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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Sisters students head back to school
By Jim Cornelius

Sisters students eagerly headed off to class on Monday, September 9.

Sisters students went back to the classroom on Monday, September 9 -- four days later than originally planned.

The school board delayed the start of school by four days in order to gain some time to assess the impact of statewide budget cuts. At press time, the legislature still had not acted to restore a nearly $500 million shortfall, but a deal involving some cuts, some borrowing and a temporary tax increase appeared to be in the works.

The delay only seemed to whet the students' eagerness to get back to school, according to local officials.

"You cannot believe the excitement and enthusiasm of 300 students today," said Sisters Middle School Principal Lora Nordquist.

The middle school started the year with 302 students, up from 286 at the end of last year. The high school, too, saw an enrollment increase from 465 to 476 students.

(School officials note that enrollment doesn't "settle out" until October).

A larger-than-expected 10th grade class (126 students) required some shuffling of teachers and sections, according to Principal Boyd Keyser.

High school teacher Mike Clancy was laid off in the face of budget cuts and the district declined to fill two educational assistant positions. One custodial position is also vacant.

The school board at its Monday, September 9, meeting agreed to freeze Superintendent Steve Swisher's salary at the same level as last year as part of a budget conservation effort.

Board members emphasized that this was a voluntary cost-savings measure and does not reflect any dissatisfaction with Swisher's leadership of the district.

Sisters Elementary School dropped in its enrollment from 403 to 393 students. Elementary school enrollment tends to fluctuate over the course of a school year.

Principal Tim Comfort noted that the school has worked hard to provide the same programs and services it has in the past, despite budget constraints.

Comfort said he hopes the public recognizes that doing so has become increasingly difficult.

"If we're always picking up the pieces, will people ever know how hard we're working?" he said.

The school board declined to take a position at their Monday, September 9, meeting on Measure 19, which would establish an "education stability fund" and provide $150 million to schools.

"We have not taken a position. We haven't taken positions on previous measures," said board chair Jeff Smith. "I think you are aware that there is some disagreement on the board as to whether Measure 19 is a good idea or not and I'm not sure it facilitates anything to have a 3-2 vote on the issue by the board."

Sisters has about $150,000 at stake in Measure 19.

Proponents argue that the measure is urgently needed to stave off cuts. Opponents believe the measure is an accounting gimmick that allows the legislature to avoid real school funding reform.

Ballots are in voters' hands. They are due September 17.

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