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Show Thursday, March U1 Prove. School 'District mi miraaves fosf f Assisfem? Superintendent 4i at the secondary level, and more attention to development By VICK5 BARKER Herald Staff Writer special programs. He said a state audit six months ago criticized the school district for lacking in the special programs area. e Bergera proposed a instructional specialist in the special education area, and a director of secondary education, There will be no more assistof the Provo City School District. Instead, seven directors will answer directly to former as- ant superintendent full-tim- sistant superintendent James Bergera, sworn in this week as the new Provo schools tendent. superin- The Provo School Board agreed to give the new organizational plan a test run, effective Wednesday. SupplementarySpecial Edu- - "My feeling is this will be a much cleaner The board also set an executive session April 8 to interview the final three candidates for principal of Timpview High School. Twelve of 31 applicants are still in the running, and three of the 12 are currently school district employees. Superintendent Bergera said the central office staff reorganization plan came out of work sessions with teachers, administrators and classified employees last month. Bergera said the groups iden- system than we have at the present time" both reassignments for people already in the district. Six coordinators will be reassigned as directors to complete in curriculum tion Personnel Business Affairs Facilities and Transporta- "The concern," Bergera warned the school board in his presentation Tuesday, "is seven directors reporting to the superintendent. He conceded it will take more coordinating on his part. "My feeling is this will be a much cleaner system than we have at the present time," he said. The old system had six coordinators and three specialists under two directors and the assistant superintendent On a branch of his own and answering directly to the superintendent was an assistant for school-communi- ty relations. James Bergera tified two dominant needs: more assistance the team of directors, one of whom will be a permanent chairman who will act as superintendent in Bergera s absence. Basically, Bergera said, the' of shuffling is a "trade-off- " tasks, as no one new will be hired. Directors .are broken down into the following categories: cation Elementary Education Secondary Education Supportive Services .: If Plan A fails, Bergera has a Plan B ready to go on line. The second plan has six directors accountable to an assistant superintendent and office of auxiliary services, which, along with the director of personnel, answer directly to the superintendent. Ifrovo Alternative High School Students, N eighbors Seem to Be Meshing Well . ; ; old Liberty Press building. The alternative program was relocated from its southeast Provo site because some area residents mounted a campaign to get the alternative campus out of the Provost neighborhood. The school board agreed last October to find a new site within 90 days. By VICKI BARKER Herald Staff Writer .'Students happily settled into the nkw site for the Provo Alterna tive High School in February and residents in the area seem ax contented as the students' are, school officials report 'An open house to familiarize everyone with the new school is ; scheduled for Tuesday from 7 p;m. , 'Nearly 65 students began school 'on the new campus at 359 W. 500 6", on Feb. 12, more than a month later than planned. Construction work delayed the move into the Students enrolled in the alternative program are generally those who, for various reasons, function better under a different curriculum and classroom setting than at regular high school. Ten students attending the school are monitored under the juvenile court Youth in Custody program. Anoth 4-- t ' ! 50 are active in the home-stud- y Principal Ron Riding said a better curriculum is being developed to help the students get jobs, and a number of them participate in a work-releaprogram. Riding said the 'school district has arranged to have some students se attend an electric components course at Utah Technical College. Rod Crockett, director of vocational and community education programs, told the school board Tuesday that everyone is pleased to find, the Franklin community surrounding the new site "kind and gracious." Principal Ron Riding added, "The kids are a lot happier there; they like it better." Crockett said the students are trying to reciprocate by being good neighbors and "we will continue to do what needs to take' place to see that that continues." He and Riding noted with irony that some Provost area people asked why the school was moving, saying they were taaware of any problems and were sorry the students were leaving. While the new campus has more classroom space than the Thorn building did, accommodating a physical education program is a problem, Crockett said. Nebo Gifted Program Performing Well She said manv ideas from out standing gifted program developers have been incorporated into her By LEANN MOODY Herald Correspondent - SPANISH FORK Between 15- in the of students the percent Nebo School District will be in volved in the gifted and talented programs for students, according to level four gifted teachers. Deb.ve May and Pat Coffman were twe level four teachers who recently reported to the Nebo School District board on the gifted and talented program. ' May has developed a program on the elementary level at the Larsen fcehool in Spanish Fork. She said hat all of the students in the school have been affected by the program and a general upgrading of the intellectual atmosphere at the school. 23 er program. South County program. She told the board her program, which is called GAP (Gifted Achieving Potential) is to help all students "Expand their potentialities and improve their abilities." She said the program provided guidance in the wise use of time and resources and is based on the philosophy "that all students learn individually." "We not only have provided learning opportunities to all students but some time has been set aside when those children who have been identified as gifted are brought together. "We are teaching higher order thinking skills and problem finding and solving so that students become not consumers of knowledge but producers," she said. Coffman said secondary teachers have been working on a more individual basis although a series of workshops have been provided. "We need to develop programs for gifted and talented on a secondary level so that those students coming from grade school programs will have somewhere to go," she said. Some of the programs she is involved in include independent work projects such as computer programs for the library to index magazines and creative writing projects. "We have conducted