School District Questions and Answers –

With current vice- chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

Nutrition and Kids

First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. By that I mean, I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input. I went to the State Oregon School Board Conference in Portland and attended many fascinating and informative workshops. The one that strikes closest to my heart for our community is the Farm to School Program. I believe it gives us what we all want for our community – Healthy children and a Healthy Community Economy. With this program – Kids Win, Farmers Win and Our Community Wins. Now this is my kind of idea.

Farm to School “enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and preschools.” The students win by gaining healthy, local food as well as educational opportunities such as learning about different foods, cooking lessons, farm field trips and maybe even future gardens. This program empowers our children and their families to make additional informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to our state, region, and community.

For me, the chances of seeing better student and staf health are easy to imagine as is the benefit to local farmers. As for our current food service, here is what they stand to gain from joining in this project. IN other schools doing this, there is an increase in students eating meals going from 3% to 16% thus generating more revenue for them. Increased cafeteria offerings of fruits and vegetables will coincide with new seasonal recipes, as well as potential changes in cafeteria waste quantity and management policies.

Teachers also have positive changes with diets and lifestyles. Parents have increased interest with kids eating local food and making healthier choices for obvious reasons. Our educational part would foreground the different foods purchased with recipes and ideas. All will be amazed that it is possible to eat most of the year with some or many local foods.

So what is next? Well- I am writing to the state offices for information, grants, and lists of area food handlers. I hope to get that information and work on it with a committee of interested community people in the next months- hopefully coming up with Phase I in the fall of 2016. That committee has some early work to do such as defining the term “local” and working to find providers. So if you are interested, please contact me at the address below; I will create a list of interested people. Once I have the state info back, we will get started.  I am looking forward to bringing this to our children and community.

I’ll leave you with this poster I saw… I am eager for our children to know this. “Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live in.” Please write or call to ask questions or add comments at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us or 541-915-9367.

