Corvallis, Scio, Sweet Home and Lebanon.
Districts receive around $6,000 per student in funding from the state, Winslow said. Community college tuition and books cost about $3,000. Districts use the funds differently, but in Sweet Home the remainder of the funds are used to pay for a local coordinator and to help students stay connected to college.
The money is not used for athletics or supplies, he said. “We’re using it for these kids.”
The district’s goal is to help students go on to college who otherwise might now, Winslow said. His sentiment is that if funding were cut to the point it covered just tuition, books and a coordinator, that’s OK.
“We’re allowing these kids to go to college who wouldn’t be able to otherwise,” Winslow said. “These are the things we want to work out in the task force – what is reasonable? How do we create some equity among the districts.”
Sweet Home officials contend that Sweet Home School District has been on the losing end of the funding formula with its minimal number of English Language Learners, which receive heavier support from the state than poor and homeless students. Sweet Home has one of the highest homeless rates in the state.
Homelessness may include a variety of situations where students are not literally sleeping on the streets but who may be couch surfing or where multiple families may share the same residence.
“It’s still not equitable,” Winslow said. “It still feels like the bigger districts get the attention.”