More improvements!

As we get closer to school opening, the pace of improvements increases. Some photos of the significant ones follow....





First, Charles H. re-stained his beautiful front sign. That wood looks great, even 50 months old! Thanks, Charles!







Dana has done a great job with a new skim coat on the basketball court, and they were out on Sunday laying down lines for painting lots of new four-square courts. It looks marvelous -- thanks so much!




The front garden has really come together. Thanks to Carla especially, as well as all her assistants -- the entire garden committee and all the contributors over the last several years.




Finally, the portable deck has been extended with steps on the back side. There's still plenty to do. There are a lot of new chain-link fences going in. More on that in the next post....

Community Cleaned Up!

Thank you to all the parents who showed up Saturday morning to pull, dig, sweep, shovel, rake, till, and otherwise neaten up the school and prepare it for the official opening on September 8! I'd guess there were well over 40 parents, with many more accompanying kids, who showed up to help.

A particular thanks to Michelle B. for organizing the event, and for getting the coffee, bagels, water, and other treats together to keep everyone going. A light rain shower cooled us down, but then the sun came out again. Well done, everyone!

When Does School Start?

Our "classroom assignment" letters (received at the end of July) indicated that Grades 1-5 would start on the Tuesday after Labor Day, September 8 (not, as has been true in the past, on the Wednesday). This shift, as I understand it, is intended to give at least one more day of instruction in the school year.

While the class assignment letter for our Kindergartener indicated that class would start on "Monday, September 8," that obviously doesn't quite work. Other hints (like the timing of the K parent's coffee and the PPS calendar) suggest that K classes actually begin on Friday, September 11. At Rieke, at least, Kindergarteners will be doing assessments on the preceding couple of days.

ETA: We got a new K letter on Wednesday 8/19 -- Friday September 11 is indeed the first day of K. Assessments will occur Tuesday through Thursday.

Community Care Day August 29

Hiding on the back of the teacher assignment letters was an announcement about the annual PPS Community Care Day. This is the day when people show up at Rieke to help tidy the grounds (pick up garbage, pull weeds, sweep, mulch, etc.) before school starts. The grounds need it, and per the PPS Web Site, the event is set for August 29, 9am to noon. Plan to bring your gloves, garbage bags, weed pullers, trimmers, etc. to school on that day. I'll be there, at least! Hopefully the area near the new portable will have been re-seeded with grass before that.

That said, it looks to me like the fabulous garden gnomes have been at work in the front of the school, because the new landscaping out there looks pretty good. Thank you!

And a personal thank you as well to the neighbor who, on occasion this summer and throughout the summer, has mowed the hill outside of Rieke along Vermont. Now that's a commitment!

More New Portable Photos

More photos of the completed new portable. As of August 12, 2009.










As you can see, it's parallel to, but set back a classroom from, the first portable.










Is it possible that they will extend the deck a little?

The New Portable Is In!

As of Thursday, August 12, the new portable has arrived. Some photos from the day's events follow.


Like the first portable, installed two years ago, this came in two halves. They rolled it over into place, then brought the other one in. Still plenty of arranging and landscaping to go.

LiveBlogging PTA Meeting 5/12

A new PTA president is in place; Judith Baker. She was elevated from VP upon last month's elections (see here for minutes from the 4/14 meeting), which didn't have any nominees for president. (Anyone interested in serving as Secretary should contact the PTA Board). Curtis Roth was elected Secretary, and Dick Hausken was re-elected Treasurer. Congratulations and thank you to the new board.

Read more after the jump on what was discussed at the meeting.

Dick Hausken (Treasurer and treasurer elect) reports on the budget at the moment; Art Fair looks like it was a rip-roaring success, netting approximately $5,500 -- well more than expected (congratulations to the organizers!). Book fair and Carnival are still coming. Net result should be that we end the year with $35,000 or so, compared to $37,000 for the year. For more on the summer budget, see below.

Tyler Whitmeyer from Stand for Children is here to discuss the statewide school budget. Charlene reports the statewide budget information; on May 21, the Superintendent will present a revised budget forecast based on the new school information. Unlikely that we will lose FTE, but it may well be that we will lose days. Classroom looks the same, but days are likely to be lost.

Tyler encourages everyone to attend a meeting with local legislators on Monday May 18, Temple Beth Israel 7-8pm. Please come, and let Stand for Children know if you want to speak. Please mail postcards online online postcards. Michael Reunert indicated that he was going to go to the meeting, and can speak for PTA.

