News

To our staff:

On Tuesday night the Greater Albany Public Schools board of directors voted unanimously to place Superintendent Jim Golden on paid administrative leave while an outside attorney conducts an inquiry into allegations made against him.

It is important to note that the complaints do not relate to students and that the board’s action does not signify that the allegations have been verified. Rebekah Jacobson, a Salem attorney with extensive background in employment and school law, will conduct the inquiry and advise the board on next steps.

In the meantime, Assistant Superintendent Tonja Everest has been named acting superintendent. Everest has served as assistant superintendent, and is well-prepared to meet our students’ needs.

Because of personnel policies and legal considerations we cannot discuss the nature of the allegations. What we can say is that we are intent on a thorough inquiry into these complaints and a just resolution.

Please direct any questions or comments to Board Secretary Jim Haggart at 541-967-4511

Thank you for your continued support of Greater Albany Public Schools as we work our way through this process.

Board Chair Micah Smith

Scholarships are available to high school seniors through the Albany Public Schools Foundation. The deadline is April 13 for 18 scholarships worth $35,500 to local seniors.

See the list. Speak to your high school counselor about eligibility requirements and applications.

Retiring South Albany High School Principal Brent Belveal will transfer leadership to one of the school leaders he hired. Assistant Principal Nate Munoz will take over as interim principal for the 2018-19 school year, starting in July.

Munoz has been at South Albany for two years, coming from Redmond High School. He has been an educator for more than 12 years and has two masters degrees — one in educational assessment and one in educational leadership.

He said he accepted the position at SAHS and chose to move his family to Albany, in part, to work with Brent, whom he now considers a mentor but did not know before he was hired. “Brent was a big reason I came here,” he said. “I’m not trying to fill his shoes — they are massive shoes to fill. My goal is to serve the South community by being communicative, transparent, collaborative, highly energetic and, above all, passionate about helping kids.”

His appointment will allow the school to maintain consistency in vision and leadership to continue making progress toward student achievement goals. He said he is glad to be part of the South Albany team that is working to serve kids.

“At the end of the day, I’m humbled and excited about the opportunity to continue all of the great work we’ve been doing to support the South Albany High School family.”

South Albany High School has been making gains in student achievement in the last few years, and on Tuesday, they had a chance to share their strategies for success with other schools.

The school hosted about 100 educators from other schools around the state for an AVID program showcase. AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a national college and career preparation program that includes elective programs and strategies to improve critical thinking and study habits.

“It was a huge honor to have been chosen to host the showcase and it went extremely well,” said AVID coordinator Ben Sell.

There are currently 252 kids in AVID elective classes at SAHS, but AVID is a schoolwide program. Sell said they showcased teachers utilizing AVID strategies in their non-AVID classes as well. “All our students benefit from it,” he said.

Sell said, “There were two really great things about yesterday.  It was amazing to see our AVID students acting as tour guides and leaders.  They did a fantastic job fielding questions from educators all day long and represented the school and the AVID program extremely well. The other awesome thing was just getting the opportunity to share all the great work the teachers in our building are doing with fellow educators and to receive such glowing feedback on our schoolwide implementation from AVID state leadership.”

Read the story in the Democrat-Herald

If you ran in the iRun fundraiser for Albany Public Schools Foundation last weekend — or if you supported a runner — you will likely find your photo in the event gallery from Jodi B. Herrling Photography.

Dozens of photos are available. Check out the gallery.