School District Questions and Answers –

MRSA or Too Easy or Misdirected Threats??
First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. By that I mean that I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input.
I could barely contain myself with the ideas brought to me this past month by good folks in the community. In a Portland Oregonian article from October 16, 2013, I found support for the idea that students “say school too easy.” Another suggestion was based on the editorial in the Eugene Register Guard on the 21st of February, 2014. This had to do with punishing students for school board’s decisions. [Bet you can see where I ‘might’ go with that idea~!!!] The final suggestion came from a website called momsTEAM about preventing MRSA spread in athletics by encouraging good personal hygiene in the locker rooms, schools, and homes. All of these sound interesting and important. So which do I choose? OR do I have to… maybe I’ll just begin with one and have some backups for weeks when no one comes forward with a suggestion. So to that end, I decided to take a look into MRSA. I have talked with the district sources who have the gym cleaned so have some information about that for later in the article.
Like all acronyms, MRSA stands for some long, frequently unheard, words. This stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The key word in all of this is the R word- resistant. This alerts me to the fact that this is one dangerous bug. I learned that Staphylococcus aureus is a bacteria that lives on our skin and is normally harmless. We may have it and NOT know it. It can be spread from person to person through casual contact.
OK- I get it… the new strain is potentially resistant to treatment; we all likely have it on our skin; it can be spread easily through contact. That statement alerts me to places in our schools where our students come in contact with each other- as part of school activities. Later I learned that problems occur as a result of this critter entering the body through some kind of wound or cut, sharing athletic equipment, towels, razors, or other personal items with someone who has the infection.
Now my concern is heightened as I think of our many school sponsored, athletic events where cuts and abrasions are common. It is hard to name a sport where there is not a potential for some kind of minor injury that leads to a door for this bacterium to enter our children’s body. So much more information available but the core of what we need to know is “What do we need to do as parents and school district personnel to minimize and preferably eliminate this issue?”
At school, the literature says handwashing is the best way to prevent infection as well as NOT sharing towels, razors, and other personal items. Athletes should shower with soap after each practice or game. Athletic equipment that is shared must be cleaned with bleach-water solution on a regular basis. Hand sanitizers should also be used by trainers and others who come in contact with athletes. Disposable paper towels must also be available.
At home, commonly touched areas [doorknobs, light switches, computer and games] should be cleaned with either a disinfectant or one Tablespoon of bleach to a quart of water. Don’t share towels at home either. Wash hands often and trim nails. If you have young children, the literature suggests that parents avoid asking doctors to prescribe antibiotics too often as that use contributes to creating the resistant strain.
I toured the high school gym and locker rooms and found them to be clean and well kept. The weight room has those mats on the floor which are difficult to keep clean around the edges. But for the MRSA concern, things looked very good. I contacted the Athletic Director, Brian Brands, and asked the following questions:
How is shared equipment cleaned? In the weight room, where equipment is shared on a daily basis, it is disinfected at least once a week. PE Equipment, such as racquets etc. is not disinfected on a daily basis, but on an “As needed” basis. In wrestling, the mats are cleaned every day and the headgear that the wrestlers use is disinfected every practice. Any blood issues are dealt with immediately with disinfectant.
Does the District provide the towels/soap for showers or does the individual bring his or her own? Kids bring their own soap and towels. I believe there are some homeless funds that will help provide soap, shampoo, etc. for those in need.
Are paper towels and soap available at the sinks? Yes
Do we have a trainer who treats cuts and abrasions and what are his or her qualifications? EHS currently does not have a trainer. Mark Boren, who teachers first aid/cpr, is at most athletic events and is a go to guy for medical issues. Scott Shannon also has some medical training and is a go to guy
The ONLY place I could find ‘dirt’ was between the mats in the weight room… but MRSA is not spread by dust between the mats [thank goodness- as my home is very dusty!] – made me wonder how the wrestling mats are cleaned? Wrestling mats are cleaned daily with disinfectant.
I visited with Greg Baker, Facilities Manager, about this issue. We talked about the dangers associated with Staph infections, and Greg proudly gives the same information of just how hard his people work to keep our buildings safe and sound. Ever the master of understatement, Mr. Baker smiles and says “With a high school of over 400 students, I think we do very well.” I am pleased to agree with Greg’s observation.
Sadly, I just read this morning of the young man from Triangle Lake, Chad Steinhauer, who recently contracted a staphylococcus illness most likely, the paper said, through the taping of his ankle for a game in Portland. He sounds like a great young man; I wish him and his family all the best.
Finally, I hope you saw the editorial in the February 21, 2014 Register Guard about the Eugene School Board’s decision about Civic Stadium. If you didn’t, I would summarize it by saying that the author is asking those involved to “reconsider counterproductive vows of retribution” because of their decision. This applies to our district as well. Some are angry about the closing of Central and Noti schools. While I understand their argument and hopefully at least some of their frustrations, I know those school board members were volunteers who were trying to do their job which basically is to maintain schools for our students to the best of their financial ability. The current board is trying to do the same.
Once the statistics that board was using for population growth were found to be incorrect over time- decisions were made that hurt these communities severely. The ‘old’ board is not being hurt by “opposing a property tax level or a bond measure”. When we stop to think about who is being hurt, there is only one answer- it is our students, our children, who are paying for what some deem was the school board’s error. Choices made by well-intentioned board members “should have little or no bearing on the question of whether to build new schools and fix leaky roofs.”
I mention this because I would like to ask that each of us consider the merits, the safety issues, the needs of our community in a fair and rationale manner. Should a vote come up, vote with our minds and heart instead of our anger. Please write or call to ask questions or add comments at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us or 541-915-9367. I leave you with this quote from Helen Keller
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”

More from an “Old” chair

These ideas/thoughts are mine and mine alone… I cannot and do not speak for the board. Now, let’s move on to my topic for the day- READING to our children.

Looking in on the new mother and father, we see them sitting and reading out loud to their infant. What a loving picture and how cute we say. The truth is that, even at that age, the infant can watch things turning in front of his or her face, can and does listen intently to the sound of the voices that are shaping his and her future. As they grow, they point to pictures of animals and imitate those animals’ voices; they look at the pictures their beloved parents are looking at and learn language. But they learn something far more valuable than that. They learn the value of reading and the value of the words that form their world. In addition, through reading and talking with parents about possibilities, the child’s imagination grows and helps them begin to understand our world. [Well that could be a bit of a stretch as I read quite a bit and certainly don’t understand our world… but for a child- things begin to make sense.]

