Stories by Griffin Reilly

Columbian staff writer

A nine-year-old boy was transported a Portland hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after colliding with an Evergreen Public Schools bus early Tuesday morning. Vancouver Fire crews used wooden blocks to suspend the bus off the ground Tuesday morning to extract a child who had been trapped underneath.

9-year-old on bicycle pulled under rear axle of school bus in Vancouver

March 26, 2024, 3:30pm Clark County News

A 9-year-old Ellsworth Elementary School student riding his bike was dragged under an Evergreen Public Schools bus in east Vancouver on Tuesday morning, according the Vancouver Fire Department and the school district. Read story

From left: Washougal School District Superintendent Mary Templeton joins U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, and Margaret Rice, career and technical education director, during a tour of the woodshop at Washougal High School on Jan. 24. Templeton announced last month that she will take a pay cut next school year to help alleviate the district’s $3 million deficit.

Clark County’s small school districts feel financial pinch, too

March 23, 2024, 6:03am Clark County News

News of tens of millions of dollars in proposed budget reductions in Clark County’s two largest school districts has shocked Vancouver residents, prompting school walkouts and widespread letter-writing campaigns. Read story

Evergreen Public Schools superintendent John Boyd listens to community feedback in March 2023 during an Evergreen Public Schools meeting at Evergreen Public Schools headquarters.

Evergreen Public Schools final plan for cuts includes 22 elementary teacher librarians

March 22, 2024, 3:19pm Clark County News

Evergreen Public Schools’ final recommended budget reduction plan cuts $18.7 million for the 2024-2025 school year with 124 positions lost across the district. Read story

Clark College student Hallie Tibbit, right, welds a bar to the bottom of a metal boat as River Fortier, center, watches during an Advanced TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding class at Clark College. The boat, the students' final project, will be put to the test at Lacamas Lake in less than three weeks, a rite of passage for those graduating from the program, a symbolic send-off to their next adventure.

Ridgefield Golden Grads’ scholarship will be for students interested in Clark College trades programs

March 22, 2024, 6:06am Business

A group of Ridgefield High School alumni — the Ridgefield Golden Grads — are looking to help graduates interested in trades programs at Clark College. Read story

VSAA, Hudson’s Bay High School students walk out to protest Vancouver Public Schools budget cuts

March 22, 2024, 5:56am Clark County News

Students at Vancouver School for Arts and Academics and Hudson’s Bay High School staged walkouts Thursday morning to protest Vancouver Public Schools’ $35 million budget cuts. Read story

Evergreen Public Schools’ leaders got $31K in extra pay during strike while bargaining with teachers union

Striking educators keep in step as Evergreen Public Schools entered its fourth day in September 2023.

March 15, 2024, 6:05am Clark County News Subscriber Exclusive

The four members of Evergreen Public Schools’ district bargaining team received a combined $31,100 in supplemental pay for their work in the final stretch of contract negotiations with the Evergreen Education Association last summer, according to district documents. Read story

Vancouver Public Schools approves $35M in cuts despite community pleas

Vancouver Public Schools board members talk in front of a packed room Tuesday, March 12, 2024, during a Vancouver Public Schools board meeting at the Bates Center for Educational Leadership. During the meeting, the VPS board unanimously approved $35 million in budget cuts for the district.

Vancouver Public Schools’ board of directors unanimously approved $35 million in budget reductions at Tuesday night’s meeting — despite a strong turnout from community members asking the district to find other solutions. Read story