Chemeketa Community College reviews partnership with Central SD 13J, outlines May bond renewal and career‑training priorities

Chemeketa Community College President Jessica Howard and board member Betsy Earls presented to the Central SD 13J Board of Education on March 3 about the college's partnership with the district and a proposed bond renewal that will appear on the May ballot.

Jessica Howard said Chemeketa serves between “17 and 18,000 students every year” and described a post‑election survey after a November bond loss that found 40% of surveyed voters believed the measure would raise their tax rate and about 20% said they did not know what the bond funded. Howard described the May measure as a renewal that would “keep the tax rate the same” and said the college “guarantee[s] it will not go over that 27¢ per thousand dollars of assessed property value.”

Howard highlighted recent program development at Chemeketa, including applied baccalaureate degrees and a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing planned to open next year to allow registered nurses to obtain a BSN. She said the college's first applied baccalaureate stacks on top of two‑year career and technical degrees so graduates can pursue management and leadership training.

Betsy Earls reviewed local partnership statistics from the Chemeketa handout: roughly one in five of the Class of 2023 Central High graduates enrolled at Chemeketa; 149 Central High graduates received Oregon Promise awards totaling $390,278 over the past five years; 96 Central High graduates with a 3.5 GPA or higher enrolled as Chemeketa Scholars over the past 10 years; and Chemeketa Scholars from Central High amassed about $517,842 in tuition savings over the past five years. Earls said 302 Central High alumni completed a Chemeketa certificate or degree or transferred to a four‑year institution in recent years.

On proposed uses for the renewal bond, Howard said the majority of funds would support career and technical education across college locations, including plans to double paramedic program capacity, expand nursing and medical assisting, and restore construction trades and apprenticeship spaces (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal). She noted Polk County locations — the Polk Center in Dallas and the Eola Wine Studies Center in West Salem — would be included. Safety, security and technology upgrades were listed as additional priorities.

Board members asked how the measures would affect campus locations; Howard said every location, including the Yamhill Valley campus in McMinnville, would see impacts and expansions to emergency services programming. Howard and Earls invited questions and emphasized outreach to clarify that the bond is a renewal and not a tax‑rate increase. No board vote occurred; the presentation was informational ahead of the May ballot.