PIO1127 by C.M.I.

Happy Thanksgiving Wednesday November 27, 2024 | Volume 148, Issue 48

www.polkio.com

CASA foster kids are the winners in friendly holiday competition By DAVID HAYES Editor

CASA of Polk County is teaming with local businesses to ensure foster kids do not fall through the cracks and miss out on the Christmas spirit. CASA is a nonprofit organization that supports abused and neglected children in the Polk County foster care system, providing them with trained volunteer advocates. Each year, the organization hosts a toy drive to bring joy and comfort to these vulnerable children during the holiday season. “The toy drive aims to ensure that every child in foster care feels valued and cared for, even in the midst of challenging circumstances,” said Amber Calef, CASA volunteer manager. “By rallying community support, CASA of Polk County helps brighten the lives of children who might otherwise face a difficult holiday.” Participating locations that have stepped in to host toy donation sites include the Dallas Barbershop, Monmouth Library, Henry and Me Boutique, Salt Creek Cider House, The Car Doctor and Dallas Fire & EMS. “These businesses are inviting community members to drop off new, unwrapped gifts suitable for children and youth of all ages. Their involvement not only makes the toy drive accessible but also demonstrates the community’s commitment to uplifting children in foster care,” Calef said. Along the way, a friendly competition has developed between the Dallas Barbershop, Henry and Me Boutique and Salt Creek Cider

Dallas, Central schools report lag behind state By DAVID HAYES Editor

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Salt Creek Cider House manager Grace Beatty, Dallas Barber Shop owner Matt Croxford and Henry and Me owner Suzanne Sevigny hold a tribute photo to Lindy Rickert. House. Matt Croxford, owner of the Dallas Barbershop, said getting their customers to participate has never been a problem.

“It’s always a big hit,” Croxford said, adding the competition aspect was never the emphasis. “Just talking (stuff) between us three.”

Croxford first got involved in See CASA, page 3

Deadly 51/22 intersection safety project makes it way toward funding By DAVID HAYES Editor

The state of Oregon has known since 2010 the intersection of Highways 22 and 51 has been a deadly focal point for motorists. Now that funding has been approved to move through a design phase for a massive overhaul of the location to safely move traffic through the area, ODOT officials are updating Polk County municipalities on its progress. The roughly $270 million project will install two flyover bridges to access Highway 51 going north and south from Highway 22, two roundabouts at the north/south access points, and new access roads north and south of Highway 22 to reroute local traffic away from the busy intersection. Kumar Rethnasamy, ODOT Project Manager, led the presentation to the Dallas City Council earlier this month. The numbers in his presentation detailing the state’s Safety

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ODOT project map of Hwy 52/22 intersection. Priority Index System (SPIS) painted a bleak picture of the intersection of Highway 51 and 22. On Highway 22 in the last 25 years between Rickreall Road and just east of Doaks Ferry road there were 569 crashes reported. From 2018-22 alone there were 142

IN THIS ISSUE Voices Corrections Obituaries Puzzle Solutions Social Public Records Classifieds Puzzles

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crashes with 11 fatalities or serious injuries. “The main question we get is why aren’t you funded for construction?” Rethnasamy said. “The work we’ve been doing over the last four years is to arrive at a solution to determine what we need for

funding then go after and get that funding.” So far, the state has funded planning, environmental study and a preliminary design. Rethnasamy said other preliminary parts of the project See SAFETY, page A3

The state of Oregon releases its At-a-Glance school reports Nov. 21 and both the Central and Dallas school districts are crunching the numbers to assess how their students are measuring up to state expectations. The annual At-A-Glance report shows a “snapshot” of districts and each school, including attendance, language arts, math, science, ninthgrade on-track to graduate, 4-year graduation and 5-year completer rates. The report also breaks down staff numbers and student and staff demographics. Dallas has an enrollment at 2,977 and Central was at 3,030. Both administrations put an emphasis on improving student attendance as the baseline for achieving overall student success. Overall, both Dallas and Central saw an increase in attendance of 5% over the previous year, Dallas at 65% and Central at 63% (the state average is 66%). “Attendance was a pretty big increase for us this last year. So that was a really big success. We’re adding more schools into our support and coaching curriculum. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see improvements there,” Nick Ingles, Dallas director of teaching and learning, told the school board at their Oct. 29 meeting. “It is so important for students to attend school each day so they know what is going on in their classes, have opportunities to build relationships with their peers and staff, and have a strong sense of belonging to their school community,” added Roseanna Larson, who helps coordinate support across Central School District for attendance. “When students miss school, even a day or two each month, they are missing out on key life skills including classroom engagement and self-management. Students who attend regularly are more likely to participate and tend to be emotionally invested in learning activities.” English Language Arts roughly stayed the same (down 1%, or “flat” in administrative parlance) for both school districts. While math was also flat in Central scores, they were lower in Dallas, raising concerns. Scores were down 6% among eighth graders, with just 14% meeting state grade level expectations, well below the state average of 27%. “Mathematics is the one we’re pretty concerned about, we’ll be working hard to improve. It had a fairly large drop,” Ingles said. State numbers showed nineth graders on track to graduate was down just 1% at both districts (83% in Dallas and 77% in Central, both below the state average of 85%). “However, last year, that had a 10% increase, so that one overall, See REPORT, page A3

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