KCC board approves addition of North Lake taxing district
May 23, 2022
- Academic
- Community
A move years in the making, Klamath Community Colleges (KCC) Board of Education formally approved the transfer of northern Lake County into the KCC Service District from Central Oregon Community College (COCC).
The area includes the communities of Fort Rock, Christmas Valley, and Silver Lake - each served by the North Lake School District. The KCC board vote is the final step in the transfer, which was previously approved during the 2021 Oregon Legislative session following petitions by Lake County residents seeking increased services beyond those that had been provided by COCC since 1962. The transfer will take effect July 1, 2022.
Through establishment of the Innovation and Learning Center in Lakeview in a partnership with Lake County School District 7 in 2014, over the past decade distance learning satellite classrooms connecting Lake County students to KCC were created despite not falling under KCC service district jurisdiction. These provided for the first-time adult education and higher education coursework on a local level at Lake County’s three high schools: Lakeview, Paisley, and North Lake.
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) first received a petition from Lake County residents to remove the area from COCC’s district in 2018 following several years of public hearings to debate the matter. Lake County residents argued in the petition that services from COCC did not meet their needs compared to KCC, in particular because KCC offers programs advantageous to the ag-centric rural communities of the region.
That petition was rejected by HECC, but laid the groundwork for pursuit of a transition of the service district to KCC - a move both colleges had agreed to in principle. HECC then issued an order later that year advising the State Legislature to move toward a transition of the service district from COCC to KCC.
The COCC Board of Directors formally supported the transition during a meeting in June, 2019 but requested the petition be rejected so a transition plan could be established. This was followed by a unanimous vote of approval by the KCC Board of Trustees in January 2020, to proceed with the transition.
This April, in an effort to better understand community needs, a collective of nine KCC representatives traveled to North Lake School to meet with students, staff, and residents to discuss services.
The service district switch is expected to add over a thousand residents to KCC’s taxing district from the covered communities, and may lower taxes for residents of northern Lake County. Revenue gains from the switch for KCC are considered to be nominal, but the formal addition to KCC’s service district enhances cooperation, representation, and involvement of Lake County citizens in their local educational opportunities.
For Alan Parks, operator of Poplar Ranch in Silver Lake, July’s switch is a culmination of decades of work by his family to find appropriate higher education services for the region. His parents had been the community leaders pushing for Fort Rock School District to join the COCC taxing district in the early 1960s. In the 1980s Fort Rock’s district merged with Silver Lake’s School District, establishing North Lake School District.
"At first we just wanted to be removed from the taxing district back in the 1980s, but some of our community emergency medical services leaders were concerned that without being part of the district there would be no opportunities for EMS to learn," said Parks. "Then (KCC President) Dr. Gutierrez came over to meet with Lake County Commissioners at North Lake School, and he talked about how they made a big difference in graduation rates in Klamath County high schools - I was really impressed. It is really hard to ignore his enthusiasm, I look forward to seeing how this makes trade skills available to students."
The Oregon Legislature through the State Board of Education and the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development first authorized the creation of the Klamath Community College District in 1996 for the purpose of creating, developing, and maintaining a community college in Klamath County. It has grown to encompass seven zones within the KCC Service District, with this new addition marking the first service district beyond Klamath County’s borders.
"There is interest, there are needs, and now with online access there’s more ability to learn," added Parks. "I am very impressed with the way KCC takes an interest in outlying areas, and provides a lot of programs that benefit high school students and others."
Through establishment of the Innovation and Learning Center in Lakeview in a partnership with Lake County School District 7 in 2014, over the past decade distance learning satellite classrooms connecting Lake County students to KCC were created despite not falling under KCC service district jurisdiction. These provided for the first-time adult education and higher education coursework on a local level at Lake County’s three high schools: Lakeview, Paisley, and North Lake.
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) first received a petition from Lake County residents to remove the area from COCC’s district in 2018 following several years of public hearings to debate the matter. Lake County residents argued in the petition that services from COCC did not meet their needs compared to KCC, in particular because KCC offers programs advantageous to the ag-centric rural communities of the region.
That petition was rejected by HECC, but laid the groundwork for pursuit of a transition of the service district to KCC - a move both colleges had agreed to in principle. HECC then issued an order later that year advising the State Legislature to move toward a transition of the service district from COCC to KCC.
The COCC Board of Directors formally supported the transition during a meeting in June, 2019 but requested the petition be rejected so a transition plan could be established. This was followed by a unanimous vote of approval by the KCC Board of Trustees in January 2020, to proceed with the transition.
This April, in an effort to better understand community needs, a collective of nine KCC representatives traveled to North Lake School to meet with students, staff, and residents to discuss services.
The service district switch is expected to add over a thousand residents to KCC’s taxing district from the covered communities, and may lower taxes for residents of northern Lake County. Revenue gains from the switch for KCC are considered to be nominal, but the formal addition to KCC’s service district enhances cooperation, representation, and involvement of Lake County citizens in their local educational opportunities.
For Alan Parks, operator of Poplar Ranch in Silver Lake, July’s switch is a culmination of decades of work by his family to find appropriate higher education services for the region. His parents had been the community leaders pushing for Fort Rock School District to join the COCC taxing district in the early 1960s. In the 1980s Fort Rock’s district merged with Silver Lake’s School District, establishing North Lake School District.
"At first we just wanted to be removed from the taxing district back in the 1980s, but some of our community emergency medical services leaders were concerned that without being part of the district there would be no opportunities for EMS to learn," said Parks. "Then (KCC President) Dr. Gutierrez came over to meet with Lake County Commissioners at North Lake School, and he talked about how they made a big difference in graduation rates in Klamath County high schools - I was really impressed. It is really hard to ignore his enthusiasm, I look forward to seeing how this makes trade skills available to students."
The Oregon Legislature through the State Board of Education and the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development first authorized the creation of the Klamath Community College District in 1996 for the purpose of creating, developing, and maintaining a community college in Klamath County. It has grown to encompass seven zones within the KCC Service District, with this new addition marking the first service district beyond Klamath County’s borders.
"There is interest, there are needs, and now with online access there’s more ability to learn," added Parks. "I am very impressed with the way KCC takes an interest in outlying areas, and provides a lot of programs that benefit high school students and others."