A budget crisis didn’t stop Ashland schools Superintendent Joseph Hattrick Monday night from vowing to turn a fiscal corner within a few years with the community’s help. He spoke Monday night before an audience of about 50 parents and school staff at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre during the first of four public outreach sessions this week.
The sun shone on a frosty Lincoln Field early Tuesday morning as members of Ashland School Board met virtually by Zoom in a special board session to set the price value range of the 4.12 acres at a range of $1.745 million and $2.25 million, based on an appraisal of the property and compared with Medford prices.
Among considerations being proposed by Ashland School District amid a looming $2.2 million in budget cuts are cutting five to 10 days of school and/or moving to a four-day work week, according to Rebecca Dyson, Ashland School Board chair, who spoke to Ashland.news before the first of several listening sessions with Superintendent Joseph Hattrick regarding potential budget cuts. No actions have been taken nor will be taken without public comment.
After years of increasing staffing even as enrollment declined, Ashland School District needs to reduce its 2024-2025 fiscal year budget by more than $2.2 million by mid-2025, according to a review by a statewide education official. Superintendent Joseph Hattrick is asking staff and the public to weigh in on a district plan on how to move forward with cuts.
Oregon school districts are projected to pay $670 million more to the state’s public employee pension program over the next two years, potentially wiping out all increases to school funding proposed by Gov. Tina Kotek.
A 91-unit accessible housing development is being planned for an approximately 4.2-acre site at the corner of East Main Street and Mountain Avenue in Ashland, the location of the former junior varsity baseball field. A nonprofit founded in December 2023 by three Ashlanders, including two school board members, is at the heart of the project proposal.
Ashland High School school spirit was on full display on Main Street last Wednesday afternoon as dozens of students filled East Main Street atop vehicles proudly adorned with red, white and Columbia Blue.
Ashland school gains in eighth grade math scores on the one hand and areas in need of improvement — including in test attendance — on the other were among highlights picked out by Ashland Supt. Joseph Hattrick following the release of 2024 Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) spring summative tests by the Oregon Department of Education on Thursday.
SMART Reading is in need of reading volunteers and site coordinators to support their mission to provide shared reading time and children’s literature to students in Oregon.
With continuing budget woes at Ashland School District that mirror other districts in the state, Superintendent Joseph Hattrick announced in a staff-wide email Wednesday morning he is implementing a hiring freeze, a tightening of the policy since the Ashland School Board met on Sept. 12.
REQUA, California – After 30 days and 310 miles of paddling, the journey is over.
Five years since the Phoenix-Talent School District was devastated by the 2020 Almeda Fire, district officials say they jumped at the chance to offer a much-needed home base for nearly 200 firefighters grappling with dozens of fires impacting the region over the past week.
Indigenous youth from around the globe signed a pact Sunday at the mouth of the Klamath River calling for the removal of dams around the world. It also came on the heels of the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath River, which saw youth from various tribes kayak the river for the first time since four hydroelectric dams were removed in 2024.
Climate change, outdated building codes and highly combustible fuels are among factors that make Ashland more likely than 97% of all U.S. cities to have a catastrophic wildfire, according to a wildfire plan commissioned by Ashland officials.
A broader variety of items are now accepted both at the Ashland Recycling Center and in recycling bins for those using Recology’s curbside service. New items include molded fiber (including egg cartons and paper berry baskets), aseptic or Tetra Pak containers (such as those used for milk, broth and juice), and select nursery plant containers.
Thirty participating farms and locations in both Jackson and Josephine counties will open their doors to visitors on Sunday, July 20, for the seventh annual Rogue Valley Farm Tour, offering people the chance to experience and taste the produce and products of Southern Oregon.
(It’s free)