CR thanked parents and PTA (esp. Rachael Hemphill) for Staff Appreciation week. Tomorrow volunteer appreciation day, and K classes will sing a song. Welcome to Rieke event today for incoming K students went well. Current estimates are 61-62 incoming K students. Won't be surprised to pick up additional 10 or so. Accepted only co-enrolled siblings as transfers for incoming K classes. (N.B. that's huge! No transfer students and three K classes!)

On the reworking of the parking lot: Charlene showed email from a concerned parent regarding the lot. Lots of bad habits. Committee ideas. COP on both sides of Vermont -- no parking in AM sign. No parking 7-9 loading zone. Theory is to convert "dropoff" zone in front to diagonal parking. Further communications from committee may be forthcoming, but the implication was that the plan was largely complete. Concerns expressed re true level of coordination with entire community re the changes.

Updates 2009-10 board. No VP, no Events Coordinator, no Volunteer Coordinator. Claire Cowan & Rachael Hemphill are ready to move along.

Summer budget. Estimated money available in July -- $35,200. For Summer:
Back to School Lunch $225
First Day coffees $100
Back to School Picnic (matched) $1100
Tech Support contract $8,400
Literacy Support Contract $10,000
Corp registration $75
PTA Training $100
Copying for Back to School Packets $200
Babysitting for First Meeting $30
Web Calendar $100

Total $20,330

Available at start of school year $16,670.

Discussion re copying for PTA BTS packet.

Liveblogging PTA meeting

At the PTA meeting, Ruth Adkins attended to talk about the various issues facing PPS. After the jump, there's more about what was discussed at the meeting. One good thing: Apparently the portable is definitely "in" for Rieke as well as several other schools in the district.

She is going to address the budget; stimulus, capital plan, and talk about various action items. Rick H. asked Q's re splitting funding between high schools and elementary schools. Sup't Smith is going to report on staffing formula proposals between the various schools. They're not at that point yet.

Big issue is cuts in state budget. Risk is that it may be as much as $20M for this year; next year is going to be at least as bad, even if it goes well. State probably won't make decisions until June, so PPS may be in a situation where they have to have a "budget A" and "budget B," with the latter a worst-case scenario. Risk is $25-35 million next year. Supt. Smith said that they "cannot protect the classroom," so there will be a combination of layoffs, program cuts, and more days off. See her presentation here.

At the federal level, the Senate pulled out education funds; to get the money back,
it would be great for people to call their representatives in Congress. At this point, the House is the best hope -- Rep. David Wu is 202-225-0855.

Once we get to the point of making PPS-specific budget decisions (which will be much easier with federal money, if it comes through), there is a "listening session" on 2/26 at Wilson, 7:00pm. Come and share views, and learn more about the budget (the state will have updated budgets by that point).

Part of the discussion regarding budget cuts will obviously require labor involvement; for more on that topic, see this page. On school year length, we do need an exception / waiver from state to go shorter, but Oregon is already short and we really need to try and avoid that -- but it might not be possible.

On facilities: Last night, PPS established a capital fund for the first time in a long time. Capital money is separate from general operations fund. They will borrow against cash on hand at the moment, and raise some for basic needs; $25M will fix roofs, get some portables including one here at Rieke (see p. 11 in the Board book from the 2/9 meeting here); prepare planning for bond funds -- "momentum work." There's still a lot of urgent work.

PPS has $87M in "shovel ready" projects that could be implemented within 18 months; that's out of $270M.

In terms of budget crisis, closure of schools is not on the table. Esp. at K-8 level -- if anything, we're overcrowded. On school size issue, it's a little moot because the newer buildings will look very different than "a school of size x." Very flexible space. Mixed use, etc., will help with flexibility. Conventional wisdom is still 400-500, but Ruth says she tries to remind the staff that we're not a cookie cutter district. Sup't Smith is from an alternative education background, which helps a little bit.

Nominating committee (Cathy, Cindy) report: "We need to fill an awful lot of spots." Need to fill all but Treasurer (Dick has indicated a willingness to stick around).

Rieke run -- Charlene wants to do "Run for Technology." Wants new computers. Maintain some art in the school. Something more low-key. Still keep art in school , but not as big. April 29th / Rain Date May 6. Principal Russell indicated that they don't have a particular plan for which computers to use, other than one supported by the district, and other than a general need for laptops (or something else that's consistent with the electrical system in the lab). After the run, there may be a further meeting to discuss this issue.

