LAHO teacher and staff member of the month Colleen Bauer has set a goal of visiting each of her students in person. She has logged hundreds of miles across Oregon to meet this goal.
Alsea School District (ASD) is delighted to report a 93% graduation rate for the Class of 2023, with 13 graduates. The cash carryover to the 23/24 school year is $1.3 million.
The Alsea School Board (ASB) voted to accept the proposed budget for school year 2023-2024. The board accepted a resignation from Mary Jackson, high school math instructor. For the upcoming school year, the board voted to hire Ben Brumbaugh as an elementary teacher, Seth Stevens as Agricultural Sciences teacher, Heather Shunk as half-time LAHO principal, and David Lynch as Art CTE teacher
Integrity Management Solutions (IMS) gave their monthly report on the Alsea Bond Project (ABP), which includes photos of work and a draft revised plan for the VOC building. You can read the IMS report here. Soderstrom Architects have been retained to draft the improved VOC building design project, which will continue through the summer. Read more about this here. Financial reports on the ABP can be found on BoardBooks here.
Acting Superintendent Sean Gallagher, whose tenure will end June 30th, thanked the Alsea community for the “true honor to serve this special community and staff.” He also presented a status report on District Priorities accomplished during the 2023-2024 school year; you can read the report here. During the upcoming school year, incoming Superintendent Krista Nieraeth will need to address ongoing staff evaluations, policy development, and the Aligning For Student Success Continuing Improvement Plan. While the Reduction in Force is complete, the organizational chart will need updating to reflect reorganization and new hires. Ongoing contract negotiations with the Alsea Educational Association will be required to update the contract, job descriptions, and faculty handbook. The teacher mentoring program will continue, with expanded training for substitutes and Instructional Assistants. Program development is needed in TAG, ELL, RTI/MTSS and K-12 media. The process of accreditation for Alsea High School needs to be completed. Recordkeeping needs to be transferred from paper to electronic using the LBLESD system. Student records are being transferred from SIS to Synergy, which is being overseen by Lora Nickle. And finally, an application for a Seismic Bond to augment the ABP VOC building will be completed by Spring 2024 by ZCS Services.
Alsea School parent Karen Elkton spoke passionately about the amazing personalized attention her child has received at ASD. She also expressed concern that with reduced staff, that kind of personalized attention will be lost. ASD Chair Risteen Follett assured her and the public that ASB will work with incoming Superintendent Krista Nieraeth to support both staff and students. Follett also stated that the Board welcomes parental advocacy. Terry Lunsford declined to make a scheduled comment.
Heartfelt thanks were offered to Ryan Van Leuven and Linda Montanez, whose board tenures will end June 30th. Board Chair Follett thanked Ryan for volunteering to sit on the board after the recall election and for his assistance with the ABP in particular. Linda received a plant in appreciation for her eight years of dedicated service on the ASB. Both board members were encouraged to continue to offer input to the ASB.
Linda Montanez gave a heartfelt goodbye speech. She stated she has been a part of ASD since she entered 1st grade in 1956. Linda wants to pass on her thanks to the community for their input and hopes the board has answered all expectations and questions from the community. She stated that she loves the school and supports the school board. She believes that the school has turned a corner and will continue to get better and better in the future. She hopes that the community continues to rebuild good feelings about the school and what happens there.
