February 15, 2016

School District News

From Superintendent

Robert Vian

District

Board of Trustee Packets

If you would like to see what the school board is considering on any given night, book mark the web URL http://goo.gl/3J6u6E.  This address has a complete set of board packets for the past two years and the packet for next Monday night’s Board of Trustee meeting at Timberline School.

The packet contains reports on enrollment, bills paid, minutes of the previous meeting, building reports and reports from each department (transportation, food service, special education, technology, superintendent, and includes the district’s teacher mentor/test coordinator and school nurse).  Each item that is up for discussion and a board vote is also listed.  If the board is discussing a district policy the policy is also included in the packet.

Calendar Committee

A group of 30 community members, teachers, aides and I met on February 10^th to discuss options for the school calendar.  The committee reviewed several options, each of which has good and bad points.

Returning to a five day school week drew the least support.  The biggest problem is not the increased cost, it is the fact that a “five day week” never really existed.  Students attend school for 36 weeks. 

Six of those weeks have a holiday.  The year is broken into four quarters and at the end of each quarter teachers are given a day to do grades and get prepared for the next quarter.  In addition there is a need to keep staff trained in the latest curriculum and technology advances which created another 3-5 weeks with only four days.  When you look at a five day week in that manner you see that there are only about half the weeks that are five days.  Statistics were presented in 2002 that showed students were actually in class for 4.27 days each week. 

High School students are required to attend school for 990 hours.  Our schedule allows for 1023 hours.  Elementary schools must offer 810 hours, SD 171 offers 1023 hours.  Kindergarten students must have a 450 hour schedule and we provide twice that amount of class time.

The option of changing to a modified year round system where students would go to school in four nine week sessions also presents many challenges. Day care becomes a big issue especially in the middle of the winter.  The Christmas Break is hard for many of our poorer students now, they depend upon the lunches and breakfasts at school as well as the warmth of the buildings.

Trying to end school before the Memorial Day holiday creates issues regarding when to make up the fourteen days that we currently have school after Memorial Day.  Shortening Christmas break, starting two weeks sooner in August, or going to school a couple of Fridays each month were not popular ideas with the committee.

The final result of the meeting was to continue with the current calendar with a few changes. 

Seniors will not be dismissed earlier than other students, they will be dismissed on the final Thursday in the future.  High School Administrators will insure that all classes have a final’s schedule for the final week of school.  The district will look for opportunities to improve learning opportunities within the calendar, especially for the struggling students.  This might include some forms of Friday School and/or Tutoring.

Levy Information

The Homeowners exemption has gone from $81,000 three years ago to $94,745 this year.  That means that a homeowner whose home is valued at $189,490 only pays property taxes on $94,745.  The district Maintenance and Operating Levy request will result in a property tax of approximately $434.88 per year, a tax savings of $2.90 a month.

The actual tax impact varies depending upon the taxable value of your property.  For a homeowner with a taxable value of $100,000 the taxes will increase from approximately $223 per year to $229 each year, 50 cents per month.  The owner of a $300,000 home will barely be able to discern a change, of less than ten cents per month increase.  Please verify your actual tax burden with the Assessor’s Office. 

The Levy request is for $400,000 more than the district request for the past three years.  The district is committed to new roofs on Timberline and Orofino High School with the additional funding.  In two years the taxpayers will have the ability to hold the district accountable and to approve or disprove a new levy amount.

Orofino High School

Orofino took home the second place trophy in the We the People State Competition. The team traveled to Boise on February 3rd to prepare for the next day’s mock congressional hearing. The hearing itself lasted for 4 hours, consisting of two rounds. Each round consisted of presentations from each of the 6 units. After each 4 minute presentation, a 6-minute, in-depth, question-answer period followed. The students did very well in answering these questions while incorporating personality into each answer. The students heard many good things from the judges during the feedback period that followed the questions. Judges for the competition included a representative from office of U.S. Congressman Labrador, Idaho Humanities Council, Concordia Law School, attorneys, and a professor from NNU.  According to the judges themselves, they were immensely impressed with the students.   Because of the students’ outstanding performances, they also received the Wild Card and have qualified to compete at Nationals in Washington, D.C. in April.

There is much fundraising left to do, but let’s send those Maniacs to D.C.!

Pam Danielson American Government Teacher, OHS

Timberline

Results for the Timberline Classroom and School Spelling Bee's are;

4th grade- 1st-Bryson Hernandez, 2nd-Kyd Bonner, 3rd-Levi Armichardy

5th grade- Tie for 1st place-Jude Nelson and Trenton Teem, 3rd- Isaiah Wisher

6th grade- 1st-Markie Mesa, 2nd-Cece Thomas, 3rd-Drew Stacy

Timberline Elementary School Spell-off

1st Drew Stacy, 2nd-Levi Armichardy, Alternate-Trenton Teem

7th grade- 1st-Carson Sellers, 2nd-Caleb Deaton, 3rd-Mark Stemrich

8th grade- 1st-Kenny Bhardwaj, 2nd-Zach Newton, 3rd-Joseph Williams

Timberline Junior High School Spell-off

1st-Carson Sellers, 2nd-Caleb Deaton, Alternate-Kenny Bhardwaj

Drew Stacy and Levi Armichardy will represent Timberline Elementary and Carson Sellers and Caleb Deaton represented Timberline Junior High at the District Spelling Bee.

Jason Hunter, Principal Timberline School

Orofino Junior/Senior High

Over 160 students have earned a reward for doing their best and following our PBIS school-wide expectations. The stellar students will be traveling to Rollaway in Lewiston for roller skating and pizza on Thursday, February 4, 2016. The four criteria for reward are: all absences excused, get to class on time, all passing grades, and good behavior. It's great to celebrate the good things that most of our students do every day. 

The junior high version of our OJSHS Interact club is busy making valentines for residents at Clearwater Health and Rehabilitation. Interact is a student version of Rotary, and their motto is Service over Self." 

Lynn  MacEachern is the Rotarian advisor for this fledgling group. Seventh grader Kaylynn Elliott came up with the idea, and coordinated the project along with Mrs. MacEachern.  Several junior high students donated their lunch time to design valentines. The group plans to take on more projects throughout the year. 

Real Men Read 
It's that time again; time for some amazingly real men in our community to share their passion for reading with Mrs. George’s seventh-grade students. Every Wednesday in February community men come and share their passion for reading with the seventh grade students. If you'd like to join in, call OJSHS at 476-5557 and sign up to visit. There are three writing classes a day, and spaces are filling up. It takes a village to raise a child they say; here's your chance to take a positive role in the process. Michelle George Junior High Advisor