From the Superintendent
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A Look Inside Spring 2014 A publication of the Hillsboro School District Communications Department State Senator Bruce Starr, U.S. Representative HILLSBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT POISED Suzanne Bonamici, and State Representative Joe FOR 2014-15 BUDGET SURPLUS OF $6.2 Gallegos joined Glencoe’s Team Shockwave at their MILLION RoboExpo on Tuesday, February 18. The RoboExpo featured robotics teams from across the District, For the first time since the economic reces- as well as a demonstration of Shockwave’s com- sion began in 2008, Hillsboro School District petition robot, which was designed to throw a large is planning for a budget that restores dollars exercise ball through a target. Per league rules, to our system rather than removes them. robots must be wrapped, tagged, and shipped to Reductions had become a staple in our the competition location in advance to ensure that budget messages over the past six years, to no team is able to work on their robot for more than the cumulative total of nearly $70 million. six weeks. Team Shockwave performed amazingly But this year the trend will be reversed, well throughout competition season, recently earn- thanks to several factors. ing a silver medal in the Galileo Division and the #1 Gain Share. Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Wil- Pit Safety Award (second year in a row) at the World ley and Washington County Board of Com- Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. missioners Chair Andy Duyck jointly an- nounced on Thursday, June 6, 2013, that Local Property Taxes. In January, good strengthen our infrastructure; and plan for since their adoption in the fall of 2010. The they intended to gift $10 million of their news continued when the state announced lo- future needs. Some key elements of the process has been lengthy because of ongoing Gain Share* money to Washington County cal property tax collections were higher than proposal are a differentiated lowering of the budget constraints and, in some cases, wait- schools over the course of the 2013-15 bien- anticipated, which increased the amount of staffing ratio (class size), with greater reduc- ing for publishers to update their materials nium. For Hillsboro, this meant approxi- funds available for schools through the State tions at kindergarten, and first and second to better align with the standards. Therefore, mately $1.2 million per year, and allowed us School Fund (SSF) distribution. grade; a restoration of one of the two remain- we concentrated on grades K-5 initially, then to restore three of the five planned budget re- SSF Estimates. In March and early April ing budget reduction days to the calendar; moved to grades 6-8, and are now focusing duction days to the calendar in both 2013-14 2014, we received new SSF estimates for the and the provision of instructional supports on grades 9-12 with a High School Math and 2014-15. (*Gain Share is money that local 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, at all levels. To see the details of the propos- Study Team that includes parents, commu- taxing authorities receive back from the state which reflected fewer students in Oregon al, visit www.hsd.k12.or.us and click on the nity members, students, teachers, principals as a result of tax abatement agreements with than initially projected, a higher transporta- Budget Matters link under the About HSD and central office administrators. large employers.) tion reimbursement than initially projected, drop-down menu. What’s interesting is that over the course Grand Bargain. 2013-14 has been the and an increase in Hillsboro’s average years of these past four years, the availability of year of the “grand bargain”—first with the of teacher experience. HIGH SCHOOL MATH ADOPTION high quality open source materials on the economic grand bargain passed by the Gov- When all these things were factored into Internet has increased dramatically. That re- ernor’s emergency legislative session on our projected revenues, it was determined Hillsboro School District has been in the ality has placed a critical decision before the October 2, and second with the grand land that we would have a surplus of $6,235,335 process of evaluating and approving materi- Please see Math Adoption bargain passed by the Legislature in their for the 2014-15 school year. als to meet the new mathematics standards on page 6 February 2014 short session. The grand bar- Our Board and administrative team gain of the fall brought an additional $100 worked hard to clarify a set of guiding val- million to K-12 schools for the 2014-15 school ues by which to determine how the money meeting with staff at each of our schools, as year, which meant approximately $3.4 mil- should be spent, keeping in mind the goals well as holding periodic listening sessions lion for