Grants will help equip new high school

The Sisters School District is hoping for some $840,000 in state grants to furnish the new Sisters High School, which could open as early as next fall.

The state is supposed to provide funding to 8 percent of building costs, since districts aren't allowed to use construction bond money for furnishings and textbooks and the like.

In reality, the grants have run as low as 2 percent due to tight budgets and many schools competing for available funds. However, with fewer schools coming on line in Oregon this year and next, School Superintendent Steve Swisher hopes that the amount will come in at about 4 percent.

The Sisters School District could actually get by with no help at all. Since it is building one new school and taking the old middle school off-line, the district could furnish the new high school with equipment from the old one.

However, starting with new furnishings and equipment -- which could include new technology equipment and computers as well as desks and chairs -- is much preferable.

And, it gives the district the opportunity to replace old, worn furnishings and equipment -- a chance that tight budgets wouldn't otherwise allow.

Staff members are compiling a list of furnishings and equipment in $50,000 increments. The total bill could actually exceed the projected $840,000 in grants.

If that happens, Swisher said, the school board will have to decide whether to spend extra money -- and how much -- to completely outfit the school.

Money for that could come from selling or borrowing against the district's Lundgren Mill industrial property. Proceeds from a sale of that property have long been earmarked for furnishings and long-term maintenance for Sisters schools.

The school district will have to place orders for equipment by March to ensure timely delivery before school is underway next year.

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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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