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Sheldon High School 2455 willakenzie Rd., Eugene, Or 97401 vol. 44 Issue 5 Mar. 5, 2009
Local health centers fight for funding at Capitol
SHS students travel to Salem to ask for funding for school health centers by Brittney Schooley news editor
On February 20, supporters of school-based health centers from multiple schools went to talk to members of the Oregon Legislature in Salem. The proud, courageous people went to argue for schools’ funding that goes to health centers. Health centers in Eugene schools have been very beneficial for the students and families. With the current economic recession, funding is starting to be restricted among hundreds of schools throughout the country. One of those funding cuts is going to be in Eugene schools and the Eugene community overall. School-based health centers (SBHC) are partly funded by grants and through private funding, but some of those grants and private donations aren’t coming in as a source of income anymore. The crisis here is that 4j needs $200,000 before September of this year or local staff and supplies will be cut short. The students who went to Salem are part of the Teen Advocates Council or T.A.C. After their bus ride to Capital Hill, students went to the main lecture hall to go over the steps to emphasize to the Legislature just how important this issue is. Other groups simultaneously did work with the “Honorary Chairs.” The 4j T.A.C. groups each decorated a chair and tried to get people to sit in it, get a picture taken, and sign a photo album. The chair and album sets will be auctioned on May 8 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Learning and Meeting Center (building 19) at LCC. The money raised will go to
the 4j health centers to keep them running and healthy. Liz Smith-Currie, the Policy Director of Oregon’s SBHC, said, “The main purpose of [travelling to Salem] is to bring attention to SBHC and let Legislators know that families need access to affordable health care.” SmithCurrie got involved in the SBHC through her work and past jobs. She also stated, “It’s important to me because I think everybody needs to be healthy so they can focus on being a kid and their school. My hope for the future of SBHC is that eventually every school that needs or wants a SBHC gets one.” This will only happen with support and funding from the government and communities. The students from Sheldon who went are sophomore Joceyln Wensel, junior Erin Lashway, and seniors Sarah Williams and Satchel Kornfeld. This matter is very important to all of them and they proved how passionate they are by going and discussing the situation to the
Legislature. Sheldon Health Center’s Debbie Johnson said, “The thing I feel strongly about is that the SBHC sees more families with health problems. The SBHC is one place in town that people from birth to 19 years old go to get health care. It’s a safety-net, the last place for most people to go. We know, with the economy, that there isn’t really money to fund this, but we need it more than ever. We are the place that people come with kids. If we don’t keep our doors open those people will lose it and won’t get health care. If we’re not here, the everyday problems and the bigger, more severe problems won’t be helped.” Their trip was very inspirational and many believe it was successful. Time will tell how successful it really was. The health centers are valuable resources available to the public. Their employees care about helping others and making sure our students, who could be future leaders of this country, are healthy to deal with anything life may throw at them.
Brittney Schooley photo
Local high school students went to the State Legislature asking for funding for Health Centers.
Empty staff parking spaces irritate SHS students Sheldon tries pilot program assigning staff parking spaces before applying the system to student parking spots by Jamie Burns opinions co-editor A new numbered parking space system was recently introduced to Sheldon. Staff members have been assigned new numbered parking spots, some of which were previously available for students. There are now 160 designated parking spaces in the front and back of the school for full time staff members. If a student’s car is found in an assigned staff member parking space
there will be consequences. The numbering of the teachers spaces is a pilot, which may eventually lead to designated student parking spots based on seniority. Many students have become angry due to the difficulty of finding open parking spaces before class. Junior Emily Smith said, “Now when I come to school there are always less parking spaces open. I have to drive around for a while before I find somewhere to park.” When asked what type of comments he received from students regarding the loss of parking spaces campus supervisor, Marques Green said, “I have received some nasty notes. Students think that because parking spaces are oversold we are ripping them off, but students have classes at different times, so not all cars are in the parking lot at the same time. By overselling parking spaces we are trying to accommodate everyone.” When designating parking spaces, Green said they had to provide for not only students, but also staff members.
There are costs for students who park in parking spaces reserved for staff members. Those students will receive a ticket for parking in staff parking. Junior Sarah Sprague said, “I parked in the teachers’ parking spaces for about a week, without even noticing the numbers. Then I got a $10 dollar ticket that I had to pay.” Students who continue to receive tickets and not pay will receive a referral. The newly numbered staff member parking spaces are acting as a pilot. Campus supervisor Marques Green said, “If we were to throw students into assigned spaces right away, it would be crazy. Instead we started out with numbering a few spots for staff.” It is still undecided exactly how many parking spaces will be numbered in the future for students. Although there has not been a definite decision, in the future there may be 50 numbered student spaces to transition students into assigned parking spots. The spaces would be sold according to seniority, and first come first serve.
crisis, “The choice of cutting days off from school is yet to be determined… What do you do about the students who are graduating and still need those few credits? The same goes for the ‘displacement’ of teachers. Of course that is the worst case scenario, but if it turns out that we won’t have the funding, that’s what it’s going to head towards.” The district put together a survey to solicit recommendations from teachers, parents, and even students around the community of what to do about the crisis. The five main suggestions were: reduce/cut administration, restructure the central office, reduce spending on athletics and extra curricular activities, reduce the school year two to three days, reduce extra funding for declining school enrollment, and close and/or consolidate some small elementary schools. Every year, a department of the school (math, science, English, etc.) gets new textbooks for their use to upgrade to the newest version, or replace old beat-up ones. This year is the math department’s turn and they have $60,000 to purchase new books. After this year, they
would have to wait seven more years until they could acquire the newest book from the budget the school gives them. “They have that option to spend the money set aside for them on new textbooks… or allow the school to have the money so we can spend it where it is really needed. The math department has to face this tough decision,” Debi Brookes in the finance office stated. If the school board does decide to cut days off of the school year, teachers will need to adjust to the shortened schedule and plan accordingly so they can teach what is expected in the curriculum. “Colleges will just have to be flexible when it comes to those seniors who are planning on college as their next schooling plan,” registrar Jan Gordon said. The students who are going to college will definitely not suffer if school is cut short. They will get the knowledge needed, just in a smaller time frame. “With days cut off a school, teachers are most likely having to teacher the sections quicker, which will most likely result in more homework for students though,” Gordon said.
Budget crisis proposes possible cut in school days Budget cuts will affect SHS students, especially starting next school year by Jaime Fazio opinions co-editor Schools around Oregon, including Sheldon, are facing a budget crisis that is potentially very problematic. This crisis is affecting anyone and everyone who is either involved or not involved. The budget cuts are including or may lead to days being cut off at the end of the school year, the inability to provide new textbooks to the students, the laying off of staff members, and less money for Sheldon to spend on ways to make it a better place. The budget cuts are leaving both staff and student’s minds wondering. Without any real information of what is going to happen yet, everyone is on his or her toes waiting to hear the final word. Principal Bob Bolden said regarding the