Reading out loud to them helps them learn to listen; they begin to see the melody of the spoken words and the beauty of possibilities. A few minutes a day is so rewarding for the parent- and so worthwhile for the child. The attention paid to the child reaps other benefits as well. If you have more than one child, reading together is great, but it is suggested that you try and find time to read one on one with each child. Once the child recognizes the relationship between the three letter word ‘cow’ and the moo animal in the picture, he or she is beginning to read. Continuing this process allows the child to feel comfortable vocalizing and reading words that will lead to simple sentences. They will know the luxury of inflection, sarcasm and recognition which will help their preschool teachers and early grade teachers continue that development. As your child grows, continuing this process and modeling your own silent reading- a sports magazine, a fine local newspaper like this one or a home improvement book- continues this value clarification that reading is a good and meaningful thing.

I grew up in the days before internet but shortly after dinosaurs. We had books, magazines, and comic books as well as a regular MAD issue around most of the time. Somehow my parents knew the value of reading even though they were never college bound. Of course, I know them to be of unlimited intelligence and wisdom- but I could be slightly biased. My parents read and discussed and read some more. When I had a question, they said “Look it up” and provided me the tools to do that. When I taught middle school, I found, and believe to this day, that the important factor is getting children to love to read. I didn’t care what they read during our 15 minute silent reading time [as long as it was not rated R that is]. Access is so easy today. I read on my kindle; I read on the internet; I read the books that literally line the walls of my home; I seek out new sources of the issues that interest me. I owe this to my parents who taught me the love of words very early in my life. However, I honestly do believe it is never too late to make a difference in our children’s lives.

If you have teenage children, watch their amazement that you have been reading song lyrics from the hip hop rappers Common or Erykah Badu. If you check those lyrics, you’ll find very meaningful comments about our world today- the world that your young adults inhabit. If you have children in middle or elementary school, read what they are reading and listen to the interests your child has. Our Fern Ridge Library is full of rich extensions of that interest- cultivate it. If you have grandchildren, do all the things you did and wish you did in this area with your children and more. So regardless of the age of your children, modeling reading helps mold the future of these up and coming citizens of our world. Work with the teachers, follow the child’s abilities as they grow stronger with each passing day and grade, and if you have questions, talk with the teachers- seek out the classroom truth of what she or he is seeing happening.

For more information check out the Reading is Fundamental website list of important results of reading at   http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/facts-about-reading-aloud.htm and if your children or grandchildren don’t live near you- volunteer in our schools. Frankly, I thought RIF stood for Reading if FUN. It is- A child will enjoy and benefit from reading to you.

As always, I remain open to comments and questions. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with a thought from Walt Disney – “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age and dreams are forever.” Something new as well- From time to time, I will share a website with you that you might enjoy. This is Taylor Mali- a well-known poet from the poetry slam movement. He believes in the nobility of the teaching profession:     http://youtu.be/RxsOVK4syxU . Join the other teachers in your children’s lives- teach and learn together. You will be glad you did!

