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Pendleton School District 16 R
Contact: Kathryn Firestone, Executive Director, 503.704.0504, or Paul Kelly, 503.553.3230.
February 13, 2006 - (Portland, Ore.)--The 16 R School Board voted tonight to join a lawsuit against the State of Oregon for failing its constitutional mandate to adequately fund public schools. The district joins the Oregon School Funding Defense Foundation, a statewide non-profit that is organizing the action.
Pendleton’s decision to become a plaintiff will spearhead the filing of the adequacy lawsuit, which will include several other districts and individuals not yet named.
The 16R school district is an exemplary district with regard to wise use of all available resources, both people and funding. They have high community standards and expectations for their public schools. They were the second district in the state to take responsibility for making up legislative funding shortfalls by voting to pass a local option, renewing it for another five years in March 2005. Despite this, they have coped with the impacts of a steady reduction in per-student resources:
State funding to the Pendleton School District last year was reduced by $1,700,000 on top of $3,250,000 lost between 1999 and 2003.
In 1996, the State School Fund grant to Pendleton was $13,871,825; nearly 10 years later it is $14,955,000 with no allowance for inflation.
They continue to lose seasoned staff at a high rate through attrition. As of spring 2005, they had cut 80 personnel positions including 5 administrators, 45 teachers and 30 support staff.
They continue to hold students and programs harmless wherever possible by creating double-, and in some cases, triple-duty positions of remaining administrative and teaching staff.
According to Superintendent Jim Keene, “There simply isn’t anything further that the Pendleton School District can do to ensure that the needs of our kids are met. We see this lawsuit as an opportunity to put some responsibility back on the state where it belongs.”
The foundation board includes former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Betty Roberts of Portland; Paul Kelly, Attorney and former General Counsel for Nike; Bruce Samson, Attorney and former General Counsel for NW Natural; Attorney Bill Deatherage of Medford, Attorney Arthur Johnson of Eugene, and Attorney Dennis Karnopp of Bend. The Oregon School Funding Defense Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.