Pirates give new w coach BIG first rst win win! in!!
SHEEPDOG CLASSIC Watch the dogs work this weekend. Page 4
Get the VHS fall sports schedule hedule inside. See Pages 15, 16 and 17
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 Vol. 58, No. 37
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Contract will raise district teacher salaries By SUSAN RIEMER
In 2011, the state Legislature cut teachers’ The Vashon Island salaries for two years by School Board is expected to 1.9 percent. The state has approve the teachers’ con- restored those cuts, and tract tomorrow evening, with the passage of the conproviding the island’s pub- tract, the district’s teachers lic school teachers with an will receive raises beyond 8 percent raise over three that of 3 percent this year, 3 percent next year and 2 years that administrapercent the third year. tors say will help Vashon These raises are in line remain competitive with with those at other disnearby districts. tricts, Soltman added. By approving the conIndeed, The Seattle tract, which T i m e s covers the recently “Parents demand d i s t r i c t ’s reported roughly 100 the best. If we really that teachteachers mean it, we have to be ers there libraria ns approved competitive.” and couna two-year selors, the Michael Soltman, c o n t r a c t VISD superintendent board will that will commit the provide a district to 2 percent paying an increase this year, a 2.5 peradditional $175,000 in salacent increase next year and ries this school year and additional changes that will increasing to $465,000 by add another 1.8 percent. the third year, said Michael On Vashon’ school board, Soltman, the district’s chair Bob Hennessey said superintendent. he, too, feels it is imporThe raises are essential tant to be competitive in for the island to recruit and order to provide quality retain the best teachers, education and noted that Soltman added. Vashon has a high cost of “Parents demand the living, more in line with best,” he said. “If we really Seattle than with some mean it, we have to be com- nearby rural districts. petitive.” “Money matters,” he said. The district has had dif- “If we want to retain and ficulty drawing new teach- attract the best, we have to ers, particularly in math pay a fair salary.” and science, Soltman noted. Hilary Emmer, a citizen Vashon pays between 8 activist, has raised conand 12 percent less than cerns about just how fiscalcomparable districts, such ly responsible this raise is. as Seattle, Tukwila and “I am concerned,” she Snoqualmie, he said. said. I do not see this as The state sets a base sal- sustainable.” ary for teachers, and disLast year, she said, she tricts set salaries above and went to a school board beyond that for extra time meeting where they decidand responsibility. Vashon ed not to buy certain textpays roughly 13 percent books for each student above that base pay, Soltman because they were consaid, while other districts cerned about the cost. pay as much as 22 percent above the state-set base.
Staff Writer
David Weller Photo
In last year’s P2P, Adam Gunn leads friends up the Sylvan Beach climb, which comes immediately after Burma Road, one of the hardest hills of the ride.
Cyclists to test their mettle on one tough ride Lookout, Chilly Hilly, here comes Vashon By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
On Vashon this weekend nearly 200 bicyclists will take part in what some cyclists say is the toughest ride in Puget Sound. The Passport to Pain, or P2P, covers 78 miles of the island and takes in many of its hills, topping out at 10,000 feet of elevation gain, according to Bruce Morser, the ride’s mastermind and one of its primary organizers. Known as an extremely fit cyclist, Morser made clear just how difficult the race is. “This shreds me,” he said. Last year on the ride, first his quadriceps locked up then his hamstrings. “I rode the last hill by a shuffling motion. Everything else was cramped,” he said. The ride, now in its third year, continues to grow, and Morser expects to draw 180 men and women this weekend. In addition to the nearly 80-mile
ride — christened “The Idiot,” — there are shorter rides offered as well. The Weasel climbs 6,300 vertical feet over 50 miles, and even The Weenie is not for the faint of heart with 3,400 feet of elevation gain over 30 miles. Morser created the ride as a fundraiser for the Vashon Island Rowing Club (VIRC), of which he is a member, and the result is a ride — not a race — marketed with attitude and a lot of humor. It is also a ride that Morser and others say they hope will come to rank among the top rides in the region, including the Chilly Hilly and the Ride Around Mount Rainier (RAMROD). At the beginning of P2P, each rider is given a passport, which is then stamped at 18 checkpoints along the route. The checkpoints, staffed mostly by members of the rowing club, will all have themes this year, Morser said, including Hawaii, Mexico and the South Pole. Riders on the P2P secure their passport with a pledge of $100 but are given a $4 rebate for each stamp. If they collect all 18 checkpoint stamps,
they will donate a minimum of $20 plus $8 for the barbecue at the end of the ride. If they get only two stamps, they will donate $92. “The further you go, the tougher you are, the less you pay,” Morser said. The ride is not all about toughness, Morser was quick to point out, but about togetherness as well. With the stops at checkpoints and crossing paths with cyclists going up and down the hills, Morser said it is the most social ride he has ever been on. “Nobody comes to the ride and does not go home with a bunch of new friends,” he said. And nearly everyone donates something extra to the club, he noted. Islander Steve Abel, an avid cyclist who participated in the first two P2Ps and is recently home from cycling in the French Alps, has a few words of advice for those who are considering the ride. “Train, train, train,” he said. “Ride nothing but hills.” The number and steepness of the hills makes the elevation gain more
SEE SALARIES, 21
SEE PAIN, 20