Festival of Speed brings dollars to local businesses
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
The Festival of Speed roared into Goldendale this week, bringing with it about 600 tourists, spectators, event sponsors, and technical support, as well as the competitors from 12 different countries.
Along with the events, came rises in sales and local business.
Kim Methe, co-owner of Goldendale’s General Store, said she received a large amount of festival traffic.
“We probably increased 20 percent,” said Methe. “I loved meeting them. They were really neat.”
The store owner said she would have liked to have seen them at E’Kone park, like last year, where the traffic hits Main Street more directly.
Wes Lund, store manager for the Red Apple Market, said he also saw an increase in sales. However, he said, it is difficult to say how much of the boost was linked to the event, since Labor Day weekend is always busier than normal.
Gary Takahashi, who owns the Maryhill Fruit Stand near the event site, agreed, saying it was busy, but hard to determine how much was related to the event. He did point out, however, that the participants made their presence known.
“They sure had one heck of a party here in the park,” said Takahashi, laughing. “It was echoing off the rocks.”
Takahashi said he enjoyed having them nearby and would welcome the event back again.
Others in town, however, were not pleased with the weekend. At least one person near the fairgrounds complained the activities were loud and caused problems. Others pointed to between $350 and $375 in damage done to some straw bales that were spray painted, and some tent frame covers that were used to protect the speakers from the rain.
According to events coordinator Lorraine Reynolds, there was also some concern about fire extinguishers that were used for play and may need to be recharged.
Reynolds said turnout was less than expected, in part, due to lack of advertising.
Event sponsors lost about $1,300 in unsold meals and only sold about 300 of the 1,000 T-shirts made.
Overall, however, she said for an event of that size, everything went remarkably well.
“All in all the event was a tremendous success,” said Reynolds. “The athletes and our volunteers had a wonderful time.”
GHS fails to meet reqs for growth
Despite high test scores, low WASL participation brings down report
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
At least six families have pulled students from the Goldendale School District following a letter sent home to parents detailing the high school’s annual progress report.
In the letter, parents were told the district failed to meet requirements for the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), an assessment linked to the No Child Left Behind program. It was the second year in a row the school did not meet the requirements.
According to the district superintendent, Mark Heid, several of the parents expressed concern about the letter and said they would instead send their kids to the school in Klickitat.
Tim Carpenter decided to pull his son Zachary, a freshman, after reading the letter several weeks ago.
“I’m not saying Goldendale is failing in the way they’re teaching because they’re not,” said Carpenter. “But…we felt we wanted to get our son into a smaller school, with a little better academics, that could give a little more one-on-one time.”
Carpenter was not alone. Tera Kremrer’s daughters, Tiffani and Stephany, began classes in Klickitat last week.
“They can get a lot more help than in Goldendale,” said Kremrer. “Klickitat is a small school and they have really good teachers.”
Goldendale’s Heid pointed out, however, that the failure was not from test scores, but a result of lowered participation numbers in the standardized test, known as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).
In order to receive full AYP points, he said, 85 percent of the students must participate in the WASL. This year, the percentage dropped to between 81 and 82 percent after several students, along with their parents, chose to not take the mandatory graduation test.
The superintendent voiced frustration with the system, pointing out that actual test scores have increased across the board. He said it is an example of how No Child Left Behind can be flawed.
“They don’t tell the story about how schools are doing,” said Heid. “We’ve raised [points] in all areas, but we get dinged on participation.”
Scores in math for example, increased three points from last year; science went up nine points; writing increased 14 points; and reading shot up 16 points.
He said the system leaves little room for interpretation.
Jerry Lynch, superintendent for the Klickitat School District, said similar things about the assessment:
“This whole process is very confusing and convoluted and difficult for a lot of folks to understand,” said Lynch. “There are things that can occur in the testing process that are outside the school’s control.
“It’s a one-brush-paints-all kind of thing and it’s blind to a number of factors,” the Klickitat superintendent said.
The Goldendale School District now appears on a list of Washington schools in “improvement” status in the No Child Left Behind Compliance Report 2008.
Heid pointed out that beyond the loss of students it is a loss of dollars. The district receives funding on a per-student basis, at the rate of about $5,000 for each student.
“At the end of the year, it will still be $30,000 that we didn’t get that we were counting on,” Heid said.
Since last year, the district has had to cut five teacher’s aides, due in part to legislated raises.
The schools were able to keep most programs and even added a few, like the accelerated reader program (AR). However, the budget, of roughly $10 million for the year, remains tight.
Heid made it clear last week there will be no measure of passivity in correcting the AYP situation. He was on the phone Tuesday, for instance, with state superintendent, Terry Bergeson, asking what needs to be done.
The administrator also talked about greater accountability, outlining a plan to involve students and parents (see story on page 3), and has called out to faculty.
It is time, he said, to have the “courageous conversations.” Administrators must focus on the entire student, rather than just numbers.
“We have a job of preparing the whole student,” said Heid. “Yeah, we have to get the test scores but we believe you do that by addressing the whole student.
“Then the test scores take care of themselves.”
Race is on for next KVH commissioner
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
The Klickitat Valley Health (KVH) Board of Commissioners has received three applications for the vacant commissioner’s spot.
Isaac Carmickle, Delbert Brown, and Richard Hope – all Goldendale residents - have applied since the position became available last month.
Applicants range in occupation from retired building inspector to real estate sales.
The board will be accepting applications through Sept. 16, at which point they will meet to discuss the process. On Sept. 17, they will decide, based on the applications, whether to appoint the position themselves or put it to the public for an open interview.
The position became vacant last month when commissioner, Bill Martin, resigned due to time constraints. According to administrators, he said expectations for board activities were greater than he was able to continue doing.
“He didn’t feel he had the amount of time it took to be a commissioner,” said Jeff Teal, KVH Hospital Development Director. “It may be partly because of all the additional activities they have to do because of the Brim contract and the CEO-CFO hiring.”
“I am sorry that Bill cannot continue on the board,” said board president, Ron Ihrig, following the resignation. “We valued his contribution.” |
