Smith named school board chair

Jeff Smith was named chairman of the Sisters School Board at the board's annual organizational meeting on Monday, July 8.

Smith, who has taken a year-long leave from his college teaching position in California, will lead the board through the challenging task of building the new Sisters High School.

The board acknowledged some additional costs in the project, including a water system loop required by the City of Sisters for fire protection.

Constructing that loop will cost $85,706. That cost is not included in the "guaranteed maximum price" for the project.

The district will also need to seed some areas that were excavated to fill in a deep "borrow pit" located where playing fields will be sited. The cost of that seeding is not yet determined.

The ability to seed and irrigate fields this summer and fall is in question.

The district currently has no water available to irrigate fields. The board weighed the possibility of buying water rights -- an expensive option at $4,000 to $6,000 per acre for 38 acres.

If the state adopts new mitigation rules, water rights might be available at a much lower cost, but not for many months -- if at all.

The district could use city water to irrigate until water rights become available and then switch to a well and pond arrangement. However, school staff must confirm that the system designed for the site is compatible with both systems.

Architect Mike Gorman corrected a mistaken belief that a booster pump needed to use the city system would be an additional cost. It turned out that that pump was included in the project budget.

If the district is unable to seed the fields by the beginning of September, seeding would probably be delayed until next spring.

That would likely mean the fields will not be playable until Spring of 2004.

In other business, the board reviewed an enrollment report for the years 1997 to 2002. The district ended the year with 1,158 students, up from 1,087 in 1997, but down from last year's end-of-year number of 1,190.

Middle school and high school enrollment have grown over the past six years. There were 275 students at Sisters Middle School in 1997 to 288 in 2002 (end of year). Sisters High School went from 359 students in May 1997 to 466 in May 2002.

However, both schools saw a slight drop in enrollment from last year.

Sisters Elementary School has seen an overall drop in enrollment from 463 in peak years of 1998 and 2000 to 404 as of May 2002.

Board members noted that many elementary school age children are attending the private Sonrise Christian School.

The board also directed its policy subcommittee to review the issues and implications charter schools with an eye toward developing a general district policy on charter schools.

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Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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