Central Point School District #6

District 6 Parents and Community,

We’ve been back to school for a couple of months now and the 2009-2010 school year promises to be a unique and challenging experience with some exciting new opportunities. As we implement the four-day school week, we continue to have high expectations for all students with plans to continue the ambitious reform efforts we started three years ago.

Thanks to our teachers and administrators we were able to maintain program levels for this year. Their willingness to take a 10% salary cut allowed us to retain staff and basically keep services at the same level as last year. However, moving to a four-day week has caused us to change many of the routines we followed in the past.

We started the school year a week earlier than other school districts in the area. This allowed us to maximize student instructional days while maintaining a consistent four-day school week throughout the year. As a part of reducing teacher work time by 10% we reduced in-service and professional development time by eliminating the late start/early release Wednesday’s each week. As a result, 36 of the 39 weeks this year will be exactly the same, Tuesday through Friday, compared to last year when we had 22 standard weeks out of 37. Teachers will work one Monday per month for professional development and preparing for student grading periods. We will also use those Mondays throughout the year to hold parent conferences. There will be no parent conferences prior to Thanksgiving and Spring Break, as in the past. This also allows us to maximize student instruction time. Since there are no set parent conference weeks, we encourage parents to communicate with teachers at any time. Teachers are also planning to be more communicative with parents throughout the year, rather than just at conference times.

We have several administrative changes at the building level this year. Rob Lewis has been named Principal of Hanby Middle School, Nannette Pergin will be Principal at Patrick Elementary and Christine Beck will be Principal at Sams Valley Elementary. Due to the smaller student populations at these schools, the Principals will be part time administrators as well as be directly involved in teaching. We also eliminated the Director of Special Education position as well as some clerical positions at the District Office. In total, we eliminated 2.6 administrative positions. With the increase in IDEA Federal funds, we were able to hire Betsy Farman as RTI/Special Education. Betsy’s role will be to work with the special education staff on improving student performance.

Over the next several months we will be developing surveys and methods to generate feedback from our community regarding the changes this year. As we indicated during the budget planning for the 2009-2011 biennium, the current arrangement will likely last two years. We want to illicit feedback on how it is working and what we can do to improve the situation. Another significant issue will be the impact of Measures 66 and 67 should they fail Please read the information below to understand what these important measures mean to the children of District 6.

Though we are making some drastic changes in our calendar due to the current fiscal crisis, our primary focus is still on student learning. Our Theory of Action best describes how we can be most effective as educators;

We believe that classroom instructional practice is the most powerful factor causing all students to learn and that through leadership and collaborative adult learning, we can improve our practice.

The challenges this year may be unprecedented but we have never had a more competent and committed staff to face the challenges.

“To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we’ve never done”
- Anonymous

Randy Gravon
Superintendent

How have Oregon’s K-12 students and schools been affected by reduced state funding? (PDF Download)

Along with reducing the state budget, the 2009 Oregon Legislature passed two bills that would increase some corporate and personal income taxes. These bills are expected to raise $733 million in revenue, which is included in the 2009-2011 state budget to prevent further cuts to schools, health care and public safety. The Legislature has taken the following actions to fill the projected $4 billion budget gap.

1. Cut approximately $2 billion in state services.
2. Add approximately $1 billion in Federal Stimulus funds.
3. Add approximately $800 million in additional State revenue.
4. Use $255 million in State Reserves.

The Legislature set January 26, 2010 as the election day for Measures 66 and 67. A YES vote will confirm the Legislature’s bills. A NO vote will prevent the Legislature from collecting the additional revenue.

For 97.5% of all Oregonians, these bills will have no impact on them. It will only affect individuals making more than $125,000 or couples making more than $250,000 annually. The additional tax will only apply to the amount above these maximums. This means a couple making $260,000 will pay an additional $180 annually.

Corporations would pay an additional 1.3 % on profits over $250,000 for 2009-2010 and would reduce to 1% in 2011 and 2012. It will be reduced further starting in 2013. Two-thirds of the corporations in Oregon pay the minimum an annual tax of $10. This bill would raise the minimum to $150 for Corporations making less than $500,000. Corporations making a profit above $500,000 would pay 1/1000th in additional taxes. These changes would move Oregon from the 3rd lowest ranked business tax in the nation to the 5th lowest.