Principal Russell indicated that we should have staffing from the district assigned in the first weeks of March. That's when we will need to make further decisions regarding tradeoffs. At K roundup, we have 57 Rieke addresses, or siblings of current students. That number will increase (might lose 5, gain 20, based on history). Should be 3 full day.

Cindy Duley -- not enough interest for a spring play here; but Capitol Hill and Bridlemile will take people.

Lisa Nelson -- will create a "service club" here at Rieke. Idea is parents, kids and siblings will come one day a month; first project -- March 2 -- will be to help create cards to take along for Meals on Wheels. Will announce in Rapper. We will also help do a food drive for Neighborhood House following on the March 2 meeting. Some funding / supplies will come from various community groups that already do this work. Assistance, perhaps, with dropoff of cans in the morning might be useful. Principal Russell pointed out that there is a project "Second Wind" that's done a food drive in the past, and Sturges plans to do it again this year.

12th Preschool Story Hour
26th Listening Session
26th Science Fair 6:30-8:00
26th Listening Session on Budget at Wilson 7:00.
March 10 next PTA meeting

Email to Congress

After the jump, I set out the email I sent to Senators Wyden and Merkley, as well as Rep. Wu, addressing the risk to the school reconstruction funds in the federal stimulus bill. See this post. I'd encourage similar emails...

Dear Senator Wyden/Sen. Merkley/Rep. Wu:

Please ensure that Primary and Secondary School Reconstruction funds (section 9301, $14B) remain a part of H.R. 1. Based on my reading of tonight's news, I understand that the "compromise" reached with Republican senators may well include a decision to eliminate the $14B in reconstruction funds for primary and secondary schools. I strongly believe that such a move would be a mistake.

The decision to eliminate these funds seems short-sighted and contrary to the purpose of the overall stimulus package. As you are well aware, the states have long struggled with ensuring that their public schools are the child-safe, environmentally-friendly, and technologically-advanced kinds of schools that will take us through this next century. Most school districts, including Oregon's, have fallen far behind. Portland Public Schools, for instance, has identified $270 million in immediate investments that are "shovel ready" and that would provide not only the immediate jobs that will get us out of the current economic mess, but the kind of long-term investment that will help keep us on track to future economic growth -- growth in the hands of our children.

So keeping this part of the package makes sense. On the other hand, dropping these funds from the stimulus package reinforces the concern that many people have that the entire package will risk our children's future. When so much future economic burden is being placed in their hands in order to get us out of the current mess, shouldn't we be taking particular care to ensure that in return they receive tangible benefits that will last throughout their lifetime? The school reconstruction funds are necessary, appropriate, and important, and should remain in any stimulus package ultimately enacted by Congress.

Thank you for your attention to this, and for your long hours in D.C.

... yes portable ... but storm clouds

OK, so if anyone else feels a little whipsawed, I concur.

First, Rieke Parents got an email on Tuesday entitled "Portable for Rieke," in which Principal Russell told us that despite the news from last month's PTA meeting, and despite concerns regarding the general fund, the stimulus package was yielding results (see my post below)

I'm very happy to let you know that Rieke will receive a new modular unit (portable) with two classrooms for the 2009-2010 school year. Earlier in the winter, we were told we were not getting a portable, but funding for PPS capital improvements was re-prioritized due in part to the addition of federal stimulus funds. ... For now, we can celebrate the addition of more classroom space.

This was great news, and yet ... Congress hadn't actually agreed to the stimulus money. Indeed, hints abounded that maybe things weren't as certain as one might have hoped. First, despite the extra space, there were suggestions that the school would take no transfers (though that was perhaps partially alleviated by the Principal's suggestion at K roundup that there might be possibilities for transfer spaces).

And now, the suggestion from DC is that the "compromise" reached Friday night that will allow the stimulus package to pass the Senate included an agreement to "cut nearly $20 billion proposed for school construction." (See this New York Times piece.) While we've yet to see the final bill, this almost certainly means cutting the $14B for primary and secondary school reconstruction as well as cutting $6B for higher education capital improvements.

So that's not so good, even if it doesn't directly lead to effects at Rieke. To be sure, this will have to go to the Conference Committee in which the House bill (with the $14B) and the Senate bill (without) will have to be reconciled. So it could get in (or stay in). But given the mood, I'm not entirely hopeful.

In any event, it might be time to call or email Senators Wyden and Merkley and encourage them to keep those school construction funds in the mix. I'll post later whatever I send.