by Wendy Owen, The Oregonian March 26,
2013
The
BSD's shiny new $58K PR firm is delivering here, huh? I bet the
Beaverton "public" schools' communications director, lawyer
AND cop (your education money hard at work) sat down with the
Public Relations professionals and a plethora of BSD administrators
in the meeting when they made up these thoughtful questions...
$$$
YOU
feel included now, taxpayer? Good. Now vote for the local option levy
like you used to:
1995
"BOARD
FINDS SUPPORT FOR BOND ISSUE: A majority of those at a Beaverton
School Board hearing Monday back a proposed $140 million measure for
the ballot" December 5, 1995 by Cristine Gonzalez The Oregonian
"A
majority of the parents, teachers and other concerned citizens who
attended a public hearing Monday night expressed overwhelming support
for a $140 million bond measure for Beaverton schools.
A
bond measure, most agreed, would mean, among other items, more
classrooms, building repairs and computers for students. But they
cautioned the school board to plan how it would maintain schools and
programs the bond measure would provide. for.how it funds that would
maintain the schools and programs it plans to build with bond monies.
``I've
seen a deterioration of the Beaverton schools system since I moved
here,'' said Dennis Koop, 43, a bond measure supporter. ``But I'm
worried that if we get more schools we won't be able to pay for heat
and repairs. The board needs to keep that in mind.''
More
than 30 people attended a 45-minute hearing at the Beaverton School
District's Administration Center on Southwest Merlo Road. The meeting
was the latest of several attempts to gauge public sentiment on a
bond measure. A community task force recommended that package to the
school after a year of study. In another show of support, more than
half the registered voters polled two weeks ago in a phone survey
said they would support the measure.
If
approved by voters, the $140 million package would be the
second-largest in Oregon history, behind Portland's $197 million bond
that passed Nov. 7, and cost taxpayers an average of 70 cents per
$1,000 of assessed valuation if repaid over 20 years. For a $130,000
home, that adds up to an additional $91 a year in taxes.
The
board is expected to decide by its Dec. 11 meeting whether to place a
measure on the ballot and for what amount the measure 's size should
be.
Janet
Hogue, director of Citizens for School Support, said many parents in
her group not only supported a $140 million bond measure, but also
questioned if it was a sufficient amount.
``People
are looking around Beaverton, seeing what's happening to their
community, and realizing it has a large impact,'' said Hogue,
referring to the district's enrollment growth, which is expected to
rise from 29,000 students to 32,000 students by the year 2000.
The
bond measure would provide money for four new schools, new roofs,
modern heating, cooling and plumbing systems, building repairs, land
purchases, cafeteria and library expansions, new classrooms at
existing schools and computer and other technology.
Several
parents, however, said they were deeply opposed to a bond measure.
``I
want to caution you that building schools can lead to closing schools
when you no longer have the money to operate those schools,'' said
Ruth Bendl , 55, of Cedar Hills. ``Not all of us are ready to give a
helping hand to developers who come to cheerfully set up
subdivisions.''
Others,
still smiting from the elimination of the district's outdoor school
program, expressed deep concern and distrust of the board.
''I
don't trust them with my money,'' said Denise Nass, an Aloha resident
whose two children attend Beaverton schools.
"BEAVERTON
BONDS FOR SCHOOLS FACE VOTE: The campaign to push the $146.5 million
bond issue kicks off after the school board agrees to put it on the
March 12 ballot" December 13, 1995 by Robin Franzen The
Oregonian
"Less
than 24 hours after the Beaverton School Board voted to place a
$146.8 million bond issue on the March 12 election ballot, the
campaign to sell the package of four new schools and other capital
improvements to voters was swinging into gear.
Janet
Hogue, director of Citizens for School Support, a Beaverton-based
bond measure campaign organization, said Tuesday that the group was
beginning a phone survey to gauge public reaction to potential
elements of the pro-bond campaign. She said the effort probably would
include an informational campaign via phone, mailings and
neighborhood canvassing.The group also is approaching Beaverton
businesses for contributions toward a $120,000 campaign war chest, an
effort that Hogue said was ``going very well.'' She said the group
knew of no organized opposition, but was ``waiting to see'' whether
Oregon Taxpayers United -- the same group that opposed Portland's
$197 million bond measure that passed Nov. 7 -- would stand in the
way of Beaverton's request.
