PORT ANGELES — Joseph Turrey, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Council member, was one of many voices at a North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center council meeting this week. But his words stood out.
His son Karsten was in a lot of trouble, he told the council.
Then he enrolled in the skills center’s Natural Resources program.
“It changed him,” Turrey said.
“He’s taken a big liking to all of the natural resources on the Peninsula,” and now his 19-year-old is out of trouble — and at Peninsula College.
Unanimous vote
At Wednesday’s meeting, the Natural Resources program, what’s called an alternative learning experience — an ALE — was saved by the council’s unanimous vote to continue it in the 2015-16 school year.
Just last week, the council — the superintendents of Clallam County’s five school districts plus skills center director Peggy Templeton — was close to cutting the program’s courses, which place teens on tree-planting, fish-counting, seabird-surveying and beach-cleaning projects from Sequim to the West End.
In a lengthy April 28 meeting at the skills center, the council met with Dan Lieberman, the science teacher who originated the program, and heard from 20 representatives of its community partners: the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, Streamkeepers of Clallam County, NatureBridge and scientists from across the Peninsula.
Slim enrollment, the legality of offering an ALE at the skills center and whether Lieberman must have a “highly qualified” certification have all prompted the council to question the program.
And after hearing more than an hour of public comment from ardent supporters, the panel said it needed to consult skills center financial reports and the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
On Wednesday, answers came.
In the black
The program’s expenses, with salaries, benefits, student transportation and supplies, totaled $91,289.
All revenue, including grants and state funding, reached $124,283.
“So that’s in the black,” Templeton said.
Next, Quillayute Valley School District Superintendent Diana Reaume announced that according to the state, it is legal to run an ALE at the skills center.
But the “highly qualified” question remains open. The list of requirements for that certification continually change, Reaume said.
They specify numbers of hours of instruction and experience — but the rules can differ from those of just six months ago.
“It seems senseless to the general public,” Reaume said, but meeting the requirements can affect federal funding.
“Highly qualified” certificate or not, Lieberman and the Natural Resources classes received glowing praise from a cross-section of Clallam residents.
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles, seated beside Joseph and Karsten Turrey, boiled down her reasons for supporting the program by saying:
“I am a mother. I am a grandmother. I am a concerned citizen” concerned about children’s opportunities to learn about the natural world.
Step into future
Mike Doherty, who served on the Clallam County Board of Commissioners for two decades, considers the Natural Resources program a step into the future.
“There is a whole hidden economy based on restoration,” he said, with “hundreds of jobs.”
Joseph Turrey added that Karsten is working in that direction: “He has five younger sisters. He teaches them what he’s learned” about the beach, the river, the fish.
A challenge lies ahead now. It’s very late in the school year to start recruiting students for the Natural Resources classes this fall. So Lieberman provided his contact information: dlieberman@portangelesschools.org and 360-565-1892.
In a later email to the Peninsula Daily News, he expressed his gratitude to Templeton and the council:
“I look forward to working with [them], and the dozens of community partners,” added Lieberman, “in the coming days and years to refine and improve the program.
“Ultimately, this decision will greatly benefit students, who are our future natural resource professionals.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
