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School district wrestles with where to best use surplus |
By Amanda
Newman, Newberg Graphic intern
E-mail Amanda at
anewman@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Four years ago,
district-wide budget cuts led to the reduction of athletics and
activities programs in Newberg middle and high schools. Additional
funding this year could mean a comeback for the programs.
The 2003-2004 school year saw nearly $1 million in reductions
across the Newberg School District, reported Claudia Stewart,
communications director for the school district. This included a
funding cut of $100,000 in high school activities and athletics and
the elimination of all middle school sports, a cut of $71,000.
Activities and athletics cuts at Newberg High School included the
elimination of an activities director position and the increase of
athletic fees to $160 for each sport.
This year, the school board expects approximately $1 million in
additional funding as part of the School Improvement Fund, a
statewide initiative that provides additional funding to local
schools to improve student achievement.
While School Improvement Fund spending is limited to specific
areas, the added funding could free up space in the district budget.
Possible uses of the extra money include the return of middle school
sports, the reduction of high school athletic fees and the
reinstatement of an activities director position at the high school.
Following a survey study to identify primary funding goals, the
Activities and Athletics Task Force submitted a list of 10
recommended athletics and activities-related spending items to the
school budget committee. The committee will decide specific
allotment of the additional funds in the next two months.
The survey was based on a “convenient sampling.” Notice of the
survey was put on the district Web site and in this newspaper, but
it was not a statistically accurate random sample, Stewart said.
More than 300 parents, students, staff and community members
participated in the survey.
Since the funding cuts, athletics programs for middle school
students have been run by the Chehalem Park and Recreation District
(CPRD), at no additional cost to taxpayers. This solution received
mixed reviews in the survey results: in rating the adequacy of the
arrangement, 10 percent of respondents selected “excellent,” 38
percent “good/adequate,” 39 percent “marginal” and 13 percent
“inadequate.”
Decreased school spirit and less competitive high school teams are
among the concerns raised regarding the CPRD-run sports programs.
Survey comments regarding NHS athletic fees expressed concern that
the steep fees might keep students from participating due to
financial reasons.
Activities have continued to exist in both middle and high schools,
though greatly diminished. Without an activities director and with
decreased funding, the activities programs have had to fend for
themselves, with varied results.
Some high school programs, including DECA (a national students
business organization), drama productions, Future Business Leaders
of America (FBLA) and LINK Crew (an upperclassman mentoring program
for freshmen), have remained at or near previous participation
levels. Other programs, including the House of Representatives, the
International Language Society, the Youth Advisory Council and
Students Helping Our Community (SHOC), have faded out of existence.
A five-year comparison released by the school board showed the NHS
activities budget decreased by about 41 percent between 2001 and
2006. During that time, middle school activities budgets decreased
by about 60 percent. A total of 1,216 NHS students participated in
activities programs in 2001, but by 2006 that number had dropped to
744.
Pam Sherman, former activities director at the high school and a
member of the task force, expressed her belief in the importance of
both activities and athletics in a child’s development.
“I am really concerned that our students are not getting the
opportunity to do things after school,” Sherman said. “Every time
you have another adult in a child’s life, helping them learn to make
good decisions, it is much more valuable than the dollar cost.”
However, Amy Bearden, a former CPRD sports coordinator with
children in the middle and high schools, expressed concern over what
she believes to be an athletics focus in the task force.
“Activities are funded at less than 10 percent of athletics,” she
said. “It’s important to me that tax dollars are used equitably and
I don’t want to put more tax dollars into athletics.”
Bearden, whose children participate in athletics, said, “My biggest
concern is that every student have the opportunity to participate in
some activity and some kids are just not into athletics.”
Sherman, on the other hand, said that the task force has addressed
both issues equally. “Reinstating the activities director was up
there on our list (of recommendations), higher than middle school
athletics,” she said. “Traditionally, the funding for student
activities isn’t that big of a chunk compared to athletics ... due
to uniform costs, official costs and transportation.”
The budget committee is seeking public input regarding priorities
for supplemental funding, Stewart said.
The budget committee prioritized the additional spending items
during their Thursday board meeting and will finalize the budget in
June.
The top ten list ended up reading as such: reducing class size,
fully funding language arts and PE and health textbooks,
implementing “Read 180” to improve reading for students below grade
level, making building repairs, restoring a high-school activity
director and middle school activity and athletic coordinator,
restoring middle school athletic program, hiring a grant writer,
hiring a full-time district electrician, replacing student and
teacher computers.
The projects will be funded top to bottom, but the committee said
that at a minimum there would be enough funds for the first four.
Funding beyond that would be contingent on real costs. Depending on
the seniority of teachers hired to reduce class size some money
could be left over for lower priority items. |
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From
May 23, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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