Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
District 55 School Board members weren?t quite ready Monday night, Nov. 14, to take an offer presented them by the Sweet Home Economic Development Group to partially fund the replacement of the high school tennis courts.
The SHEDG offer was one of a number of issues the board considered that prompted considerable discussion.
One of the others was the question of what to do with feedback Supt. Larry Horton and board members received from community meetings held last month in Crawfordsville and Holley regarding the future of the elementary schools in those communities.
Another was the future of the new skate park located next to the school district offices.
The board also heard from teachers who are negotiating for a new contract with the district. Four representatives of the teachers union urged board members to bring teachers? salaries and benefits to a level comparable to similar districts in the state.
Tennis Courts
SHEDG offered the school district $11,500-per-year rent for the high school grounds through 2008 for use by the Oregon Jamboree. The group also offered $25,000 if the district would remove the tennis courts.
District Business Manager Kevin Strong, who is also vice president of SHEDG, argued that he had a conflict of interest in discussing the issue, but board members insisted he give them his appraisal of the situation from the district?s point of view.
Strong said that the district is awaiting bids from Atlas Track and Tennis, located in the McMinnville area, which will detail how much it will cost to tear out the old courts, which are in poor shape, and build six new ones between the baseball field and the bus garage on 18th Avenue. He said Atlas is also expected to produce an estimate for improving the existing courts.
SHEDG, he said, would like to remove the courts to provide more room for the Jamboree, which is outgrowing the current available space on the athletic fields.
He said tearing out the tennis courts and planting the area with grass would accommodate some 1,000 more concert-goers and additional room for vendors.
?The biggest concern for SHEDG is to tear out the old courts and get the area planted before the Jamboree,? Srong said.
Board members indicated they were not eager to make a quick decision, particularly without a firm estimate of what it would cost to replace the tennis courts. Strong said additional funding might come from a grant from an organization such as the United States Tennis Association.
Horton also questioned whether the $11,500 annual rental fee for the Jamboree is appropriate, given that SHEDG has made ?$200,000 to $300,000? in profits in recent years.
?I think that?s a pretty good rental fee for three days,? sad board member Don Hopkins, adding that SHEDG is ?generating money for the community? and that he didn?t think the district should gouge the organization.
Horton emphasized that he believes the district has enjoyed a ?very positive relationship? with SHEDG, which, he noted, installed sprinklers on the high school grounds that ?I really do appreciate very, very much.?
Board members asked Strong to research what other organizations charge for facilities, such as Portland?s Waterfront Park, which is used by radio stations for concerts. They also asked him to look at other potential sources of information.
Rural Schools
On the issue of whether or not to close one of the district?s rural schools, Horton said that, unlike when the subject came up four years ago, he did not sense the level of anger regarding that option at the recent meetings in Crawfordsville and Holley.
He and board members discussed the meetings, which took place Oct. 25 and 27, and agreed that there didn?t seem to be much support for either Holley or Crawfordsville schools becoming a charter school or a magnet school, two of the options that have been considered.
Hopkins, who represents the Holley area, urged the board to take action on recommendations from Horton and the Facilities Planning Committee, which has weighed the district?s options with regard to the schools. Those recommendations include continuing lease Pleasant Valley school in case the site is ever needed to accommodate growing populations.
Horton also suggested that the board maintain the status quo of Holley and Crawfordsville schools, noting that the planning committee recommended no action unless the enrollment at one of the schools drops below 60 or the combined enrollment falls below 150.
David VanDerlip, who represents the Crawfordsville area, offered two criteria that he said should be met before the board would consider taking that step. One, he said, was ?reasonable? adjustment to attendance boundaries within the district to boost attendance. The other would be to not take action unless enrollment figures stayed below a certain level.
?The final caveat is to make sure if we move to close one of the facilities, that we have adequate classrooms in the district to accommodate those students,? he said.
Board Chair Scott Proctor noted that the district?s cost of educating each student rises significantly as enrollments go down.
After further discussion, the board instructed Horton to develop a draft policy on closing schools that it will consider at a future meeting.
Skate Park
Horton and Proctor reported on a meeting with city officials about problems with youths using the new skate park.
Recent arrests of six individuals for allegedly dealing drugs, some at the skate park, prompted the gathering.
Among the ideas floated at that meeting was the installation of a surveillance camera that would enable police to monitor activity at the park and the surrounding area, including the stadium grounds.
?I?d love to see a camera purchased by the city, ? said Horton, who noted that it would likely cost around $3,000.
Board member Ken Roberts said he didn?t want to see the district using money that ?could be used in the classroom? for a camera.
Member Jeff Lynn, who is a police officer, said he doubted that a surveillance camera ?would achieve much.?
?Usually, after the problem?s been reported, it?s too late to do something,? he said.
Lynn was interested in another suggestion that came out of the school-city meeting, the possibility of closing the high school campus during lunch.
But high school administrators argued that there are so many ways to exit the campus that teens can come and go at will.
Board members also questioned whether local business owners would support closing the campus.
Roberts, a retired high school teacher, said the real problem is a ?societal? one.
?Closing the campus is not realistic,? he said. ?If you had more kids going to school, feeling successful, that would lessen the problem. You have to get to the reason why kids don?t want to behave. They don?t like school. Forcing them doesn?t work.?
Teacher Tami White echoed Robert?s argument.
?There?s less for kids to be engaged in,? she said. ?The issue is how to engage kids. The only way to help get rid of drugs and alcohol is to find things that engage them. (Drugs and alcohol) are the easy route. We have to give them something that?s interesting.?
Proctor said he thought some behavior is ?extreme enough that they need to be held accountable for their actions.?
White agreed, but reiterated her argument that the problem is not solved just by punitive action.
Horton reminded the board that it will have to make a decision on whether to allow the skate park to remain on the land owned by the district.
?Come next May, you?re going to have to make a decision whether you?re going to renew the lease or not renew the lease,? he said.
In other action, the board:
– Accepted a $2,000 donation from Rice Logging for the second-grade AR Math program at Hawthorne school.
– Accepted a 717 HP camera and dock bundle from Sandra Smith and HP Gifts in Kind Donation Program.
– Accepted a donation of a computer and equipment from Gerald and Carol Leest.
– Commended Joyce Burdine and Don Frick for their response to a fire in a drier at the high school, on which they used six extinguishers to prevent ?a real disaster,? according to Horton.
– Authorized Strong to begin preparations for possibly refinancing a second part of the district?s 2001 approximately $18.6 million facility bond. A refinance of $9,995,000 of the bond last year saved the district some $700,000, Strong said. He said a second refinance of another $9,995,000 ? under a $10 million limit imposed by the federal government ? could save another ?500,000 to $600,000? over the life of the bond, if interest rates stay down until January when the district could make the move.
– Heard a report from Strong on an upgrade to the district?s telephone system, which is about 20 years old and subject to a wide variety of ills, including echoes when people call on cell phones, dropped calls, calls that do not get through at all, and expensive repair bills as many parts are obsolete. Strong said the junior high, high school, bus garage and district office will get the first installments of an NEC 2000 system over the winter break. The new system, which will cost about $20,000, will provide voice mail for every teacher, will be installed in the grade schools before the end of the fiscal year, he said.
– Heard a report from Horton that enrollment at the district schools is 48 more than at this time last year, with two more expected Nov. 15.
– Heard a report from Horton on his efforts to establish a high school alternative work program with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies, such as the county, that will provide 15 hours of classroom time and 15 hours of work-related experience to at-risk students.
?Most of these kids don?t like four walls,? Horton said, adding that the program will give them a chance to get outdoors and learn valuable skills that they might otherwise miss.