Redmond delays retaking of Hartman school
Published 12:00 am Monday, September 1, 2014
REDMOND — Redmond School District has backed off its plan to reclaim the Hartman school building in 2015, a step that would have displaced Redmond Proficiency Academy, a charter school currently leasing the building.
Until recently, the district was planning to open a K-6 school in the building to offset crowding expected because of a transition from half- to full-day kindergarten in all seven elementary schools. RPA was given the news last year and this summer Redmond High School Vice Principal Tony Pupo was named Hartman planning principal for next year.
But according to Mike McIntosh, district superintendent, the unexpected need for a new Redmond High principal — Nicole MacTavish resigned for a position out of the area — and failure to see strong indications that the state of Oregon plans to increase school funding in 2015 to accommodate districts initiating all-day kindergarten, prompted the decision to delay using Hartman and assign Pupo to Redmond High.
“When we gave RPA notice I felt fully confident we’d get the funds,” McIntosh said. “But there have been lots of changes in the last year and my confidence has eroded.”
The district has estimated that moving to all-day kindergarten will increase its personnel costs by $1 million and require more classroom space.
Although the state legislature has agreed to require full per-student funds for kindergartners as it does other students, it has not promised that the overall funding pie will be increased — meaning the same funds may be spread thinner with the kindergarten changes.
The district stopped using Hartman, formerly a middle school, in 2012 when Ridgeview High School opened. RPA and the district signed a five-year lease for use of the building. When the district opted out of the lease in 2013, the charter school began looking for space for its 200-plus middle school students.
The reprieve has brought RPA some welcome time to keep searching, said RPA Executive Director Jon Bullock.
“One of our charges as a charter is to be innovative and (thinking about having to move) was an interesting process for us because it prompted examination of what our needs were and ask what we’re all about,” he said. “Hartman is bigger than we need so we didn’t have to think about those things because we weren’t forced to. So in some ways it was a good thing, but having more time to extend the process (of searching for new space) is helpful.”
According to McIntosh, the district will still move to implement full-day kindergarten in the fall of 2015 and to open Hartman in 2016. If the extra funding doesn’t look like it’s coming through, the Hartman plan will be pushed back again but kindergarten will remain, he said.
“We’ll cram ourselves into the existing space and by the summer of 2015 we should know what we’ll get (in funding) for 2016,” he said. “It takes time to reopen a school so we want to be working towards that. It’s easier to pull the plug in the process than it is to put it together without enough time. We’re experiencing a growth mode for the first time in eight years and we need to make sure any changes are sustainable.”
— Reporter: 541-548-2186, lpugmire@bendbulletin.com