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| 40 years for schools |
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| Carl Weaver has dedicated himself to helping Crook County schools
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 | | SHELBY CASE/CENTRAL OREGONIAN | | Between his service to the Crook County School Budget Committee and the Paulina School Committee, Carl Weaver has volunteered to help county schools for 40 years. |
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These days, it can be difficult to get someone to serve in a volunteer capacity on a city council, planning commission or school board for even a term, much less 40 years.
The hours can be long. The positions generally are not paid, and sometimes the job is a thankless one.
Try Carl Weaver.
Weaver first served on the Crook County School Budget Committee after Art Foss left, and "they were looking for somebody in the Paulina area, and that was in '64," Weaver recalled.
He served the remainder of Foss's term and then was off of the committee for two years. Since then, he's served either on the budget committee or the Paulina School Committee for 40 years.
Yep. You got it. The big four, zero.
The school committee discusses school site matters, such as determining building repair priorities, playground conditions, parent concerns, and then makes recommendations to the Crook County School Board and/or the budget committee.
Weaver has long-time roots in the ranching and farming community of Paulina. He attended Paulina School from 1949 to 1952, from fifth through eighth grade. Since serving on the budget committee, people who know him say he has always looked out for the rural schools in the district.
Runinda McCormack is one of those who knows Carl well.
"I have known Carl longer than I can remember," said the Crook County School Board member. "His daughter, Debbie Spooner, and I attended Paulina School first through eighth grades together, then on to CCHS for our last years of high school. We still keep in touch a couple of times a year."
"I remember him always being very active in school issues dealing with financial matters," McCormack said. "I think Carl brought common sense to a thankless and time consuming endeavor. I know that he might agree with something right from the get go, but he always questioned the issue so that all sides were heard and understood."
Weaver recalls his service and thousands of meetings.
"That was always a comment - would be whenever one of the schools would get something, it would be `Weaver, we are getting one for the rural schools too,'" said the rancher, grinning.
One observation by Superintendent Steve Swisher in the last couple of years has been that the school budget committee serves more like a rubber stamp group. Weaver agrees with that assessment.
In his opinion, people did not want to spend much time on the budget.
"In years past, we would go to every single school and look at materials and supplies," said the long-time committee member. "I always felt it was best to have an on-site view of a school - what they had in their budget, what they wanted in their budget. We used to take 12 to 14 days to do the budget. Now it's three to four days."
Changing times for school funding
In his 40 years of service, there have been key changes in how Oregonians pay for schools. One was that schools used to receive timber receipt money. Such receipts were based on logging and the school district received a portion of that from the Crook County Court.
"Now it's X number of dollars without the timber money," Weaver said.
But the big one was the passage of Ballot Measure 5 in 1990.
"Prior to that, we would have an election on what a district felt it needed to have to run the schools," Weaver said.
With the passage of two property tax limitation ballot measures passed by voters, the state general fund became the major source of funding for Oregon's K-14 schools. Measure 5 required the Oregon Legislature to replace property taxes schools, education service districts and community colleges lost from the measure's passage with money from the state's general fund.
Diana Rice, who is the Crook County School District's business office secretary, said that before Measure 5, sometimes the district had to go to the voters several times to get levies passed.
"The budget process used to be longer before Measure 5," she noted. "But he was always there. He was very faithful. He drove the farthest."
Ballot Measures 47 in 1996 and 50 in 1997 further limited the amount of revenue provided to education through local property taxes and increased the amount of state general fund revenue needed to keep schools operating.
Weaver especially emphasized subjects the state and federal governments mandate.
"They mandate the subjects we have, but don't provide the money," he said. "So we have to go begging."
Then it comes down to a question of funding for supplies or for more teachers.
Another one of the biggest changes Weaver has seen over time has been the buildings themselves and costs associated with keeping them maintained.
"Every one of them is getting up there in age," Weaver said. "Class sizes are getting bigger."
Weaver talked of the local discussion of building new schools. He's hoping the district will build one for the actual number of students and "not one that is already overcrowded by the time they get it built."
"The biggest thing I have against these schools that they are building is the modulars," Weaver said. "We can't control who comes in and who comes out."
Weaver said modular classrooms also add to the district's heating and maintenance costs.
"It's (modulars) just a quick way of bringing in a teacher with some kids, rather than planning," Weaver said. "It cuts down on the playground area for the kids."
Weaver has been teased in recent budget committee meetings over the last couple of years for not owning a computer, but he said he finally has a fax machine. Weaver questions what he sees as too much of an emphasis on teaching children about computers and other technology and not instructing them enough on the three R's.
"Would the technology be the one that we want to advance further and let go of the three R's?" he asked. "I don't even know how to turn one on."
Weaver also reflected on his years on the budget committee and what he would like said about him.
"Probably the best thing I would say would be that I wanted to make sure the rural schools had the same opportunities as the schools downtown had," he said, adding that he travels the farthest of any budget committee member to the meetings. "To the best of my knowledge, I've never missed a meeting. One-hundred and twenty miles and never missed a meeting."
JoAnn and Carl Weaver have now been married 47 years. She took a few minutes to discuss him and his personality while he was out taking care of ranch matters, riding around on an all-terrain vehicle.
"I'll tell you another thing about him. He does not know what the word monotony means," JoAnn said, smiling. "That says a lot. When he puts his mind to doing something, he's going to stick with it, 'til he does it. I don't know. He has more stick-to-it-ness than I would have had."
Weaver is also known for his love of Crook County sports, including being seen at basketball and football games over the years. His grandson, Derek Layton, plays varsity football.
"I remember one time we went to a girls' basketball game when they were going to state, and a home economics teacher kept bugging Carl for an electric ice cream maker," JoAnn said, laughing as she remembered the story of the funding request. That was in the late 1970s. As JoAnn recalls, the teacher did not get the ice cream maker.
Diana Rice has known Weaver since 1973.
"I've known Carl since I was secretary for the county road department," Rice said. "What comes to mind is his attention to detail. He has a real heart for the Paulina School community, because it's such a small community and it's where he grew up. He was interested in them getting as equal an education as the town kids, so he would go to bat for them, including sporting opportunities. Anything to keep them in school."
"He always supported programs that would keep them in school," Rice said. "And he cared that the Paulina community had equal opportunity for budget input. Hence, we would meet out there. And in those years, we would also meet in Powell Butte."
McCormack reflected again on Weaver and his service.
"I personally would like to thank Carl for all those years of service," she said. "He certainly has made a big impression on lots of folks. I know that some people don't always agree with Carl, but he has always had the student's best interest in mind."
Rice also complimented Weaver and his attention to Paulina School.
"You know, I think he was just proud of that school," she said. "He was just proud of his community. He was also a conservative balance."
Weaver takes a moment to comment more, before heading back outside on his ranch property.
"I've had a wonderful experience," he said. "Stop and realize. Is that money going to do the most good, or is there another place that that money could do the most good? I feel that our children today are going to be our leaders tomorrow." |
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