Important Items:
- Additional Board Meetings are scheduled through October to facilitate execution of the Alsea Bond Project:
August 25, 6:00 pm – Regular Board Meeting
September 8, 7:00pm – Regular Board Meeting
September 22, 7:00pm – Regular Board Meeting
October 13, 7:00pm – Regular Board Meeting
October 27, 7:00pm – Regular Board Meeting
- The new “Superintendent Page” https://alsea.k12.or.us/superintendent/ on the Alsea School Website has a letter from Acting Superintendent Sean Gallagher. This new page also has a tab called “Administrative Reports” https://alsea.k12.or.us/superintendent/administrative-reports/ which has links to the monthly reports submitted to the board by Alsea School Administrators.
- If you would like to see the documents discussed at board meetings, visit our Boardbooks page at https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organidzation/2548 . If you click on the “agenda” link on the right side of any meeting post, you will find links to all documents discussed at that meeting embedded in the agenda. While you are there, explore how this platform facilitates public access to Alsea School Board information.
- There were no minutes submitted for approval from the last meeting, so none will be posted till next month.
General News
Roxie Smallwood says registration went off without a hitch. Although it is too early to announce numbers for the coming school year, enrollment is looking good, with new enrollments for both Alsea School and Learn at Home Oregon. Roxie Smallwood was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for her hard work and attention to detail in all of her work, especially creating the new registration system. August 16th is the all staff meeting to kick off the 2022/2023 school year with an all-staff breakfast at 7:30. Aligning for Student Success is the new continuous improvement plan, which will include updates to procedures including requisitions to assure that there are checks and balances in place throughout the staff. If you would like to see the breakout on income and expenditures for Alsea School brick and mortar and Learn at Home Oregon presented by Business Manager LaRae Sullivan, visit the documents links for this meeting on Boardbooks at thttps://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/2548?file=c211561f-11fb-47c8-bfde-162a320ff2e0&isFromMeeting=True .
Staff
Kristina Severns was hired as the new 1st grade teacher at Alsea brick and mortar, while Brenda Bellinger was hired to teach 1st grade at Learn at Home Oregon. Tracy Stanton resigned as the Elementary School Special Ed Teacher. There are no plans to replace her at this time unless enrollment at the school creates need for that position. The board heartfully thanked Mrs. Stanton for her years of service to the ASD. “You will be truly missed,” said Board Member Ryan Van Leuven.
Public Comment Policy for School Board Meetings
The ASB voted to clarify the public comment procedures for ASB meetings. People who wish to comment may sign up in person prior to the meetings or online at https://alsea.k12.or.us/media/2023/04/Intent-to-Speak.pdf by noon the day of the meeting. Comments are limited to 3 minutes for each person, with total comments to not exceed 30 minutes or 10 speakers. If students come to speak to the board, they will be given first priority to speak.
Curriculum Approval
Jamie Olsen asked the ASB about how parents can get involved in the curriculum approval process. Mr. Gallagher explained that curriculum that meets state requirements is selected by staff, presented to the ASB in a work session meeting, and then voted on at an ASB meeting. Parents and community members can participate in either of these public meetings, using the procedure delineated above to offer public comment. Mr. Gallagher stated that any parent is welcome to come to the school to view curriculum or to meet with him about their questions or concerns.
School Communications
Sara Cash is contracted to the school for very part time work as Public Information Officer. She will focus solely on activities to facilitate transparency of district information and get the word out about the great things that are happening at Alsea School. She is working closely with Mr. Gallagher to build positive relationships with local media in hopes that future news stories will contain correct and balanced information. New communication streams are being created by email, on the school webpage and the school Facebook when it is up and running, which should be soon now that Alsea School has full control of our school page.
Thank you from the Alsea Fire Department
Thank you to the kids in the Summer Work Program at Alsea School who spent today working to help the Alsea Fire Department. The students did pressure washing and filled potholes all the way from the Fire Department Building to the school. Thank you also to the staff and community partners who made this possible: Angela Turpen, Roxie Kelley, Sara Littlefield, and David Fricke. (Look on the school website and Facebook for an upcoming article on this great project.)
Forestry Program
Mr. Crowe reported that Stella Jones will donate trees and CPI will donate telephone poles and install both of these if ASB approves the expansion of the Forestry Program.
Alsea School Library Books
Mary O’Brien has worked all summer to get the library refreshed for the coming school year. Some books are being discharged from the library. These will be offered first to classroom teachers for classroom use. The remainder will be offered in a book sale to raise money for new books for the library. Any remainder will be donated to the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library for use or fundraising purposes. Board member Linda Montanez said that many of the books are very old and/or have sentimental value due to the signatures inside or the record of who checked out the books. Board member Risteen Follett suggested an exhibit of historical books be made at the school. Mr. Gallagher offered his office. (Contact Mary O’Brien if you would like to participate in this project at mary.obrien@alsea.k12.or.us .)
Food Services Contract with Corvallis School District (CSD)
The contract was approved for next year. Careful budgeting has allowed CSD to return $34,000 to ASD from last year’s contract. ASD continues to meet Community Eligibility Provisions for the district, allowing all students to have breakfast and lunch free of charge to the family. For more information, visit https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/2548?file=b4e64da9-8dfd-4f0e-a3c2-0513be7d6e16&isFromMeeting=True .
K-12 Educators Retention and Recruitment Grant
The ASB approved utilization of this grant, which will provide funds to hire Tim Pearson as a coach for instructors, create a mentoring system for new staff, and allow for professional development for mentoring staff. For more information, visit https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/2548?file=c5d4ed26-b869-4f12-9099-4855578474d0&isFromMeeting=True .
HR Reset
ASB approved Personnel Policy Revisions in accordance with state law and in preparation for the current HR Reset. To read these policies, visit https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/2548?file=97c97afe-bd87-4329-af82-7ad78679d45c&isFromMeeting=True .Expect to see lots of adjustments when the official report concerning the HR Reset is submitted for board approval, which will hopefully be at the August 25th meeting. Acting Superintendent Gallagher explained that rebalancing and recalibration is required to address discrepancies in salaries as well as the “bleed” in budget. Salary adjustments will be competitive, fair, and comparable to other districts. Some salaries need to be raised in relation to duties assigned. Some positions need to assume additional duties to come into alignment for their salaries. For those salaries that need to be lowered, there is a proposed 6-month grace period to allow for employees to adjust their personal budgets or seek employment elsewhere. Mr. Gallagher will meet individually with each staff member who will experience a salary reduction.
Superintendent Search
The ASB approved having the Oregon School Board Association in partnership with the Coalition of School Administrators oversee the search for a new superintendent to replace the interim superintendent on June 30, 2023. The cost of services will be at least $7200-$9500 or more, based on enrollment numbers and additional services required. ASD has worked with these groups before to locate candidates, including Mr. Gallagher. The board also opened applications to both internal and external candidates. Board member Deb Lindberg volunteered to serve as point person for communications with OSBA/COSA, Mr. Gallagher will also help the district to craft a list of qualifications and expectations for the desired candidate. The start of the school year is the right time to start a search, with hopes that a contract will be signed and in place by April 2023.
Covid Policy Update
The statewide hiatus from Covid policy has been rescinded. Mr. Gallagher says the plan is to “do what we have to do to follow state law, stay open, and stay safe.” The school will have a mask optional policy for the coming school year. Immunizations requirements continue as usual, with religious and medical exemptions honored as usual. If students are seen to be symptomatic of Covid, they will be sent home. The school will have 15-minute Covid test kits available for use if needed. For the official school policies concerning Covid, please visit the school webpage at https://alsea.k12.or.us/media/2022/08/School-Level-COVID-19-Management-Plan-Template.pdf to access the plan the state requires all schools to have in place before the beginning of the 2022/2023 school year.
Alsea Bond Project (ABP)
The Conditional Use Permit is approved, and the building permits will be issued as soon as ASD pays the $5500 fee! Scott Marshall, architect, and Andy Brophy, project manager, will be reporting to the board at each board meeting. They report that numbers and plans are being reworked and streamlined to accommodate the rising cost of labor and materials. (See https://alsea.k12.or.us/media/2022/08/Bond-Project-Update-8-4-22.pdf for more details.) There is continued delay on reworking the numbers for the project because the person who handles this continues to be out on Naval Reserve Duty.
Subcontractors are in place for most but not all portions of the project. Involved parties are meeting daily and weekly to facilitate all the needed changes to the plan. Mr. Brophy reported that after soil tests after excavating the first foot down, excavation for the pad for the Vocational Building (VOC) needs to dig down another foot due to biological matter. Surveyors laid out the lines for the foundation today. Orange caution fencing will be installed around the hole, which will be even deeper where the ADA ramp will be located close to the gym. Chain link construction fencing and a portapotty are ordered and should arrive next week. Pending soil tests, ASB approval to proceed and verification of costs, the pad could be poured as soon as 2 weeks from now.
All of the tree huggers in the valley will be delighted to know that the sewer line for the vocation building is being rerouted so that the Sequoia tree can remain outside the high school entrance. The two southernmost trees along the high school driveway will need to be removed to accommodate the VOC building. All the loggers in the valley will be delighted to know that Mr. Crowe, Career, Technology/Culinary Arts Teacher, will partner with Mr. Brophy to have students in the school forestry program participate in the tree removal. Because the school waterline runs through the roots of these trees, a subcontractor will have to come out to grind down the stumps to below the ground so that dirt can be put down and grass reseeded.
To read the official report for the ASB, visit https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/FileViewerOrPublic/2548?file=9ee80ee7-f84d-4408-babc-7d1bc90c83a2&isFromMeeting=True .
Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Audit
Alsea School District has been contacted by the ODE concerning a “potential financial and performance audit” due to the number of complaints to the ODE from community members and staff. Acting Superintendent Sean Gallagher welcomes the audit because ODE has resources and capacity to address problems that are beyond the capacity of ASD to resolve. To see the notification from the ODE and the response letter that Mr. Gallagher wrote delineating the many actions currently undertaken by the district to rectify problems he found after coming to the district in March 2022.
