Superintendent's Update
November 2, 2020
Dear Centennial Colleagues & Community:
Our work is guided by the state’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners Plan and the Centennial School District’s Strategic Plan: Destination 2023. Destination 2023 will continue focusing on four priority areas:
Student Focused Teaching & Learning – All staff have the skills & supports to deliver effective instruction that is relevant and responsive for all students.
Healthy Culture & Environment – We share a vision for a healthy school culture and climate and agree on how we will measure it in our schools.
Community & Partnerships – Partnerships support our programs, schools, and processes to increase access and supports for all students.
Effective Systems & Programs – School staff participate on teams to deepen their own learning and support student success.
Healthy Culture & Environment:
Governor Brown Updates COVID-19 Metrics for Schools
On Friday, October 30, Governor Brown relaxed the COVID-19 metrics for schools. The new metrics raise the county case thresholds for in-person instruction and remove the state test positivity consideration. Unfortunately, our community’s COVID-19 activity level rates continue to trend in the wrong direction in Multnomah County. Our community has consistently stayed in the high activity category since the beginning of the school year, which continues to halt our transition to a hybrid model. The chart below indicates the categories for each county under the newly adopted metrics.
We will continue to examine COVID-19 activity levels in Multnomah County and specifically in Centennial. As a district, we are prioritizing the health and safety of our students, staff, families, and community partners.
The CDC indicates that in order for schools to achieve the lowest possible risk of transmission, we must implement five mitigation strategies to the extent possible, practical, and feasible, as outlined below:
Consistent and correct use of masks
Social distancing to the largest extent possible
Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette
Cleaning and disinfection
Contact tracing in collaboration with the local health department
We need your help in following guidance in our community.
Healthy Culture & Environment:
Centennial Bond Update
On October 23, 2020, our Bond Project Management team conducted interviews of local architectural firms that bid to work on our bond package. To keep on pace with our schedule, the need to run projects concurrently, and the desired flexibility and competing quality benefits, we elected to split the work between two firms based on their expressed strengths.
DLR Group was selected for the conversions of Centennial Middle School and Oliver Elementary into two 6-8 middle schools, and Mahlum Architects was selected for the four elementary schools that do not currently have dedicated gym space. Each project has critical capital repairs associated with them. Other specialized projects throughout the district will be contracted to local labor organizations that specialize in the area of need.
We appreciate our Centennial Residents' support of our bond efforts, and we look forward to bringing jobs to our community and upgrading our facilities for our students, staff and community!
Effective Systems & Programs
Director of Business and Operations
As you know, we are facing challenging times that can impact us personally, professionally, and otherwise. These challenges can leave us facing tough decisions based on our current context. With that said, Cheryl Wangeman, Chief Executive Officer of Finance & Operations, has resigned to move closer to family in South Dakota. Over the past two school years’ Cheryl’s commitment to improving financial outcomes, increasing student safety and improving district facilities for our students has left a track record of success that she, her staff and the entire district can be proud of.
To continue and build upon Cheryl’s work I am pleased to announce that Paul Southerton has been selected as the Director of Business and Operations. Paul was selected from a strong pool of applicants. A special thank you to the interview committee who provided valuable input into this process.
Paul currently serves as Division Manager for the Retail Operations Unit at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU); a position he has held for the past nine (9) years. In this role, he is responsible for 12 venues, overseeing the work of 100+ staff members and managers, as well as financial planning, budgeting, analysis, reporting, and cost accounting for a multi-million dollar budget. Prior to this, Paul served for six (6) years as a Multi-Unit Manager for the Retail Operations at OHSU.
Paul also has experience as an entrepreneur, co-founding and working as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for a digital advertising start-up venture as well as co-founding and working as Vice President of Acquisitions and Sales for a residential real estate company.
Paul has a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Portland State University, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Portland State University. In his free time, Paul enjoys spending time with family, working on home improvement projects, watching sports, and amateur woodworking.
Paul officially begins as Director of Business and Operations on November 16, 2020. He is excited about the opportunity to transition into the mission-driven work of K-12 education. Please join me in welcoming Paul to the Centennial School District!
As always, thank you for your ongoing commitment to our students and the district. As I have said before, nothing we do this year will be normal.