Observations from an OLD Chair about Listening
I would be remiss if I did not start out with: these are my thoughts and only my thoughts; I do NOT speak for the board-!!! Bet you have heard that before 
Tonight I decided to write about listening. It is an excellent skill… here’s an old question – If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? The reverse is also true- If no one says anything until a decision is made, does that mean that no one was listening? I believe that communication is the key piece in most everything we do or hope to do. This is a learning process on many levels – I would very much like to be able to improve the communication with the community, and believe we have made some positive strides in that direction. Yet, I still hear that some in the community feel unheard or may even feel that the school board does not act based on community input. I can think of two recent examples where decisions were made based solely on the feedback we received from parents and staff. I will elaborate.
First of all, my job as I see it is to try to make intelligent decisions for the good of the students, parents and staff while making financially prudent choices. To do that I listen to the facts presented to me; I do my personal research into the issue; I listen to input from parents, students and staff; I vote based on that information. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? But not always.
My first example has to do with busses at Veneta Elementary. I have always disliked and felt our students and families were endangered by the bus situation as it was for the last years. The new plan, lining them up over to the north of the school made sense to me, was recommended by the architects and approved by the original design committee. The busses would not be in front of the school so all the real and imagined dangers having to do with large vehicles, little cars and even littler children would be greatly diminished. Financially, it was a sound decision. All is well. Then Dr. Fromme from the Veneta Veterinary Clinic came to our meeting offering a solution that I liked even better – At First. The buses would enter from Hunter through a side entrance, make a loop behind the school and exit with children safely in the bus. Sounds even better – until the community came to us with their concerns. Supervision was going to be tough. The play area in the middle of that loop was going to be smaller because of the loop. Territorial Sports Program [TSP] provided many games there and would also be affected. Some were concerned because the community uses that track as a walking area for exercise. There were many more solid reasons that were brought to my attention. One of the final straws for me was that Hunter is a very narrow street and now we are going to have all buses turning in and pulling out in that space where children, adults and pets walk regularly without bike lanes or much of any walking space. So we went back to the drawing board. We discussed this at length – some of you may have been present. I appreciated the offer so much, but there was just so many who came forward and spoke up against the idea that I changed my mind- as did others I would guess given the vote the came about. Why did that happen? Your Board listened to you. I weighed the options with the other things I mentioned above which I consider are my responsibility and voted with your input. Thank you so much for bringing these things to my attention.
The other recent example I have happened early June of this year. Elmira Elementary School is finalizing their design plan. The experts recommended putting the gym on the south end of the school with the office in between and the cafeteria area [the Commons] at the north end. Made sense to me, and it looked great. The committee of parents and staff liked something else. They wanted to have the gym in the middle with the office on one side and the Commons on the other. Now to me, this did not make much sense… The Entry was going to be less formal or visible, and it truly foregrounded the gym.
Those of you who know me well know I have spent the last 40 years working with the University of Oregon athletes on the academic side of the equation. My greatest complaint about our society is that we put too much emphasis on sport achievement and not enough on academics. The thousands of students I have worked with through the years often had never received accolades for their ability to think as all praise went to their jumping, running, throwing or hitting ability. So I instinctively did not like foregrounding the gym.
But then the meeting happened. The architects gave us the expert recommendation- said that the other choice being considered [the committee’s preference] was going to be “almost” as cost effective. The folding door joining the Commons and the gym was going to cost $70,000 and hints were made that it could be damaged by gym like activities. The parents and the staff were adamant about their preference and made extremely good points as to why their choice worked better for them and therefore the community. After some discussion, it was suggested that perhaps the folding door could be eliminated. As a result of excellent input from both the experts and those who will be using the building who are experts in what they prefer and know will work better, the board listened. If the costs are the same, the gym will be in the middle.
So I guess those are two examples of where community input was so valuable to me in casting my vote. There was another example of community input that resulted from a decision we made that we knew was best for the students but had not let the parents voice their position. Some did and I am grateful to them as well. With their input we were able to adjust the situation to something that worked well for as many as possible and achieved our end goal.
This is an area of communication I am looking to improve. The problem for me is determining what might draw comment, getting it out in a timely manner, finding a way to reach as many as possible, take input and make a decision in a timely manner. But that is another conundrum, another column and another day. I would love to hear your opinion on how you feel that might be done.
I am grateful to the community who have contacted me and who have come to meetings. I understand that family time is important time so you might write to me or any board member and make your concern known. It is the ONLY way a board member can listen- if you share your ideas. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with this thought and quote. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. Margaret Fuller (1810-1850, Journalist, Critic and Women’s Rights Activist) and this video about a form of listening. https://youtu.be/gvwHHMEDdT0 Enjoy.

What follows this post is a series of articles that I have been writing for the local paper… the paper that supports our community and our school district.  I confess that my goal was two fold for publishing these articles.  First of all, I would like to increase the readership of this fine paper which keeps us informed about the happenings in our community and costs so very little for a year’s subscription.  Yes, it is a weekly paper; yes, it costs $32 per year delivered each week to your home.  Yes, that is $.62 cents a week.  So that was one of my two goals.