a philosophy seminar which was very successful and have just begun a science seminar," said Coffman. She said a gifted committee at Springville High School which uses testing, and teacher and parent to help locate recommendations gifted students. Both teachers agreed that funda problem but said they felt things were going in the right direction with a doubling of amount the state will provide to ing is districts. Utah County Rejects Assessment Compromise Utah County has rejected a corn-- r promise in its battle with the state over property tax assessments. i In December, the Utah State Tax I Commission ordered the county to raise the assessed value of property in Utah County 8.7 percent. hearing. is even in error," Kou Suuih, county assessor,' said Wednesday. "We feel there should be a reduction in the valuation instead of an But, the hearing could have been avoided if the county had accepted an offer to only raise the assessed valuations 4.2 percent. "The county turned down that offer because we think that figure County on property values. hearing was scheduled for late February but was postponed. No date has yet been set for the p ' I The county appealed the order, rinsisting the assessed valuation of fproperty was already too high. A increase." The state is expected to hear and rule on the case before the end of March. In the meantime, the state is reviewing its own study and a separate study conducted by Utah Even if the state agrees to to reduce the land valuations instead of increasing them, it doesn't mean the tax bills will necessarily be changed. The assessed valuation is but one of the two factors determining how much the taxpayer is billed. The other item, the mill levy, is set each year by local school boards and by municipal and county governments. 14, 1985 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, - Page Commission Approves i.lv AJJ!i!...l 4UUIHUHUI runuiiy At Bridal Veil Falls Bridal Veil Falls operators will be able to provide more parking space to accommodate expanding facilities, the Utah County Commission ruled this week. Commissioners Jeril Wilson and Oneil Miner voted for the zone change despite commissioner Gary Anderson's support for the Planning Commission which recommended denial of the rezoning. The planning commission concern was that additional paiking would mean more foot traffic along State Highway 189. Bridal Veil Falls officials con tend they will be able to keep people fiom walking along the edge of the road by shuttling them from the parking lot at the new Bridal Veil Falls park facility (the old Rotary Park) to the amphitheater just above the falls. The area earmarked for the parking lot is on land owned ty Provo City and leased to Bridal Veil for $1 a year. With the zone change approved, Bridal Veil Falls officials next will seek approval of expansion plans from the Utah County Board, of Adjustments. Thistle Slide History Available to Public By J J. JACKSON HeraU Staff Writer Almost one month after the book was announced by county officials, "Thistle: A Study of Problems and Potential" has been released to the public. About 20 copies of the book were prepared in February, but they were limited to distribution among government circles. The only copy available to the public was on a loan-ou- t basis, Wednesday copies were made available to the buying public for $5 each. They are at the Utah County Engineer's Office. Not only did Chuck Miller do most of the writing on the book, he was also one of the first reporters to break the Thistle mudslide story. That was as news director at KFTN. He had not yet taken a second job working for the county engineer's office. He recalls a phone call tc KFTN from a relative of his wife about 9 a.m. April 14, 1883. The caller said he had passed the Thistle Junction and the road was buckling and railroad and st?te highway personnel were scrambling around the area. Miller contacted a Utah Department of Transportation official and put him on the air to explain the situation. The UDOT official offered a calming statement. The same day, the Daily Herald ran an article and picture of the buckling road. The next day Spanish Fork Canyon was closed and the Thistle Slide was subject of news reports across the state. -- Miller's book reviews the history of expenses Material fcr the book was taken from similar studies by the Federal Emergency Management Association, the engineering firm of Woodward-Clydthe Denver and ' Rio Grande Railroad, etc. The book is divided into seven sections. The first is an introduction. Section two reviews the history of expenses involved with the mudslide in 1983. Section three reviews expenses concerned with flooding of the Spanish Fork River in 1983 and 1984. Section three also discusses how a dam at Thistle could help control future flood problems along the Spanish Fork River. Section four deals with the geology of the Thistle area as well as proposed uses of the dam for recreation and for hydroelectrici-ty- . e, Section five attempts to outline a procedure for development at : Thistle. Section six discusses problems with development: water rights, purchasing property from landowners, earthquake potential, etc'. The last section offers a priori- ty for recommendations. The highest priority, it says, is construction of a larger spillway. The second priority would be to build a flood control structure at Thistle. Deputy county attorney Lynn Davis has warned that while discussing work planned for Thistle, the county does not intend to be bound by suggestions contained in Miller's book. League of Utah Writers Meets Tonight The Utah Valley Chapter of the League of Utah Writers will meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Job Service Building, 1550 N. 200 W., Provo. latest work, "Ride the Laughing Wind," with his brother Brenton. Yorgasen will answer questions after bis speech. This month's spotlight will be The featured speaker will be provided by outstanding junior high school student Kelli Ols en. Blaine Yorgasen, author of "Charlie's Monument" and many other his notable books. He The public is invited to attend free of charge. Slip away to another world this weekend! r: A better home and garden Horn and Garden Expo There is one place-cl- ose to home where you can world of to a slip away quiet elegance The Westin Hotel Utah. Weekend rates start as low as Surroundings of classic beauty cuisine amenities Unmatched location Color Cable TV Free covered parking Award-winnin- g World-cla- ss f t; March 13 16 Reservations: . J! .It's time for a change. . . pastel drapery for the living room, custom cabinets for the kitchen, a cedar deck for the patio, a whirlpool for the backyard and a rotary tiller where to begin? for the garden 531-10- PER COUPLE PER NIGHT TheWestin HotelUtah Home and Garden Expo '85 ITS S Mobil t it v ,;iulM:,wtt-.tM- ) - (t; |