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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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The Chronicle
Extra funds, furlough days create tension in budget talks BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — Teachers, parents and students packed into the St. Helens School District boardroom for a heavily debated May 15 budget meeting. While there may not have been enough chairs for everyone, there certainly was no shortage of opinions on how the district is handling its finances. At the heart of much of the debate around the district’s finances is approximately $1.5 million in additional funds the district has come into. “Last Thursday, the Department of Education notified all districts of state estimate and ADMw adjustments for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 years. Usually this means a loss of revenue. This time adjustments were made in favor of most districts across the state,” said District Superintendent Mark Davalos. This adjustment came from the Average Daily Membership/weighted rate, which is a per student rate that is included in the state’s calculation of funding for each district. For the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years, that number was expected to be $3,906.78. In turn, that would have put the district’s funding for 2011-12 at $16.4 million and for 2012-13 at $16.6 million. However, the ADMw rate actually came in at $3,922.36, creating an additional $663,000 in revenue. This is not the first time in recent memory the district has found itself with additional revenue resources. According to district finance manager Janine Salisbury, the district’s annual audit (completed in December 2012) showed a variance of $780,000. Going back to 2002, the average variance is just under $450,000. The high-
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est variance years came in 2008 and 2010, which had variances of approximately $1.1 million each year. The variance for the 2012-13 general fund came from the common school fund; oil, gas and rent royalties, property taxes and state school support. Also, $184,000 in expenses was moved from the general fund to federal grant fund expenses. “Over the years some grant expenses had been recorded in the general fund even though the grant revenue was being recorded in the special revenue funds. We needed to fix that. So I documented that for the auditors and they approved it,” said Salisbury. “It was a major adjustment to clean things up.” Many would like to see those “extra” funds, and possibly some of the reserve funds, go towards reducing the number of furlough days and hiring back teachers. “The unions were understandably concerned that we knew about that $780,000 in late December and January when we were negotiating with them,” Salisbury said. “From our perspective it wasn’t enough because the governor’s budget was published Nov. 30 and it was $6.125 billion and we were looking at huge cuts. We would have had a huge deficit even with the $780,000. The Ways and Means budget came out in early March, after we had agreed on rolling forward the contracts.” With an expected $27.5 million in revenue, along with $660,000 from the additional funds, the district is still looking at a budget shortfall of nearly $600,000. To adjust for this, the budget committee has proposed four furlough days, instead of the original six for a savings of See BUDGET, Page A4
Vol. 131, No. 21 16 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Remembering ★ our Veterans ★
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Scappoose veteran Frank Weber places the American flag at the Veterans Memorial at Scappoose Veterans Park while fellow vet Jerry Peal looks on, during the May 18 dedication ceremony. Look for the full story at TheChronicleOnline.com.
CAT welcomes new Veterans Service Officer Mystery rescuer sought
staff positions with U.S. Army ST. HELENS — The ComForces Command and U.S. munity Action Team has hired a full-time Veterans Service Army Europe. With just two weeks at Officer to replace Grace Clark, who held the position until CAT under his belt, Clark has already been hard at work recently. setting up monthly community Russ Clark joined CAT on outreach programs in VernoMay 1. His office is inside the nia, Clatskanie and Rainier. Community Action Center building at 125 N. 17th St. The programs will be held in Vernonia on June 4 from 9 Office hours will be Monday Russ Clark through Friday from 8: 30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at the Vernonia Community Learning Center a.m.–5 p.m. Clark served as a Veterans Service at 939 Bridge St.; in Clatskanie on June Officer with the Oregon Department of 13 from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at the VFW Veterans Affairs in 2009 and 2010. Then, Hall, 960 N.W. Fifth St.; and in Rainier in late 2010, he took the position of on July 19 from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at the Rainier Senior Center at 48 W. Seventh Rating Veteran Service Officer with the Veterans Benefits Administration at the St. Portland VA regional office. He served According to Clark, the intent of the community programs is to provide area there until accepting the Columbia veterans and their families and survivCounty position on May 1. ing spouses with information about A retired U.S. Army Major, Clark served 21 years on active duty. He reVA benefits and health care as well as information and assistance for homeless ceived his commission at Fort Benning, Ga., in 1985 and retired in California in veterans. June 2006. For more information about these After retiring from the Army, he and or any other veterans program, contact his wife moved to St. Helens in July of Clark at 503-366-6580 or send an email to rclark@cat-team.org. 2006. Russ is a veteran of the Gulf War To schedule an appointment contact and has served with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), U.S. Army Space Clark directly at 503-397-6580 or 503Command and numerous command and 397-3511 ext. 275.
New boats will help CCSO patrol area rivers BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Thanks to a special program with the Oregon Marine Board, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office will soon have two new patrol boats at their disposal. Like many of the vehicles in the Sheriff’s Office fleet, its existing patrol boats are aging and in need of replacement. The two new boats will replace five older Sheriff’s Office boats. One of the boats is a 25-foot offshore Alumaweld manufactured in White City, Ore., and comes equipped with twin four-stroke, 150 horsepower outboard motors that are compliant with Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resource Board stringent air-quality standards. “We are very excited to have these new boats from the Marine Board. Our aging fleet had put us in a bind when it came to water safety in the
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The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office will receive two news patrol boats – which replace five older boats – thanks to the Oregon State Marine Board’s replacement program.
county,” said Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson. “My thanks go to Lt. Dustin Hald for his hard work in securing these Marine Board funds to keep our marine program afloat and in tip-
top shape.” The Alumaweld boat will be equipped with full electronics for emergency response in inclement weather and low visibility and is ideal for conditions routinely
encountered on the Columbia River. CCSO will also receive a 21-foot walkthrough jet boat built by Liquid Technologies in
See BOATS, Page A4
BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — On Friday, May 10, Portland resident Ryan Anderson decided to spend the afternoon kayaking with friends off Sauvie Island. Anderson had no idea his time on the river could have easily had a tragic outcome. “I started at the last beach on Sauvie Island, the beach at the end of the road,” said Anderson. “I was alone. My friend wanted to see if her dog was capable of riding with her on her kayak, so we only brought one. When she was done, I decided to give her kayak a try (no dog with me).” After kayaking for just about a half an hour, Anderson’s kayak flipped leaving him to float in the river. Not surprisingly, Anderson said the 58-degree F water left him in a slight state of shock and some of the specifics of what happened next are still a little fuzzy. At more than 6 feet tall, Anderson admits he knew his friend’s kayak (made for someone around 5 and ½ feet tall) was too small for him but thought he could manage anyway. “I decided to try to go to the other side and back,” he said. “I did make it to the other side [of the river], it was coming back that was the problem.” Anderson paddled across the river, a trip he said that took around 30 minutes to make. Limited by the small stature of the kayak, Anderson said he had to paddle very carefully. “If I paddled too strongly, it would dip the kayak and take in water,” he said. But despite his careful measures, the kayak rolled, dumping him in the water. Although he’s an experienced kayaker, Anderson wasn’t able to roll the kayak back over and get back in. For the next hour, Anderson – who was wearing a lifejacket – floated along in the chilly waters trying to get help. Eventually, a lone boater, possibly a fisherman, pulled him from the water and ferried him back to his friends on Sauvie Island. Anderson doesn’t remember the name of the man who pulled him from the river, but he’s hoping to get the word out so the man will contact him. “He was very adamant about in dropping me off with my group,” Anderson added. “He gave me his name but in my sense of shock I have since forgotten it. I am trying to find him so that I may thank him.” If you are Anderson’s mystery rescuer, please contact The Chronicle at 503-397-0116.