My second goal is the reason for my ethical dilemma.  When I explain to someone that I wrote an entire column about this in the local paper, the overwhelming response is “OH, well we don’t buy that paper.”  Hence the problem.  My major reason for writing these articles is to answer some of the community’s questions before they rumble around and morph into an ‘interesting’ configuration of non-facts and facts.  So my answer to this conundrum is this:  I will copy and paste these articles after they are published and before the next one comes out.

I just raided my files to put up these posts that follow.  From now on they will be in a more predictable order.  Please consider supporting our fine, local paper; get meeting news, information about things going on and coming up for the community and see pictures of the students as they perform their miracles in the many ways they do that.

Above all, enjoy the articles and send me any comments and questions here or at my email: tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us

Have a great week.

School District Questions and Answers –

with current board chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

Really??

I begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational related topics.

I want to begin by saying that I am a taxpaying individual for Lane County… When we moved here 17 years ago, we bought land that happens to be just east of the Huston Road City of Veneta boundary line so I don’t live within the City Limits. I do support the District Library, the District Fire Department and the District Schools. Currently, I do not use the Library as much as I would like. I would prefer to not use the Fire District, but have been extremely grateful for the two times I did; they were gracious, prompt and extremely helpful. As for the District Schools, I have no children or grandchildren in the schools. I have no sons or daughters teaching in these schools. Basically, I don’t have any reason to support our schools as I am semi-retired and own land where I could very easily hold up and never leave the land I love so much.

So why do I care? On a financial level, I know my property values continue to increase as our schools win state and national awards, have high graduation rates report cards. People want to live in a community that has the vision to be sure their children get the best of everything possible. It is also true that vandalism is far less prevalent in a community where there is pride in the schools and in their buildings.

On a purely personal level, I believe in the power of public education. Not the kind of education that creates robots who do not think but children and young adults who understand what it takes to work through an opposing argument, see the other side, and change or strengthen their opinions based on that information. Yes, I did teach for five years in eastern Montana- a small community much like Veneta [without the close-by scenery], and I have spent the last thirty-eight years working to improve the possibilities for young men and women coming out of high schools- sometimes under prepared and always too much required of them.

The effects of not passing the ballot are hard for me to fathom.  To make our schools ready to provide an education that prepares our students to be ready for the 21^st and 22^nd Century, we will have to make decisions trading off fresh air versus safety versus keeping the asbestos at bay among other things.  We will not be able to provide that education nor will we be able to offer the things in life that give many of us meaning. Neither artistic appreciation nor application, neither music appreciation nor application will be available. We certainly will not be able to improve or renew our vocational education.

While it may appear to be about money or about previous decisions made by other school boards, this is far more about what this community values, and I believe the fine people of our district will vote for the children and our community’s future. I know I will.

Until next time, please send questions to tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us

I leave you with these two ideas by very successful 21^st Century business people.

“It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

–Steve Jobs, in introducing the iPad 2 in 2011

“In my own philanthropy and business endeavors, I have seen the critical role that the arts play in stimulating creativity and in developing vital communities….the arts have a crucial impact on our economy and are an important catalyst for learning, discovery, and achievement in our country”                                              –Paul G. Allen, Co-Founder, Microsoft

School District Questions and Answers –

with current board chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

HUGE step FORWARD

I begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational related topics. Now that is done, let’s get to this week’s column.

Yesterday, the 20^th of May 2014, was the beginning of such an important move for our children, our staff, and our community. My list of Thank You’s might rival my last article J- so will try and be more succinct and to not miss anyone. My first thank you goes to the stalwart few who started coming to the board meetings to share their disagreement or perceptions with things happening in the district- both old and new. You folks started the ball rolling for improved communication. My next thank you goes to Gary Carpenter who, in addition to his hard work as the high school principal and friend to his students, took on the very difficult job of heading up the Facilities Committee who worked tirelessly early on to get the ideas for our wonderful community committee to work on with the excellent Portland company of DLR. Thank you to Scott Rose and his crew at DLR for creating the meetings that allowed us to pull together what was important and necessary for our students to be safe and ushered into the 21^st Century. Then the PAC took over and a major group from the community took over the huge task of presenting the information to the rest of the community and answering the important questions that come up with such a large undertaking. Kim Kilmer, as chair, was instrumental in this occurring as well as everyone who made calls, canvassed to answer questions and delivered information to our community. Staff and students alike worked hard in this process as well as standing on the corner waving signs at passing traffic on a series of Tuesday afternoons. Our mayor, Sandra Larson, worked tirelessly to write informational articles to help others understand this process and Ric Ingham and the entire City of Veneta staff has supported this measure. Our Superintendent, Dennis Friedrich, attended meeting after meeting to present information and address concerns. So many folks to thank- I have only touched the tip of the iceberg and as we know, the tip is supported by so much more working behind the scenes.

