Winnemucca News

Winnemucca News

School District to discuss rural options - 10-13-2010

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WINNEMUCCA — The first of at least two Humboldt County School Board meetings to discuss the future of the county’s rural schools has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 16, at 6:00 p.m. in Orovada.

The board is holding the meeting in Orovada as a “central location” for rural community members.

District Superintendent Mike Bumgartner asked the Board of Trustees at the Tuesday (Oct. 12) meeting to consider making what is to be done about county’s rural schools “priority one”.

Bumgartner explained, “If we make changes in our rural schools’ structure we have to have those decisions made before we pass the deadlines on finalizing budgets and making staffing decisions.”

The two rural representatives to the school board, Kris Stewart and John Hill, said they had talked about rural schools issues with some members of Humboldt County’s outlying communities and shared with the board some of that input.

Stewart suggested a minimum of two board meetings (including the entire school board) specifically on the rural-schools issue and suggested Orovada as a central location.

Hill added the people he’d spoken to said meetings with all the board members present would “show how serious we are.”

Board members agreed to hold the rural meetings as extra meetings in addition to their regularly twice-monthly scheduled meetings, so the agendas could focus only on the rural school issues.

Board members asked Superintendent Mike Bumgartner to give an opening presentation at the Orovada meeting on November 16th to set the stage for the discussion to follow. “People need to know the facts,” said Stewart, noting she’d received some preliminary information from school district staff outlining what some of the rural schools received as operating funds from the Distributed School Account – compared to what the actual operating expenses are for those schools.

Board members agreed that kind of specific information, along with a full explanation of the reason changes are being considered, is what rural community members need.

Bumgartner and school board members also agreed on the necessity for letting as many rural community members as possible know of the upcoming meeting.

In addition to sending home notices with students, they will be posting notices in public areas, as well as considering other methods for getting people involved.

Stewart hoped community members who no longer have children in school, but who have experience in considering the rural-schools issue will attend. Hill added it’s important for young community members with pre-school children to be involved in the discussions since they’ll have an enormous effect on their children’s future educational opportunities. Stewart added that the meeting should include school board members from Fields Oregon, near the border with the north portion of the county – as well as tribal representatives. She also suggested a bilingual Spanish moderator.

Stewart said board members should be prepared to “be in listening mode” and keep an open mind regarding any suggestion made during the rural meeting.

Bumgartner said “It sounds like a meeting for board of trustee to ask questions and listen to answers.” The board chose the November 16th date in response to Bumgartner’s suggestion the meeting should be held after the election November 7th, since two board members are up for election (three ran unopposed) and it would be premature to have the discussions before the makeup of the board is determined by the election. 

Written by Joyce Sheen - Silver Pinyon Journal - 10/13/10

• Winnemucca News