Sweet Home School Board members agreed Monday, Dec. 9, that they would be willing to commit up to $8,000 to have a representative of the Oregon School Boards Association to help the district develop a strategic plan for the next five years.
Supt. Terry Martin told board members that he’d talked to OSBA about the situation “and what we’re looking for” and said that he got an estimate ranging from $5,000 to $8,000 for the entire strategic plan.
“Although it was free last time, this time fees are going up and some are going to be charged.”
The board is scheduled to work on creating a new strategic plan later this year, he said.
He noted that OSBA has helped the district with other issues.
“They have a track record with the district.”
Board Chair Jason Redick asked his colleagues who were present – Mike Adams, Jim Gourley, Dale Keene, Mary Massey, Floyd Neuschwander and Amanda Carter, who was participating remotely, whether they could reach consensus on that question.
Neuschwander asked what the district would get for $8,000.
“What can they do for us that we can’t do ourselves?” he asked.
Martin and Redick said the OSBA could “guide the process,” as Martin put it.
Redick said that the benefit of having someone come in from the outside to help guide the board through the process of establishing a strategic plan would be that “it allows board members and Terry to fully work inside the process instead of somebody trying to guide it and not being involved in it. It will keep us focused and on-task.”
Neuschwander emphasized that he wasn’t trying to hinder the process.
“I just don’t want to throw money away on something we could do ourselves.”
Gourley said he’s had experience as a member of “a lot of boards and commissions” that have had strategic plans.
“We’ve found that if you assign someone to put together a strategic plan, it takes away from their normal job; they can’t do it.”
Martin suggested that since the plan will cover the next five years, “$1,000 on the low side to $1,600 on the high side (per year), I think that would be money well spent because we want the absolute best strategic plan we can get done.”
Business Manager Kevin Strong assured the board that the district has the money.
Neuschwander said he could see how having a facilitator could be useful, but “I’m not completely sold on something that we used to get for free.”
Still, he and the other members agreed to go forward with OSBA.
Board members voted 5-2, with Keene and Massey the “no” votes, to not take action in regard to the OSBA election, after some discussion of resolutions on the ballot for the statewide organization.
Those resolutions include raising members’ dues, updating the organization’s bylaws to improve “readability,” and one that would establish a members’ PRIDE caucus “to support people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+. According to the organization’s website, “the PRIDE caucus would operate similarly to the Oregon School Board Members of Color Caucus and the Oregon Rural School Board Members Caucus.”
Massey said she was interested in taking action on the OSBA election to “send a message.”
“By saying ‘take no action,’ it’s just a no vote. What I wanted to say is, ‘no, do not adopt,’” she said. “Instead of ‘take no action,’ send an actual ‘no’ vote.
“To say ‘no, do not adopt’ acts as a vote.”
In his superintendent’s report, Martin told the board district enrollment is down 13 students from the previous month. He said the No. 1 reason for students leaving is that they move, and a second is 10-day drops. If a student misses more than 10 days in a row, they are automatically dropped from enrollment, though, he added, “some come back and re-enroll.”
Others, he said, have moved to online schooling.
Strong updated the board on the district’s finances, stating that five months into the fiscal year the district has spent almost half a million dollars more than the same time last year.
“That still puts us on track within the amount budgeted, but it’s worth noting that in the past year we’ve had quite a margin.”
The biggest reasons, Strong said, are higher negotiated salaries and wages, and money that was unspent on staff vacancies.
“Those positions are mostly filled this year,” he said.
Referencing Martin’s enrollment report, Strong noted that staffing levels are based on enrollment, so “we always need to be adjusting staffing to student levels.”
He also alerted board members that “fairly substantial” increases to PERS is expected starting July 1.
He cited a Nov. 27 Oregonian article spelling out how sharp increases in pensions are going to cost public employers, including school districts, more than districts can expect to receive from the state to cover those costs.
In a staff report on the issue, Strong stated that the district will likely pay approximately $2.2 million more to PERS in 2025-27 than in the current biennium.
“Do you foresee us being able to cover that, or is this something that’s going to be a problem?” Neuschwander asked.
Strong replied: “The good news is that we saw this coming and we are prepared for it,” noting that the district has been setting aside “reserves” for that purpose.
In the staff report, Strong explained that Sweet Home issued pension obligation bonds during 2002-23, forwarded the proceeds to the Oregon Treasury, where the funds were placed in a side account and were invested. When investment returns exceeded the district’s debt payment, it made money.
In other action:
– Board members held a final reading and unanimously approved policy updates relating to first aid, Student Health Services and responses to a variety of emergencies including health and safety threats.
– Sweet Home High School Student Representative Cannon Klumph reported that this year’s boys soccer team was tops academically among all districts in the state, with a 3.83 GPA.
He also told board members that the high school’s canned food and fundraising drive raised $3,848 and 2,374 pounds of food. He said the money was used to feed 50 families – 200 individuals, and buy presents for 30 children through the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District’s Sharing Tree program.
Klumph also reported that the Leadership Class has hosted a series of visits from community leaders including Mayor Susan Coleman, Fire Chief Nick Tyler, former Leadership teacher Rob Younger, and wrestling Coach Steve Thorpe and others.
Underclassmen Class Board members attended a leadership conference hosted by Jostens, and 15 new members were inducted into the National Honor Society.
– Martin introduced Jason Hay, superintendent of the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District, of which Sweet Home is a member, who was making a regular visit to the board meeting, something he said he tries to do with all the districts in the ESD.
Hay described some of the ESD’s services to Sweet Home, which include audiology hearing screenings (506 for Sweet Home), Special Education support, support for severe disabilities, and grants for addressing needs for various disabilities.
“The biggest thing that I always like to share is that the ESD provides services which would be very difficult or impossible, especially for smaller districts to be able to do,” listing computer support, school psychologists, behavior specialists, family support, special education specialists, and others as examples.
“Working together really works well for us,” he said, noting that working together as a collective improves “economies of scale.”