Failure of Measures 66 and 67 would require Central Point School District 6 to cut an additional 1.6 million from the budget. This translates to cutting approximately 25 teachers or further reducing our school calendar by 14 days.

Please know the issues and vote on January 26, 2010.

4-Day Week Calendar

Attached you will find the approved calendar for the 2009-2010 school year. The new calendar reflects a Four-Day Week for students beginning September 1, 2009 and concluding June 17, 2010. This revised calendar reflects a reduction of more than 15 days due to a $2.5 million short fall in the District’s operating budget for 2009-2010. Based on feedback from the community, employee groups and the District 6 Board of Directors, the decision was made to keep teachers, programs and smaller class sizes in tact by reducing the number of school days. The District was able to maintain all programs currently offered by cutting employee work days, thus saving the cost of salaries for those days.

I would like to thank our parents for participating in the difficult task of determining how to provide the best education for our students with the $2.5 million shortfall. None of the options available were good, but I believe with your support we have achieved the best opportunity to provide a quality education to all of our students with the Four-Day Week and full staffing. What is lost in quantity will be made up for with quality. Also, our employee groups; teachers, administrators and classified, were willing to work cooperatively with the Board to arrive at a decision that best served our community. I appreciate their sacrifice.

I know there will be challenges as we begin the new school year with these changes. We may need to make adjustments and alterations as we face new issues, but I am confident that once the routine is set, we will find new opportunities to enhance learning for our students. I believe our community will continue to take pride in the quality education provided by District 6.

Thanks for your support and feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Randy Gravon
Superintendent

Dear District 6 Community,

As we head into the final weeks of this school year, budget concerns continue to dominate our discussions.  The implications of the financial crisis we face in Oregon, nationally and even globally is still unclear.  The question is how bad will it get?  I recently received a letter from Governor Kulongoski and State Superintendent Susan Castillo which states; Given the magnitude of loss in such a short time period, coupled with the national economic trends, we must develop a variety of budget scenarios for the 2009-2011 school years.  We recommend that you include worse case scenarios.

For District 6, worse case scenarios include budget cuts somewhere between $3.2 to $4.8 million in a $36,000,000 budget.  This represents the potential of up to a 15% cut, on top of the over $800,000 cut we absorbed this school year when we eliminated 4 school days.   Over 85% of our budget is people.  In order to develop a budget within our resources we will need to cut salaries, people, days, or some combination thereof.  Several other factors will impact our final decision.  We are currently negotiating new collective bargaining agreements with teacher and classified labor unions.  Salary, benefits and working conditions are at the heart of the negotiations process.

Director of Business Services, Vicki Robinson and Director of Human Resources, Bob Bowers and I have been meeting with school staffs to discuss the implications of these cuts.  I have also been meeting with parent groups at each school to explain the circumstances and the potential impact on our children.  As unpleasant as the news is, I have been impressed with the perseverance our employees and community have shown.  They know things are bad and they are willing to pull together to get through this crisis.  And we will get through this crisis!  It is important that we make budget decisions with our primary objectives in mind – teaching children.  With this in mind, I believe the highest priority is to save jobs.  Eliminating teachers and support staff creates two problems; it increases class size which reduces effective instruction, and it adds to the already high Jackson County unemployment problem.

It is possible we will need to cut 15 or more days from next year’s school calendar.  This represents large blocks of time if we extend Summer, Christmas or Spring breaks.  We have examined the impact of 4-day school weeks as a way to save money and provide continuity for student learning.  There are a growing number of school districts nationally who have gone to 4-day weeks with surprising success.  We will continue to have discussion with our community before any decisions are finalized

I encourage you to attend the District budget meeting on May 14^th in the Central Point Elementary Cafeteria at 5:30 pm.  These and other topics will be discussed regarding the financial impact on the 2009-2010 budget.  I hope to talk with many of you in the near future.

Randy Gravon
Superintendent
Central Point School District 6