What does this mean for our community? Most of Elmira Elementary will be replaced in a manner that our children will not be displaced. Overlapping repairs to the roof will disappear and so will the asbestos along with my major concern for safety of our kids near that parking lot. Veneta Elementary will get some much needed additional classrooms, a kitchen, a cafeteria and a front office which will allow better supervision of people’s coming and goings. In addition, bus traffic will be changed to make the process of bussing our children ever more safe. At Fern Ridge Middle School, changes will be made to the library and office while improving safety considerations for exiting the building. Elmira High School will be able to improve the girls’ locker room and adding a second gym which will facilitate the practice schedule of our children. In the past, students have told me that they were embarrassed by the facilities when other schools would visit for competitions. This important change will improve our district immensely. In addition, gyms are used by all levels of our schools and by the community. This vote of confidence is truly a win-win for our community.

One of my biggest concerns is student safety and security. This will allow us to do the things to ease our concerns for our children. It will also allow us to bring in the hardware to bring our technology up to surrounding high school levels and be ready for future developments as well. This will help students in start-up time as well as supporting classroom instruction as more and more technology moves into the classroom.

I have tried to list a few of the things that will benefit the entire community. I know that the pride we show in our community will show and as our population grows, people moving to start their families here and develop their businesses here will find a wonderful group of people with healthy school buildings and our wonderful staff waiting to greet them. Once again- thank you for voting in the election on the 20^th of May. I know the percentage for yes was high; I want those who still have concerns will come to board meetings, continue to voice their concerns, and get involved in the Citizen Oversight Committee.

I end my column, as always, with a quote or two. “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul.” Joseph Addison “It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time – for we are bound by that – but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.” T.S.Eliot   Our children have the right to experience this; thank you again for all the hard work and as always, please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.or.us with comments and concerns. Please come to our Board Meetings as well. Exciting things are ahead for all of us.

Patience

Once again, let me begin by reminding you that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. I am not speaking for the board but merely making observations about educational and community topics.

It must be like this for anyone who has a precious gift to give and has to wait to do so until a certain date. I am bursting with pride in our community and in the gift we have given our children. The ball is rolling- just not rolling FAST ENOUGH. To revisit how long we have waited: it has been about eighteen months since a community committee and the board reviewed at least six, serious RFP’s to determine who would lead us through this time. Obviously, we chose well and the DLR Group has been fantastic. Many in the community and many students have given input and worked shoulder to shoulder to get the ballot measure passed. And Pass it did. Clearly DLR understands our needs and the community stepped up to see what vital issues were best met with the passage of this bond. We have eighteen months experience with this company, and they have led us through the wilderness of “ins and outs” that go along with in depth planning. Clearly the Community, including the school board and DLR, did our homework. Now we wait.

The bonds need to be sold which could take up to the middle or late September to complete. Over the summer, we can begin the geotechnical engineering, the land surveying, and the hazardous materials testing and even some of the design drafts. We will be able to form the oversight committee composed of citizens who will meet and assure that all bond promises are delivered while building community relationships and providing uniform consistent messages regarding the bond projects to the community. Find the link to the application for this committee here: http://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Citizens-Oversight-Committee-Application.pdf

Please consider getting involved in this most important job. There will be monthly meetings to receive information from the district representative, architect and contractors and engage in discussions regarding bond project updates and related budget updates each month. One person will likely be chosen to present a brief status report at the regular monthly Board Meeting – of course everyone is invited to attend any and all meetings as well.

