Last April, the Newberg High School Booster Club ramped up a campaign to raise the $500,000 to pay for a new synthetic turf field.

Less than a year later, booster club president Ron Wolfe not only presented the school board with a check for $300,000 at its Feb. 26 meeting, but also announced the group has received pledges totaling just under $485,000.

“It’s been amazing to see the support, encouragement and outpouring from that standpoint that it’s truly come from our community and has been an investment in something we can all feel good about and hang our hats on,” Wolfe said to the board. “To be at this place, and we haven’t even reached the one-year mark — April will be the one-year mark — we’re far beyond where we anticipated.”

Wolfe told the board that the $500,000 goal could be reached sooner rather than later, as the club is waiting for documentation on a potential $10,000 gift and, if its crab feed Saturday goes well, the booster club could kick in the final $5,000 itself.

He added that the club doesn’t plan to stop there, as it has made a formal request to one organization in town and has three more presentations before corporations in the community already planned.

In addition to thanking the board for its support and willingness to engage the field project as a unique opportunity to work in support of the overall school bond, Wolfe reported that all the money it has raised has truly been local to Yamhill County.

“It’s been a community effort,” Wolfe said. “This is not extended funds or grants we’ve gone out to secure. We haven’t had to go through that process yet. That’s still an avenue we can pursue if need be, but at this stage, we’ve had a number of opportunities to speak with groups and individuals that have made commitments, that have stepped forward in amazing ways.”

He also noted that the Chehalem Park and Recreation District, which has been a major partner in the project, has doubled its first installment of a $100,000 pledge from $20,000 to $40,000. CPRD originally planned to pay its pledge out over five years, but will now do it over three to match the timeline of the booster club’s financial campaign.

The field itself will be used for its second high school season this spring as the track, lacrosse and rugby teams prepare to begin competition next week.

“It’s exciting to see the lights on at night or people out there using the facilities,” Wolfe said. “That was one of the goals we had, that it would be used year round, no matter the time of day or weather conditions. It’s opening that up, expanding in a lot of ways we still haven’t experienced yet and will continue to unfold.”

In other news, the school board also:

Heard from Director of Special Programs Don Dorman and teacher Susan Henry as they updated the board on Chehalem Online Learning Academy (COLA), reporting that a survey of current parents returned favorable results for the program, including that 100 percent of respondents would recommend COLA to a friend.

Dorman also announced some recommendations for the K-8 virtual program for the 2013-2014 school year, including reviewing and revising its curriculum and enrichment offerings, planning for slight growth in the program and establishing COLA in the district budget.

Lastly, Dorman reported that he will recommend using the Oregon Virtual Education program (ORVED), which is hosted by Northwest ESD and has cooperation agreements with 38 districts, as the option to give high school-aged students in the district wishing to enroll in an online program.

The ORVED program will allow current online students in the district to continue on through high school at no cost to the district. According to Dorman, the program is not only flexible for the district, but a better option than directing students to the Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA).

The school board also:

• Voted unanimously to renew contracts for recommended administrators, licensed probationary teachers and licensed contract status teachers.
• Accepted the evaluation of first-year superintendent Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza, which determined that she performed “at a high level of excellence” during her first six months on the job. Although no official action can be taken until the second year of her contract, the board expressed that it intends to continue her current contract, which runs from July 2012 to June 2015.
• After covering a lot of ground during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting, the board voted to cancel its March 19 meeting. It will hold a work session on March 12, then meet formally on April 9.

By Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic