Other Headlines

Monte schools may cut teacher positions
MONTESANO — State budget cuts will trickle down to local school districts. The biggest hit comes from the loss of Initiative 728 money — a voter-passed initiative to provide funding for smaller classes and other improvements — to the tune of $178,000 for Montesano in the 2010-2011 school year. Another $22,000 in district teacher training money also was cut.

“We took a big hit last year; we’re taking a small one this year,” school board president Brian Hornback said.

Last year the district cut $601,000 from the prior year’s budget.

Overall, the district is in better financial condition now than it was a year ago. Board member Jack Dwyer noted that April marks the one-year anniversary of a positive fund balance. Currently, the district has about 3 percent of its operating budget in reserves, Superintendent Marti Harruff said; the goal is to reach a 5-percent reserve.

The general fund currently has nearly $290,000; the total budget is $10.9 million.

Spending has outpaced revenues to the tune of $161,302 to $511,813 through March 31 during each of the past five years. Through March 31 this year, the district spent just $30,796 above revenues collected. Income is expected to exceed spending in the closing months of the school year, leaving the district with a slightly fatter bank account than it now has.

However, the state funding cut means the district will lose the equivalent of 2.25 fulltime teachers next school year, Harruff said. Several announced retirements may mean the district won’t have to lose that many teachers, she said.

Oakhurst to be sold to Mark Reed
MONTESANO — Mark Reed Health Care District will buy the former Oakhurst Sanatorium site in Elma for $900,000, spread out in three payments through 2014. It’s an almost $400,000 discount of the land value — and $1.3 million off the total certified value, including buildings — with no interest due.

County commissioners unanimously accepted the offer hospital district CEO Renée Dunham presented Monday on behalf of Grays Harbor Public Hospital District No. 1, also known as Mark Reed. The approval is the first step in writing a purchase and sale agreement, Commissioner Terry Willis said. The sale is contingent on the approval of financing.

The district plans to pursue a United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan to purchase and build a new, roughly $20 million, 40,000-square-foot hospital. District officials say a new facility is necessary because the current aging hospital in McCleary is too small and has no room for expansion.

The district proposed paying $250,000 at closing, expected by the end of 2010, $300,000 on Oct. 31, 2012, and a final payment of $350,000 on Oct. 31, 2014.

McCleary schools add second administrator
McCLEARY — Come September, McCleary School will have a new administrator.

Last week, the school board approved Les Holliday, the counselor there since last September, as the new half-time “building administrator” for next school year. Holliday, currently employed for an eight-tenths school day, also will work half-time next year as an “intervention specialist,” making his McCleary School District employment full time.

His duties as both will center on school counseling, coordinating student programs and student discipline for the one-school district, which has about 292 students. McCleary School serves children from birth through the eighth grade.

A Seattle native who lives in Tumwater, Holliday earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in juvenile corrections from the University of Oregon in Eugene.

He began teaching English at Lake Chelan High School in 1968 and later was director of the Skamania County Juvenile Court for four years. Before coming to McCleary School, Holliday spent 29 years as a counselor at Capital High School in Olympia.

More Sports

Opening night at Grays Harbor Raceway washed out
ELMA — This very wet spring weather that has had local baseball and fastpitch teams scrambling to cancell and reschedule games has claimed another sport. The first night of point racing at Grays Harbor Raceway on Saturday, April 17, was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Scheduled to run last Saturday were races in the Whitney’s Auto Group 360 Sprints, Shipwreck Beads Modifieds, Cut Rate Auto Parts Hobby Stocks and Triple X Ford Focus Midget classes. Racing is set to resume this weekend with the HiLine Homes Hornet class taking the place of the Midgets. Some changes have been made to this year’s rules inlcuding a 6:30 p.m. start time, which replaces 7 p.m. as the drop of the first green flag.

Fastpitch sweeps Rainier in double-dip
RAINIER — Breaking out the bats, Montesano marched around the base paths to the tune of 15-3 and 6-2 victories over Rainier in a 1A Evergreen League fastpitch doubleheader Thursday, April 15, at Rainier.

Complimenting the Bulldogs offensive prowess was pitcher Devyn Baker, who fanned 21 en route to two complete game wins in the circle.

Bobcat baseball holds off Eagles
ELMA — Aberdeen used a four-run fourth inning to break a 3-3 tie and stake claim to a 7-5 2A Evergreen Conference baseball victory Friday, April 16, at Eagle Field.

Elma’s Jacob Lewis, Ryan Malmstrom and Erik Gran each notched RBI base hits in the first inning to help the Eagles take a 3-1 lead after one. The bobcats posted runs in each of the first three innings, culminating in a 3-3 tie after the third frame.