SO it is beginning… Just not fast enough for the impatience of youth, or, in this case, the eagerness of old age to see the results.

I leave you with this thought from Sydney J. Harris: “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” We should be very happy with what we are seeing happening in our community. Thanks again for supporting our students and staff.

Thanks for reading my column this year and please submit comments and questions to me at this email tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us

Thoughts from an “Old” chair

With all the work that is going on in the district with the building and planning, the current chair has asked if I would resume some of my columns. So to begin with, let me state [once again] that these ideas/thoughts are mine and mine alone… I cannot and do not speak for the board. Now that is behind us… let’s talk report cards.

Yes, report cards. It is not only the students who get them; each school in the district gets graded by a long list of criteria. If you haven’t seen them yet, they are available at each school and at the School District Office. You can also get them online at http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx but that seems a ‘bit’ cumbersome even with fast internet service. If you wish, go to the middle of the page and choose the Fern Ridge School District. Each school’s last two report cards will be there to see.

The report cards give an enrollment profile and an overall rating, complete with colorful graphs. They also rate the school performance, college and career readiness, drop-out rate and graduation rate among others for the last couple of years. In addition, there is a list of things that the schools are doing to improve student learning and prepare the students for their future. The School District also has an overall report card of sorts that gives the profile and demographics as well as information on student group outcomes and a compilation of the things being done at the district to improve student learning.

For me, the overall state average is less important than the progress I see from year to year within our own population. But many put great stock in these state ratings so I do not want to ignore them. Two of our schools, Elmira High School and Veneta Elementary are near or above average. The high school actually is listed in the top 20% with the new testing and graduation requirements. The other schools rated a bit lower, and you can check out on line individual scores of each school if you wish. When asked, many administrators and teachers outside our district will share that the testing has changed as have the expectations, and it will take a bit for their schools to catch up. While I know that is an accurate picture of the lay of the land at this time- our administrators and teachers are not satisfied with that answer.

Our administrators, led in the charge by Superintendent Sally Storm, and our teachers are engaged in trainings and ideas to help our students deal with these changes and benefit from a different way of thinking. This is called Research for Better Teaching [RBT] based on 30 years of research by Jon Saphier. The emphasis is on focusing on what matters most while building capacity to learn and make important connections.   One might wonder what is it exactly that matters most anyway? For thirty-five years, this group has focused on “strengthening, spreading, and sustaining student skills through high-quality professional development. They know that teaching is a complex art and that high-expertise teaching and leading makes the difference. Our teachers and administrators are taking to this like ducks and beavers to water as they know the value of never stopping learning and are always looking for ways to improve their craft and their students’ achievement.

Our administrators are working right beside our teachers to become even stronger leaders, making better use of the data we can obtain from these different tests and all the while, finding way to increase teacher collaboration. Another great area of this program deals with Social Justice which I am only going to mention as I will do a column on this topic. Let me just say that Social Justice involves equity and equality in learning. I promise much more about this later.

Larger school districts are grabbing hold of the idea as well with both Eugene and Springfield investing heavily in it for example. The Superintendent and three of our administrators have been training all fall and further training begins soon.

No excuses for the report cards- a few straightforward explanations of the results and a proactive stance by the teachers and administrators to create change for our students. This is what great stuff is made of!!   Thanks to our teachers and administrators for all they do for our community and our children.

On a different note, a huge thank you to Veneta Elementary teachers and staff as well as Principal Olivia Johnson for the Tooth Taxi coming back… our kids so needed it… and a BIG thank you to the City of Veneta for their extraordinary help making it possible for it to get set up and running.

As always, I remain open to comments and questions. Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us – I look forward to hearing from you again. I leave you with a thought from Ernest Hemingway: “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Something new as well- From time to time, I will share a website with you that your family might enjoy:     http://youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q .

More Comments from the Vice-Chair of your School Board – Twinkle Ann Morton

QUESTIONS from the COMMUNITY

One of my “key” concerns is communication, and earlier columns discussed the role of our new Key Communicator Network. I am so pleased to say that it is beginning to work. I must, of course, say that these are my comments and opinions; I cannot and do not speak for the board.

