News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Sisters Elementary School has a full complement of students. photo by Jim Cornelius A sparsely attended public hearing January 10 gave the Sisters School Board only a little guidance about how to relieve elementary school overcrowding. A larger turnout is expected for a second hearing, to begin at 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, January 19) in the elementary school library. The topic of overcrowding was introduced at a special board workshop last month, and the board would like to decide on some course of action at its February... Full story
Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants to merge several education service districts (ESDs), reducing the number from the current 20 to no more than 12 -- and perhaps as few as nine. Dennis Dempsey, superintendent of the High Desert ESD (Crook and Deschutes counties), supports that idea. Dempsey, who was the principal of Sisters High School from 1992 to 1999, has been the local ESD superintendent since then. He still lives in Sisters, but his office is in Redmond, near the airport. "Our board and I are supportive of it (the merger... Full story
There are 20 Education Service Districts (ESDs) in Oregon. They serve the 199 regular districts that operate the public schools, kindergarten through grade 12. ESDs remain one of the most obscure entities involved in public education. Obscure to the general public, but not insignificant. The ESD that encompasses Sisters and the other three school districts in Deschutes County (Bend-La Pine, Redmond, and Brothers) plus Crook County School District used to go by the name Crook-Deschutes. Last year it changed its name to the Hig... Full story
A Sisters organization is being formed to campaign for additional money for public schools in the 2005-07 state budget. Called the Legislative Action Team for Schools in Sisters, the group has evolved from what was originally the Committee for Sisters School Children. The leader of the new group is Merry Ann Moore, mother of two Sisters Elementary School students. The Legislative Action Team will be affiliated with Stand for Children, a statewide organization promoting a state school appropriation larger than the $5 billion r... Full story
True to his word, Sisters School Board Chairman Glen Lasken sent John Shepherd a written response to Shepherd's complaint about the program for Talented and Gifted students (TAG) at Sisters High School. The five-paragraph letter, dated December 22, did not mollify the complainant, however. When asked his reaction last week, Shepherd said he found the letter "vague and ambiguous." He said, "They seem to be saying that they're doing a good enough job, but they're not." Shepherd made a 10-minute appearance before the board at... Full story
The price of cutting heating oil consumption at Sisters High School has nearly tripled in a month. But the school board hopes the result will still represent a bargain. The subject first arose at the November 8 board meeting when board members approved an analysis of energy efficiency at the year-old high school. The study was to be done by Integrated Energy Services Inc. of Portland (IES) at a cost of no more than $4,952. A month later, at the board's December 13 meeting, Facilities Director Bob Martin reported that as a... Full story
Sen. Ben Westlund told a gathering of school supporters in Sisters last week that the only way to solve the school finance problem is through "fundamental tax reform." He defined it this way: "Yes, I'm talking about a consumption tax. I don't care if it's a VAT (value added tax), a business activity tax or a sales tax...We need to cut the capital gains tax in half, cut the income tax in half, and lower property taxes." His own plan, which incorporates a 5 percent retail sales tax, would accomplish those goals, he believes,... Full story
Two parents urged the Sisters School Board at its December 13 meeting to improve the district's program for Talented and Gifted children. Merry Ann Moore, the head of a volunteer organization called the Committee for Sisters School Children, made a brief presentation saying the district ought to hire a TAG coordinator, a "paid professional." She sympathized with the board's lack of money for this purpose but suggested several possible sources of funds, including a foundation set up by Bill Gates of Microsoft dedicated to smal... Full story
One went up, one went down and the other stayed the same. That's a Goldilocks version of Sisters schools results on the state "report cards" for 2003-04, issued by the Oregon Department of Education last week. The overall grades on these cards are expressed in the form of adjectives. In descending order, they are: Exceptional, Strong, Satisfactory, Low and Unacceptable. In the most recent ratings, Sisters Middle School rose to Strong, a step above its Satisfactory mark the year before. Sisters Elementary School slipped back... Full story
When her department issued this year's school report cards last week (see story), State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo said "...it does not make sense for Oregon to have two completely different rating systems -- one from Oregon and one from Washington, D.C. "I am proposing that we make major changes to both the school report card and the federal AYP report to come up with a single measure of school progress." She was referring to the annual report, required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, to... Full story
Sisters Elementary School is full of students and the school board is pondering options. photo by Jim Cornelius It's getting crowded at Sisters Elementary School and the Sisters School Board is considering what -- if anything -- to do about it. At a special meeting Wednesday, December 8, the board outlined a schedule for continued discussion and public input on overcrowding, ideally culminating in a decision next Valentine's Day, February 14. According to the schedule, public comment will be invited at the regular board... Full story
Sisters School District and Sonrise Christian School have suspended a program in which for several years the district has paid part of the salaries of some Sonrise teachers. Leaders of both systems are conducting a review to make sure that their practice does not violate state laws or regulations. Sisters School Superintendent Ted Thonstad said his interest was triggered by the filing of an unemployment claim by one of the teachers last summer. Thonstad, who is new to the district this year, said that when he learned about th... Full story
Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proposed $5 billion public education budget for the next biennium doesn't provide much solace for Sisters school administrators. Superintendent Ted Thonstad said, "The district is facing increases in every budget category and at this level of state funding (less than a two percent increase for two years), I am concerned that the additional funds generated by both growth and the local option levy will not be enough to cover these increased costs. As a result, I anticipate that the Sisters School District,... Full story
A conflict between the City of Sisters and the Sisters School District over Systems Development Charges (SDCs) may begin moving toward resolution this week. It has been held in abeyance, at least publicly, for several months. The issue arose in September 2003, when the school district received a city bill for $115,000 for SDCs due when the new middle school was attached to the city sewer line. These charges, assessed against all new developments, are intended to help pay for new city infrastructure such as streets and... Full story
They'll move, someday. photo by Jim Cornelius The City of Sisters is still planning to build a new city hall on land acquired last year from the school district (part of the former middle school site) on the east side of town. The structure will probably have two stories, contain 8,000 to 9,000 square feet and cost about $1.25 million. Those, at least, are the best guesses City Manager Eileen Stein can make today. When asked about the status of the project last week, she said the city hopes to get the building out to bid... Full story
The funding and staffing of Oregon school libraries have deteriorated over the past two decades, according to a report issued last week by State Librarian Jim Scheppke. Sisters schools appear to offer no exception. Scheppke's report said: "...we know that in 1980 Oregon schools employed 818 certified library/media specialists, equivalent to one librarian for every 547 students. In 2003, there were only 461 certified library/ media specialists working in Oregon schools, equivalent to one librarian for every 1,196 students."... Full story
Sisters High School is expensive to heat. photo by Jim Cornelius A Portland engineer will analyze the efficiency of energy use at Sisters Elementary School and Sisters High School in hopes of achieving savings. On the recommendation of Superintendent Ted Thonstad, the school board at its last meeting (November 8) unanimously authorized the two studies at a cost not to exceed $4,925 each. In an e-mail cover letter endorsing the study proposals, Thonstad told board members: "With the rising cost of energy, it is critical to... Full story
Cocurricular activities are big at Sisters High School. Almost any administrator or teacher there will tell you that the school places great emphasis on these non-classroom activities and that a large number of students participate. Now there is statistical proof to back up those impressions. Athletic Director Mary Flande presented the school board at its last meeting (November 8) with a detailed analysis of cocurricular participation during the last school year, 2003-04. It showed that 84 percent of the 449 students were... Full story
Sisters area voters renewed their school district's "local option" levy in the November 2 election. The current levy expires at the end of the 2004-05 school year. The new one will last for another four years. "I think it's a great tribute to the committee that worked so hard to make it happen," said a delighted Ted Thonstad, superintendent of Sisters schools. "It's a tribute to the community and how much (the people here) value education and children." His thoughts echoed those of Board Chairman Glen Lasken when the first el... Full story
Josh White and Mary Thomas teach at Sisters High School. photo by Jim Cornelius Three teachers are new to the Sisters school system this year. In some ways, they are as diverse as their students. Betsy Leighty-Johnson, 51, has been hired as a special education teacher at the elementary school. She holds a bachelor's degree from Eastern Oregon University and master's degrees in teaching from Willamette University and in special education from Lewis and Clark. For the five years before taking her current job she was a special... Full story
Sisters Elementary School students will help bring a little Christmas cheer to a platoon of U.S. Marines in Iraq. Theirs will be part of a larger effort organized by a statewide group that calls itself Marine Corps Moms. Through what they call Operation Santa, the Marine Corps Moms, based in Salem, have been asking a wide variety of groups to "sponsor" platoons, which consist of 30 to 40 Marines. Each platoon will receive a box containing individual Christmas stockings for the Marines plus games, food, decorations and treats... Full story
If two years constitute a trend, Sisters schools are entering a period of growth. The schools have experienced significant enrollment increases in 2003 and 2004 after seeing virtually none in the preceding six years. Enrollment early this month (October is commonly used as a benchmark) reached 1,281, an increase of 86, or 7.2 percent, from last October. By the same token, the 1,195 students counted in 2003 were 72, or 6.4 percent, more than in 2002. Yet between 1996 and 2002, the numbers moved up or down a little each year... Full story
The historic old Sisters school site will likely serve as an administration building for the school district. It will sit next to a new Sisters Library and City Hall. photo by Jim Cornelius Sisters' dream of creating a cluster of public buildings at the town's eastern portal is receiving encouragement. The plan would see a city hall, a library and the school district's administration building standing together on a three-acre site formerly occupied by the Sisters Middle School. The middle school moved into the former high... Full story
Oregon schools have a big problem with too many absentees, according to a recent report of the Chalkboard Project, based in Portland (see story page 35). The project's recent report on absenteeism was featured in an Associated Press story distributed across the state last month. The story said: "Average daily attendance in Oregon public schools was 88 percent of total fall enrollment in the 200-01 school year, the Chalkboard Project reported. Only Kentucky reported a lower number." If that is true across the state, it would... Full story
When the 2004 SAT scores for Central Oregon high schools were published earlier this month, one set of numbers stood out like a palm tree in the High Desert: Compared with the year before, the scores for La Pine rose 71 points on the verbal section and 64 points on the math section. In sheer magnitude of change, none of the other seven high schools in the region -- inluding Sisters -- came close. The next highest increases were 17 points on the verbal (Bend High School) and 27 points in math (Summit High, Bend). By contrast,... Full story
