By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald — The Pleasant Hill School District may have more dollars to put in its 2021 ending fund balance if the Oregon Legislature boosts its anticipated $9.3 billion State School Fund support, Supt. Scott Linenberger told school board members Monday night.
Even though that optimistic discussion among legislators may not be realized, Linenberger said the district is in “a solid financial position for the foreseeable future.”
His remarks followed approval of the 2021-22 district budget that now goes to the school board for routine approval on June 28. The proposed general fund budget of $15,149,390 is 2.21 percent greater than the current budget, which is based primarily on an anticipated increase in special fund support. It also is based on the state’s original budget forecast for the biennium and is financed, in part, by a permanent tax rate of $4.6414 per $1,000 assessed property value.
Budget committee members under the direction of Eric Geyer spent more than an hour reviewing proposed budget items, concentrating on special fund and building fund items.
Forty-four people received the first of two doses of Pfizer vaccine Saturday in a local clinic, Linenberger reported.
Even though there are “zero cases” of COVID-19 in the Pleasant Hill district, the superintendent said he is not optimistic that unmasking and social distancing requirements will be lifted next fall when classes resume unless a vaccine is developed for children under 12.
“My anticipation is that we’ll be more aggressive in getting vaccinations for those students,” he said.
The work of high school Principal Randy Fisher and his crew that staged Friday night’s graduation ceremony received high marks from school board members. The one glitch that was mentioned involved the sound system that made it difficult to hear the latter part of the ceremony.
Steve Traylor, a technology/network specialist, was recognized for “working tirelessly to ensure that students had functioning Chromebooks to complete their daily lessons and that staff members had the tools they needed to deliver those lessons.”
A 95 percent anticipated re-enrollment in district schools next fall was reported by Fisher and by Elementary Principal Devery Stoneberg. Forty elementary students have been invited to attend a half-day summer school from June 15 to July 1, she said.
Stoneberg also recounted how a back-of-the-school setting was chosen for field trips canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The favorite,” she said, “was gold mining.”