Document text
Rogue River School District mulls wellness center, preschool By Kevin Opsahl Dec 18, 2022 12:15 AM A A Rogue River School District must decide whether to utilize $3 million in bond money approved by the Legislature that would establish a wellness center and preschool. Senate Bill 5534, produced during the 2021 regular legislative session, gives the state treasurer authority to issue lottery bonds to the district if it asks for them. The Rogue River School Board Dec. 6 discussed ways it could respond to the law before the Feb. 20 deadline. The board took up the matter again Dec. 13, talking about the need for a community survey to help it decide whether to accept the funds. Patrick Lee, Rogue River School District superintendent, noted the board and district officials had talked about a wellness center and preschool for years. But after experiencing some “pushback” on a wellness center that would provide outreach to the community, the district decided to put the matter on hold to pursue a bond measure, 15-208, which failed in the Nov. 8 general election. “A lot of our community were getting confused and mixing the two projects,” Lee said, referring to the election bond measure, which did not include a wellness center or preschool. “They’re totally unrelated.” With the 2022 election behind them, district officials are focusing on whether to have a wellness center and preschool, which would be part of a single project located near Beck Field. That refocus includes a pivot — to create a wellness center focused on providing health care services to students, not the broader community. “Nothing has been decided, but that feels like that’s what the focus is,” Lee said, referring to the student-based concept. “We’re trying to get feedback on that right now.” The district prepared a survey, which was released publicly Friday. The survey is available on the district’s website, rogueriver.k12.or.us/ , and its Facebook page, facebook.com/RRSchoolDistrict35 . Lee said district constituents, as well as the entire community, can take the survey, which will be open for two weeks. Niki Murphy is a Rogue River resident who spoke at a recent board meeting and encouraged the district to make the survey available to everyone. In an interview, Murphy said she supports a wellness center and preschool but questioned its proposed location, near the field, believing it will create traffic congestion. “I definitely appreciate and applaud the board for not wanting this money to go away,” Murphy said. “I would just definitely like to know — as a community member and property taxpayer — that implementation of the grant money doesn’t trigger a quarter of a million dollars in bills when we’re all stacked up 50 cars deep.” A request for proposals, a common way for public entities to attract potential partners, will be announced for any organization that wants to operate the wellness center, according to Lee. Though he stressed no agreement has been reached with any entity, Lee did mention La Clinica. The Medford-based nonprofit already operates 17 school-based health centers in the Rogue Valley. “Many years ago, La Clinica was kind of a ‘thought partner’ with the district in trying to get health care to out students — that’s one of their callings,” Lee said. “So, when they realized we’re one of the few, if not the only school district in this county, that does not have some form of student health care, they wanted to be part of the solution.” Edward Smith-Burns, La Clinica’s community partnership director, met with the board Dec. 6 to answer questions. “La Clinica’s position is a resource for the school district in their decision-making process, so we don’t have any recommendations or suggestions as to how the community uses that money,” Smith-Burns said in an interview after the meeting. “We’re a thought partner.” Asked whether La Clinica would submit a proposal, Smith-Burns said the nonprofit would review it, but it’s too early to say whether La Clinica could “accommodate” it. “We’ll have to see what the RFP entails, but we are very interested in partnering with the Rogue River School District to provide services to the community if that’s what the community wishes,” Smith-Burns said. Lee said the preschool would be housed in the same building as the health center. “We feel like being able to offer more to our community would immensely help our students’ preparation for being in kindergarten and help their academic careers throughout,” Lee said. The district would have to pay out of its general fund or obtain grants to support a preschool. There’s no telling how many kids it would serve, but Lee estimated 30 to 50 students. “We’re going to try to do everything we can to make the preschool happen,” the superintendent said. “This would be an opportunity to have a nice, new building specifically designed for preschool.” Rogue River School District could pursue a preschool concept without $3 million from the state, but Lee said the money would make it all the more possible. “With this money sitting there from the state, willing and ready to help us, it seems like a wonderful opportunity to put an amazing facility in our district that says we love our kids of all ages,” he said. Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.