If
approved, the Beaverton measure would be the second-largest in
Oregon history, behind Portland's.
The
school district was still working to come up with a cost estimate
Tuesday. However, an estimate developed for an earlier proposed $140
million bond measure suggested a cost of roughly 70 cents per $1,000
of assessed valuation if the bonds were repaid over 20 years. The
average bill for owners of a $100,000 home would have been $700 per
year, under that formula.
The
school board, minus absent board members Sherre Calouri and Sue
Downey, approved the measure's amount Monday after whittling it back
from a proposed $151 million. Items eliminated from the package
included: $500,000 for proposed master planning; $800,000 for design
and other costs; $1 million for heating and ventilation improvements;
and $1.79 million for elementary school office and middle school
choral room renovations. By reducing the overall amount of the
measure, the district would spend $61,444 less on costs related to
the actual sale of bonds.
Of
the $146,890,473 total request, more than $85 million would pay for
new school construction needed to meet population growth between
nowand the year 2000, during which time enrollment is expected to
grow from 29,000 students to 32,000 students.
The
money would cover two new elementary schools, a new middle school and
a new high school, as well as 25 additional classrooms at high-growth
elementary schools. Construction of the new elementary schools would
begin almost immediately.Roughly $50 million would be spent to buy 90
acres for school sites, building repairs, earthquake safety
improvements, handicapped-accessibility renovations, remodeling to
make more efficient use of building space, and computers, video,
telephone and intercom systems needed for safety and communications.
A
citizen's task force recommended a $139.8 million bond-measure, but
the board tacked on money to cover such things as project management,
projected inflation in construction costs and the cost of selling the
bonds.
Although
testimony at a public hearing last week and a district-financed phone
survey indicate strong public support for a large bond measure, some
critics oppose the package as being too costly or not adequately
addressing the long-term space problem.
Jeff
Gilbert, the parent of a first-grader at Raleigh Park Elementary
School, accused the board of ignoring possible ``experimental''
solutions to the district's space needs, including establishing
charter schools and schooling youngsters in double shifts at the
elementary level. He also criticized the district's new Westview High
School, which opened in 1994, saying it was vastly overbuilt, and
therefore, too expensive for taxpayers..."
1999
"SCHOOL
GROUP'S NEW CREDO: DO MORE: The Beaverton foundation steps up funding
efforts and hires a director to help local schools" Sept. 9,
1999 by Laura Gunderson The Oregonian
After
several years of what it calls less-focused fund raising, the
Beaverton Education Foundation has decided on an aggressive approach
to help Beaverton schools and students.
The
11-year-old foundation wants to move beyond handing out awards to
district staff and giving small grants. It has begun an ambitious
campaign to receive donations of kicker income-tax rebates and has
hired its first, part-time executive director, Janet Hogue."This
is just a perfect time for us to step in and do more," said
Hogue, who was a leader in the Beaverton School District's successful
bond campaigns in 1994 and 1996 totaling $175.4 million. "We
can't restore what we've lost in schools through years of cuts, but
it's important that we fund what we can and raise awareness levels.
"For
our growing community, the public school system is the unifying
force."
Foundations
began popping up across Oregon in the last 10 years to help school
districts foundering after 1990's passage of Measure 5 and subsequent
tax-cutting laws that caused schools to cut fine arts and other
extracurricular programs. Most foundations work independently of
districts, although a couple have part-time staff paid for partially
by the districts. Oregon is home to about 36 such foundations -- not
counting smaller groups that support one or two schools within a
district.
Beaverton's
nonprofit foundation is known for the Golden Apple awards it hands
out annually to teachers, administrators and classified staff, and
for its distribution to teachers of grants ranging from $500 to
$2,000.
It now hopes to follow the lead of more financially successful
foundations such as that of the Portland Public Schools, which has
raised millions of dollars and one year funded 200 teaching
positions.
"The
foundation has been a great support to the district over the last
five years," said Yvonne Katz, superintendent of the Beaverton
School District. "Their Golden Apple recognizes outstanding
staff members, and that is very much appreciated by us at the central
office as well as those in the school district.
