Dear Key Communicators and the Port Orford/Langlois Communities,
It is not expressed to you enough how your support of the kids and staff at 2CJ is vital to the quality of education and community partnership that has been fostered in our District. The 2009/10 school year was tumultuous, uncertain, and in some cases, tragic.
It began with the broken water main at Driftwood that delayed the school opening by 4 days. The staff was absolutely the best. Many teachers were required to set up classrooms in dry parts of the complex while the restoration company worked day and night to get the school operating again.
This was followed in early October by an arson and burglary that could have cost us our high school, and again, teachers, students, and staff showed remarkable teamwork and flexibility as classes and schedules were disrupted. The negative effect on the morale of the students was significant with the most asked question being: “Why.” Once again the maintenance and administrator teams’ time was taken up by repairs, law enforcement, and insurance work.
During this time, the PHS math classes experienced multiple substitute teachers which hurt the continuity of instruction so essential to this subject area. Allegations of inappropriate behavior by a teacher continued the pattern of catastrophe and disruption of school life. In the spring Laurie Feldhaus died and created a deep loss, not only of a wonderful woman, but also a dedicated and child-centered instructional assistant.
The District was found to be out of compliance with DEQ water treatment regulations and received a fine for the violations, dipping into an already decimated budget.
The recession and Oregon’s income tax based revenues brought on a crisis for everyone, especially public services. Schools receive the great majority of this State support and Districts had to budget on uncertain numbers. We developed next year’s budget in a very conservative way, and even when the funding was projected to be higher than expected, we realized that in order to maintain present level services to kids and balance the 2010/11 budget it was necessary to cut over $700,000 dollars (nearly 25% of our total budget). We expected to have a $500,000 dollar carry-over at the end of this year, but every dime and more will need to be used. Teachers, support staff, materials, books, supplies, maintenance, basically all areas were impacted. We thought the worst was over, but at the end of May we received another revenue forecast that would result in a 9% across the board cut in State funding. This resulted in another $150,000 deficit to deal with. Again, people had their jobs reduced or eliminated.
All of these events eroded the public’s view of our District and disheartened us all. Still our students continue to excel, and we will be fine. Last year was terrible and an anomaly. 2010/11 will be brighter and the June 4th graduation of another group of special young men and women brought everyone together for a celebration of hope for the future.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mick Lane, Port Orford Langlois School District 2CJ