Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A REPORT CARD ON THE CORVALLIS SCHOOL DISTRICT 509J (CSD509J)

(Cross-posted from Benton GOP News) - I am a life long Corvallis Resident. Kindergarten to 12 at Corvallis 509J. A Graduate of OSU in Business Administration. US Army Veteran. A local business owner in Corvallis for the last 37 years. I have served on over 30 local Boards. (CASA, Benton County Mental Health, Rotary, Corvallis 509J, OSU Education Foundation, etc). In January of 2014, I received the Senior First Citizen of Corvallis Award at Celebrate Corvallis.

Since March of 2013, I have attended every Corvallis 509J School Board Meeting, except one. The following is just some of the information, I have learned at these meetings:

  1. The total operating Budget for CSD509J for School year 2013 to 2014 is 98 Million dollars.

  2. There are 6348 students enrolled in CSD509J. We will spend $15,437.93 per student, this year.

  3. Approximately 8000 students reside in the 509J district. 1700 or 23 % do not attend public schools. They attend Private Schools or are Home schooled.

  4. In the last five years the graduation rate at CHS and CVHS has dropped from above 80% to 72%. 28% of our High School Seniors did not receive a diploma in 2013.

  5. Enrollment decline. In 2002 we had 7250 students, by 2013 we had 6348. A loss of 900 children. CSD509J receives in State and Federal funds about $6000 per student per year. The 900 times $6000; equals $5,400,000 in revenue lost to 509J.

  6. CSD509J provides All Day Kindergarten in four of the eight Grades Schools in Corvallis. The other four Schools have Half Day Kindergarten. Oregon Law requires Equal Education Opportunities for all children. The district discriminates against many students and families.

  7. Fairplay School Sale. At the August 19, 2013 School Board Meeting, Mr. Steve Nielsen, Business Manager for CSD509J, announced the Sale of Fairplay School to Waldorf School. The terms were: Sale Price $476,000. $100,000 down payment, 6% interest, with a 4 year balloon. This is for a School and 11 acres. The previous year of the minutes of the 509J Board Meetings, make no mention of this property being for sale. The Board gave no public notice the property was for sale. Nor did they get an appraisal or do a Market analysis as to its best use or value. The School is surrounded by single family residences. Waldorf was unable to obtain financing. The CSD509J Board decided to become the lender with Tax payer money. Waldorf competes for Students with CSD509J. This sale closed on August 29, 2013. The next day, August 30, 2013, the Benton County Assessor placed a value of $3,592,197 on the Fairplay/Waldorf property. More than 7 times what the School Board sold it for. They gave away a Tax payer asset. School Board members are all elected officials, and have a fiduciary responsibility to the Tax Payers of 509J to exercise due diligence as they perform their duties. I testified to the Board, that if handled properly; The Fairplay Sale should bring 3 Million plus. Ten minutes after my testimony, Ann Schuster made a motion to sell FairPlay for $476,000 and it was seconded by Vincent Adams. The board vote was unanimous. I commissioned a Title report which shows the Property has a Warranty deed and the Assessor’s evaluation at $3,592,197. I gave a copy to the School Board.
If these results concern you, please get involved and start attending the School Board meetings. The School Board and the Administration must be held accountable as to how they perform their duties.

Al Hutchinson
Corvallis Resident

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