Hiring
an executive director is a necessary step to becoming a strong
nonprofit, said Cynthia Guyer, executive director of the Portland
Public Schools Foundation. "It's a sophisticated, competitive
market for nonprofits," she said, "and you need a strong
staff and a strong board to be successful. If your agenda is mushy or
your case confused, people aren't going to give."
Established
in 1996, Portland's foundation in three years has raised $6 million
from individuals, small businesses and corporations. It led a
fund-raising drive that collected $800,000 in tax-rebate donations in
1997 and organized a $10 million effort to rehire 200 Portland
teachers laid off after budget cuts for the 1996-97 school year.
Beaverton
raised $55,000 and spent $32,000 on grants and awards last year.
Hogue and board members want to raise multiples of that in upcoming
years. In the past, the foundation has paid for reading incentive
programs, provided supplemental reading material for literacy
training and given teacher and building grants for extra classroom
supplies and curriculum.
This
year, the foundation hopes to promote community awareness through
ambitious phone and mail campaigns and to solicit business donations
to expand teacher grants to as much as $20,000.
"The
foundation is a way for the community to take back control of their
schools," said Hogue, 46, who taught biology at Sunset High
School from 1979 to 1986. She became active in school fund raising,
lobbying and campaigning after the passage of Measure 5.
"As
well as trying to raise money, we really want to promote partnerships
with everyone from parent-teacher organizations, the teachers' union
to the district," said Richard Thomas, a foundation board
member. "We're not trying to compete with any of these groups,
but work with them."
Beaverton
will begin its first big drive next week, as students carry home
fliers handed out in all the schools. They will ask people to give
the foundation their tax kickers, the rebates the state returns at
the end of the year when income tax collections exceed budget
projections. The campaign will continue through October, and another
fund-raising drive is planned for the spring.
"I
don't know that new Beaverton parents have a total grasp of what all
we have lost," Hogue said...
2004
"BEAVERTON
DISTRICT has $66 MILLION SURPLUS: A history of over-budgeting leaves
millions untouched in the Beaverton district’s coffers"
April
29, 2004 by Victoria Blake Beaverton Valley Times
"The
Beaverton School District had $66 million at its disposal from
previous budgets at the beginning of this school year, almost half of
which could have been spent on just about anything.The money wasn’t
a rainy-day reserve, and it wasn’t additional money from the state.
It was money the district had in its coffers all along.
The
$66 million, a cumulative balance of all the district’s funds on
June 2003, was the savings from money received but not spent during
the past few years. It includes the $11.8 million 2003 general fund
balance, but does not include money left in the district’s $149
million capital improvement bond approved in 2000. While the bulk of
the $66 million was earmarked for capital projects or debt payments,
more than $27 million could have been spent on anything from football
games and field trips to special education teachers and textbooks.
District officials said having that much money in reserve was good
fiscal management..."
"IS
DISTRICT CLEANING UP KATZ' LITTER?" by Rick Casey c. 2004 The
Houston Chronicle
"One
shoe has dropped in the mystery of why Spring Branch ISD
Superintendent Yvonne Katz resigned on three days' notice last month,
leaving behind nearly three years on a $250,000-a-year contract.
District
officials announced that one of her top assistants, Mike Maloney, has
resigned after he and two of his subordinates were put on
administrative leave with pay.
Officials
said the district was conducting an investigation, but they declined
to give details until it is complete.
Maloney
was associate superintendent for facilities, transportation and
support. He was brought to Spring Branch by Katz from Beaverton,
Ore., a Portland suburb where she had been superintendent and he was
facilities manager at the school district..."
2011
"BEAVERTON
SCHOOL DISTRICT FACING $40 MILLION BUDGET SHORTFALL NEXT SCHOOL YEAR"
by Wendy Owen The Oregonian 01/27/11
"BEAVERTON
SCHOOL BOARD KEEPS SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATES A SECRET, BUT OTHER
DISTRICTS ANNOUNCE THEIRS" March 01, 2011 by Wendy Owen, The
Oregonian
WITHOUT
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, EDUCATION REFORM IS
SMOKESCREEN HYPOCRISY:
http://www.afscme3336.org/docs/PERSVariableAcctRuling2010may.pdfhttp://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2013/03/beaverton_school_district_asks.html