Several questions have come in, and I have a few answers here. If there are not enough particulars, I will try and gather them if more questions arise- but for now… Here is what I know.

Questions about Elmira Elementary -Most people are happy that the entire school is being replaced. The question on where the money is coming from to build it (as it was not in the original budget/⁠proposal) has come up quite a
lot. Also, there is a concern that the money spent on the first
design has been wasted?

The cost to preserve the parts of EES [the middle section] equals or nearly equals [more to come] the cost of actually rebuilding. Money is saved by not having to do things in pieces as well…The plan was to keep the center- build a wing- move that group of kids to new wing-tear down and build new wing… move kids… etc. This way- that won’t have to be done. The infrastructure [parking lots, permits, etc.] will be done all at once rather than piecemeal saving both time and money… AND the bids will be at the current prices [at the time of letting them] rather than be inflated as the prices continue to rise.

No money from the first design was lost due to careful work with DLR, Cornerstone and contractors.

Veneta Elementary – One question is, “since the loss of the Garcia Center, did we really gain the classroom space we
needed?” Also heard concerns about the Vet. Some believe that the District is going to build a fence on the property line which
is 10 feet from the Vet building. Talk is that the District is trying
to “push out” the Vet. The Vet has been part of this community forever
and people are upset about it.

Garcia Center still stands [as of right now anyway] and yes, we gained the classrooms, security, and technological advances for our children [same in EES]

The Veterinarian Office has been using school property as part of a friendly agreement for years, and we have always had a very good working relationship with them. The old tennis courts and the road there are school property. Since the project involves much of the rest of the property, this is the best and only place to store machinery while different phases of the building proceed at the same time. Drive past this area, and you will see that contractors are trying to keep it as open as we can for as long as we can for their use. The community spoke loud and clear that they did not want the district to move the bus dropping off point to behind the building which would have allowed us to enter into a different agreement with the Vets. After long consideration, we kept the original bus plan and that meant the Veterinary Office would lose some of the parking they had been using on school district property. Listening to the community and making the most sense and cents out of the project resulted in the loss of some of their parking [which I must repeat has been on district property all along.] I wrote an earlier column about this entitled “Listening” and used this as one of the ways that the school board listened to the community and changed their minds about the direction to go with these projects.

Middle School – Overall very positive, no concerns.

High School– There has been some concerns about the cost of the new gym which somewhat addresses a Title IX discrepancy involving federal dollars]. Our Project Manager has a tight handle on the budget, and I sincerely doubt, unless some horrific problem manifests itself, that there will be an overrun. However, if it happens, it is far more likely that the District Office would continue in its dilapidated condition. That would be a very sad statement about our district for new folks entering our system, in my opinion.
New start times – I understand that the new start times are 0755,
0845, and 0820(ish). Heard talk about why the Middle School is
starting so late, parents are asking that if they drop off their
Elementary School child, can they still drop off their Middle School
kid? If not, how will they make it to work on time? What will the kids
do for an hour at the Middle School? Parents are talking that this
would be a lot of unsupervised time to cause trouble. On the District
homepage it says that young minds need more sleep as one of the
reasons for the late start; some parents aren’t buying it.

I will continue to check into the research about the start time. I have been reading that middle and high school students should not start early as their brains are not awake as I imagine they go to bed later and later.   The only way to start all schools at similar times is to pay for more buses, which I am sure would not be a positive idea. Our chair, Andrea Larson, indicates that this is an issue that two parents brought up to her as well. She says, “In looking at start times between middle schools and their feeder elementary schools in both Eugene and Bethel, I found no consistency. Some started at almost the same time while others were as much as an hour apart.”

The community might know that the School Board’s work is policy while the administration’s work is day to day running of the schools. When a policy decision affects the running of the school and when the running of the school effects policy, we interact to see how we might best work out the kinks. Please keep these questions coming to your key communicators – your friends and neighbors. Share your concerns and pose questions. They will bring them to us, and we will do our best to address your questions.

Quick quote and website for you: “A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.” Mark Twain

For a lifting experience watch https://youtu.be/tcXU7G6zhjU  Please write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us anytime… Thanks for reading and caring about our community.