ParkroseGateway.com

Received from the school district 4/19/12, 4:49 p.m.

* **UPDATED

April 19, 2012

*

Dear Parkrose Parents, Guardians and Community,

As you may already know, the Parkrose Faculty Association notified the District that they would be conducting a strike starting on April 25th. In an effort to communicate with the parents, guardians and community of the Parkrose School District, we are sending you both an email and a letter in the mail regarding our Tentative Strike Plan for the students of the Parkrose School District.

The District and PFA have been bargaining for almost a year for many hours. On April 16, 2012 we met for another 14 hours in our fifth mediation session. While the parties seemed to agree on a majority of the workload issues, the sticking point continues to be salary and benefits. We will be having our 6th state mediated session today, April 19th at 6:00 pm to try to settle this contract in order to avoid the unfortunate occurrence of a strike. Tuesday, the Board voted unanimously to implement the final offer presented to the Association which, we also sent to you in an email last week. A full copy of the final offer is located on the District home page. We are trying hard to give you all current information so we can keep everyone informed. Our desire is to settle the contract but it takes both sides for this to occur. We are hopeful each and every time we meet that this will be accomplished and we are confident that we will get there. We also know that a strike is bad for everyone and can damage school districts and communities for many, many years to come.

Below is the Tentative Strike Plan. I need everyone to know that it may change and it will certainly be more detailed with time. Locations are to be determined. Hopefully, we will never need it.

*Week One*: April 25, 26 and 27: No students. Scheduled varsity sports only.

*Week Two*: April 30-May 4: Day Care provided for students K-5, and varsity sports. Middle school and high school students will have breakfast, lunch and dinner snack available at the high school.

*Week Three*: May 7-May 11: Regular school for grades K-2, and high school seniors. Day care continues for grades 3-5, special education all grades, and varsity sports. Middle school and high school students will have breakfast, lunch and dinner snack available at the high school.

*Week Four:* Full school all grades, all students.

We are in the process of lining up qualified substitutes and working out about a million details which will continue to flow to you mostly through email. We are sending this message to the school secretaries who will forward it to all parents. We will continue to do that. At times, we will also be mailing information home through the post office to get the best communication coverage.

I know that this tentative plan doesn’t answer everything but I wanted to share with you just what we have done so far. I know that this communication may raise more questions than answers. Please send your questions to us and we will do the best that we can to answer them. Just a final note, that strike days are NOT furlough days. Furloughs will be different days. During strike days, all other staff are required to be at work.

We will continue to keep you informed.

The hope of the Parkrose School District is that this is one plan we will never have to implement.

Sincerely,

Dr. Karen Fischer Gray

Superintendent

Join your neighbors for a National Night Out event this week — see below for details.

Tuesday, August 2

Parkrose Heights: National Night Out in Knott Park (NE 117th and Russell) at 6:00 p.m., including a hot dog dinner, entertainment from local band Cheap Date, and games for kids.

Glenfair: National Night Out in Glenfair Park (NE 154th and Couch) starts at 5:00 p.m. Includes carnival games, balloon animals, and a bouncy house and slide.

Sumner: National Night Out barbecue at 4415 NE 87th Avenue (in the fire station parking lot). They’ll supply hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and soda; bring a side dish to share.

Saturday, August 6

Parkrose: Neighbors’ Night Out at Senn’s Dairy Park (NE 112th and Prescott). The event begins at 6:00 p.m. Bring your own picnic dinner and enjoy local musicians and community information.

I’ve seen the angry letters to the editor in a local paper. I pass by a sign every day asking me to vote no on the Parkrose Schools bond measure. It kinda kills me.  I have three kids in Parkrose schools, with one entering the middle school (a primary focus of the bond measure) in the fall. I want them to be attending safe, secure schools. I want them to attend schools that are good environments for learning. It’s personal for me.

But measure 26-123 just makes sense to me, anyway. I’ve been a childless adult, and I’m reasonably certain I’d still vote for it if I had no kids.

The main project attached to the bond is a new middle school. Parkrose has only one middle school, constructed in 1961. Yes, many buildings constructed in 1961 are just fine, but this one isn’t. It requires such extensive repair and renovation that it will be more cost-effective to replace the whole building. Otherwise, the district will have to keep throwing money away just to keep patching it up. And that decision wasn’t made lightly – the district did get professional opinions.

Elementary schools would receive safety, security and technology upgrades, and three of the four schools would have new multipurpose rooms built, because currently they each have only one room available for use as gym, cafeteria and assembly room.

The high school would benefit from district-wide safety and technology upgrades as well, although no major renovations or upgrades are planned (the current high school was built in 1997).

You can find out more about current problems and planned upgrades by watching the virtual tours: 10-minute version or 20-minute version.

And the cost for all of this? Only whatever you are currently paying in property taxes. Your taxes will NOT go up! Parkrose has an existing bond that is expiring this year, and the new bond will simply replace that one, at the same tax rate.

We have the opportunity to invest in our community’s future without any additional expense to property owners. It makes perfect sense to me. Please vote YES for Parkrose on May 17, 2011.

Parkrose’s free community dinner at Parkrose United Methodist Church will be Wednesday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m. Anyone is welcome for food, friends, and a puppet show! Parkrose United Methodist Church is located at 11111 NE Knott Street.

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