Hillsboro. and objectives of our Strategic Plan. The task From the for licensed, classified and administrative Poverty Funds. Districts have always re- was less about the money available and more staff, parents and students. ceived additional money for their students about coming to agreement on where and Superintendent In addition, I held two series of infor- living in poverty, but in December, the Or- how we could have the most impact, know- Throughout this mal Coffee Chats—one in October, one in egon Department of Education (ODE) an- ing we would not receive enough to undo all school year, a concerted March/April—to my regular schedule of nounced they had been using figures from of the reductions from the past six years. effort has been made to community listening sessions to provide the previous U.S. Census (2000) rather than In the end, a proposal was put forth that improve and increase more opportunities for patrons to get infor- the most current one (2010) to do their cal- intends to: further student learning and communication between mation about the District and ask any ques- culations. When they began using the new achievement; offer support for students in District staff and all of our tions they had of me. data, it lowered the allocation for some dis- need; provide sustainability from year to various audiences. As- tricts and raised it for others. Hillsboro’s al- year; build staff members’ skills; promote sistant Superintendents location increased by more than $850,000. college and career readiness; allow for eq- Mike Scott Steve Larson and Debbie Please see SUPERINTENDENT uitable access and outcomes for students; Ashley and I have been on page 12 INSIDE FEEDER AREA NEWS: Century | 2 Glencoe | 4 Hillsboro | 8 Liberty | 10 MILLER ED | 12 DISTRICT UPDATES | 6 COMMUNITY PARTNERS | 7 HILLSBORO ONLINE | 12 2 F EEDER G ROUP day, June 6, from 6:30pm to teachers, run by a respected February. 8pm. The theme this year is "Art Brings principal, Mr. Callaway, and The fifth and sixth grade music program Community Together." This event will take Indian Hills wants the transition to be as was such a success during the evening per- place in coordination with Imlay's Open comfortable as possible. formances in March that it was also per- BUTTERNUT CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL House, so there will be a lot to see and do. You are changing from one good school formed during the school day for the entire Principal: Enedelia Schofield The goal is to share Imlay's love and ap- to another one. What you can expect is to school. Entitled “Joust: A Mighty Musical,” preciation of art with the community! Al- be welcomed by a teaching staff that is com- students paid musical tribute to the legend Students at Butternut Creek Elementary ready confirmed are performance art work- mitted to the success of children. The teach- of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round School continue to focus on academics, stu- shops (open to everyone—even parents!) ers here not only have excellent teaching Table. Music teacher Lana Christensen dent health and fitness, and extracurricular such as Zumba for Kids and dance lessons skills, but they are driven by a desire to help expressed appreciation to everyone who enrichment. from Elements Dance Studio. children be successful. Stated simply, the helped with props and costumes and to pho- Butternut teachers and staff have been There will be a hands-on community art teachers at Indian Hills have a deep feeling tographer Tom Beach. working to develop units of study that align area, with projects to be donated to the com- of responsibility regarding children’s learn- Also an audience pleaser was the first with the Common Core State Standards munity and/or Imlay, a wooden art painting ing, and they do everything that they can to and second grade evening music program (CCSS) in preparation for next school year’s activity for each child, a performance corner help students succeed. Indian Hills will do entitled “Baby Beluga” on April 15. full implementation. Collaboration and dedi- (music, poetry, etc.), multi-seat face-painting its very best to partner with you in this ef- The annual Science-O-Rama (science cation are at the heart of this effort. station (free to everyone), local food carts so fort, as the staff did at Tobias, to help your fair) was a huge success with students at Butternut held its first ever school-wide that busy families can have dinner right here children develop academically, socially, and all grade levels participating. Sponsored (first through sixth grade) field trip to the Ar- at school, and several workshops focused on emotionally. by Synopsys, the event culminated in an lene Schnitzer Concert Hall to experience Ten STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Like all schools in Hillsboro, Indian Hills evening display of projects on April 24 that Grands for Kids.