Gary Carpenter
Over the next month or so, FRSD is collecting data from a wide variety of groups. This is for the “Continuing Improvement Plan” required every three years by Oregon Department of Education. Input from multiple sources and stakeholders is required by the state for the final plan. Emails are going out to Teachers, Instructional Assistants, Administrators, etc.
For the two groups mentioned in the title above, Community Partners, (e.g. Businesses/Elected Officials/Non-Profits, Early Childhood Education/After School Programs, TSP) and Parents, we have links to the surveys here in this post. The “indicators” on your particular survey were chosen from 18 different indicators the state wants Fern Ridge School District to address in our improvement plan and are verbatim from the master list. If you fall into either of these groups, please take a few minutes and answer the questions in these surveys. The direct links are below. Thanks in advance for your participation.
For more information on this project you can view this “Frequently Asked Questions” page from the Oregon Department of Education: Link to PDF Document
SURVEY FOR PARENTS: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FRSDPARENTSANDFAMILIES
SURVEY FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERS: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FRSDCOMMUNITYPARTNERS
Parents of the Fern Ridge community,
I believe recent events around an incident at Fern Ridge Middle School, the districts response, and the subsequent discussion is necessitating an additional message from me. Serious issues of confidentially are in play here, so know that everything I have written here, just this morning I have received permission from the family involved to share.
The district was made aware of a general threat by a FRMS student on Monday, October 29th. The threat that was made a week or more prior to being reported to us was not specific in nature, was made in a private conversation between two friends, one of whom shared he was having some violent thoughts. The threat was investigated thoroughly over 2-3 days. The parents of the involved student responded to this event as I would hope any parent would. They understood the severity, were concerned for their child, and they furthermore agreed to voluntarily withdraw their student from school and pursue getting him some support. FRMS Principal, Ms. Johnson was in communication with me from the get go, and everything we have done here has been at my direction, and in accordance with Board policy. I can assure folks the following: The FRSD School Board is fully aware of the specifics of this case, and I am confident the Districts response was swift, appropriate, and at no time after being made aware of the threat were students in danger.
I stand by the fact that our response here was appropriate for the specifics of this case, and done so in a way that would encourage, not discourage, others form coming forward if they have concerns about themselves, or their peers. The District will certainly be de-briefing these events and discussing any possible adjustments to our policy or practice in the future. If anyone would like to contact me directly please feel free to do so at gcarpenter@fernridge.k12.or.us or via phone at 541-935-2253 ext 1201. I, as well as your elected School Board members, have no higher priority than doing everything in our power to ensure your children, theirs and mine included, are safe in Fern Ridge School District Schools.
Next week, FRMS staff are working on a short presentation to students that will emphasize two things. First, the importance of reporting to a trusted adult, and secondly the seriousness with which any threatening statement must be taken by school officials. I expect this presentation to take place on Wednesday during homeroom.
Gary Carpenter, Superintendent FRSD 28J
Yesterday was the first day back for all Fern Ridge School District teachers. They will be spending the rest of the week getting prepared for our to students return! A reminder that the first day back for students in grades 1st-5th, 6th and 9th is Tuesday September 4th. Students in grades 1st-5th, 7th-12th will attend on Wednesday, September 5th (an early release day) all students grades 1st-12th will attend on Thursday, September 6th. The first day for our Kindergarten students will be Monday, September 10th. Bring on 18-19!
Over the last several months, folks at the Lane Education Service District have been working on a program that would fund driver ed training. This program could be particularly beneficial for rural communities like ours. We have received a grant from the ODOT Safety Division for Oregon residents.
The grant fully pays for tuition for the course. The course is 9 weekends long (both days) for a total of 18 days that includes classroom discussions, video presentations and hands on exercises. The only cost for participants is paying a $100 materials fee and a $10 criminal history check.
Successful completion of the course would make you an ODOT approved Driver Ed instructor. Every year thousands of Oregon’s teens become new drivers, and every year motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teens aged 15-20. Oregon is facing a statewide shortage of ODOT approved driving instructors and fewer instructors mean more teens on the road without proper training.
Becoming an ODOT approved instructor is a nice way to make some extra income, it saves lives, and it helps parents. Questions can be emailed to trafficsafety@wou.edu. You may go to http://triwou.org/projects/tse/scheduleofcourses for more information and to register for the series of courses that take place in Eugene, beginning in late October.
At the meeting of the Fern Ridge School District Board of Directors this past Monday, Mr. Jeb Flowers was selected to fill out the remaining year of the Position #1 seat vacated earlier this month by Ms. Twinkle Morton.
Mr. Flowers will be sworn in at the August 20th school board meeting. The district thanks everyone that took the time to apply and was willing to serve their community in this capacity. We look forward to working with Mr. Flowers in the months to come. Please join us in welcoming him!
The Elmira High School “Strong Start” program for incoming freshmen will be July 30th through August 2nd. It is a volunteer and no-cost program with a curriculum created at Stanford University and by Silicon Valley professionals. The goal is to give students decision making and problem-solving skills that will help them be more productive and achieve more throughout their high school experience and beyond. Students will also become familiar with the school and staff and work with upperclassmen to be better prepared for the first day of high school. Students do not have to come all four days.
For more information you can call 441-1706 or email sburgess@fernridge.k12.or.us.
Please click on the link below for information regarding the upcoming Football camp for incoming 2nd-8th graders.
The application deadline for the open school board position has been extended to this Friday, July 13th. Thanks to those that have shown an interest so far by submitting an application. The board will be reviewing the applications at their July meeting on Monday the 16th. A reminder that this position is a one year appointment through June 30, 2019. Applications can be accessed at: http://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/BOARD-application-final.pdf
ACCOLADES: At our most recent school board meeting this past Monday night, FRSD Board member Andrea Larson recognized students throughout the Fern Ridge School District for outstanding academic achievement in a wide variety of areas. This included everything from OBOB Teams, to the EHS Valedictorian, and many other academic based competitions and achievements. Thank you very much to Andrea for doing this, and congratulations to the many students that were recognized.
CALENDAR: The 2018-19 School District calendar was approved. The calendar can be found at the following link: 2018-19 Calendar. Some important dates include: School registration, August 22-24, first day of school, September 4th, Winter Break, December 22 – January 7, last day of school is scheduled for June 14th.
POLICIES: Several policies were updated, added, or removed. One in particular I wanted to share with folks is a new policy “Weapons in schools-Staff.” The new policy hasn’t been updated to our policy link yet, but will be soon. The policy language that was approved however, can be found at the following link: Policy GBJ This policy addresses weapons on campus in regards to employees, district contractors and or volunteers. In short, it prohibits those in the previously mentioned groups from possessing a weapon on campus. The Superintendent and the School Board considered this policy, various options, and research before coming to the conclusion that this policy be adopted. If staff or community members would like to provide feedback (either in support of, or against) regarding this policy (or any FRSD policy), please feel free to contact the Superintendent via email at: gcarpenter@fernridge.k12.or.us and your thoughts will be forwarded to the School Board.
Recently, a young Fern Ridge student received an inappropriate/explicit text message on her cell phone. This is a good reminder to discuss safety with your children in regards to technology. The link below is to a story that aired last night on KEZI regarding this incident.