OUR 113th Year
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
SEASIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT
November 27, 2020
$1.00
MEALS ON WHEELS
Reopening
date is
elusive
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham.
Seaside police
chief takes job
in Enterprise
As COVID-19 cases continue rising
in Clatsop County, the return to in-per-
son learning for the Seaside School Dis-
trict remains an elusive and constantly
moving target.
“We are ready to move to hybrid
instruction when the case counts are
in the range to do so,” Superintendent
Susan Penrod said during last week’s
school board meeting. “We don’t know
when that is going to be.”
During the meeting, she presented her
recommendation for the district moving
forward. Originally, the district had a tar-
get date for reopening at the beginning
of the second trimester in early Decem-
ber but a couple key changes took place
over the past few weeks that called that
date into question.
‘WE ARE READY
TO MOVE TO
HYBRID INSTRUCTION
WHEN THE CASE
COUNTS ARE IN THE
RANGE TO DO SO.’
— Susan Penrod,
superintendent, Seaside School District
In late October, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education released new state-
wide metrics that enable schools in
Clatsop County to return to on-site
instruction if case counts are below 50
per 100,000 people. The metrics also
alter the approach for reviewing the data.
“We transitioned from looking at one
week at a time over a three-week period
to combining our data into two weeks
and having a look back,” Penrod said.
On Oct. 30, Seaside would have qual-
ified to make the transition.
“We were excited when we saw that,”
Penrod said.
By the following week, that was no
longer the case. Data showed the coun-
ty’s case count for the two-week period
ending Oct. 31 was 58.5 per 100,000.
For the Oct. 25 to Nov. 7 period, the
case count jumped to 114.4 cases per
100,000, and by Nov. 14 it was 117 cases.
On Nov. 13, Gov. Kate Brown issued
a two-week freeze from Nov. 18 to Dec.
2 as a response to the rapid increase of
coronavirus cases across the state.
Considering these circumstances,
Penrod’s recommendation is to continue
monitoring the weekly case count in the
county and move to hybrid instruction
when the case counts are in the range to
do so.
“As has been this district’s commit-
ment, we want to make sure we have
the health and safety of our students and
our staff and our community at the fore-
front,” she said.
Hybrid model
If case counts are too high to resume
on-site instruction by Dec. 8, the district
can still begin limited in-person instruc-
tion at Pacific Ridge Elementary School
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Katherine Lacaze/For Seaside Signal
Senior Meals volunteer Kari Douma delivers a hot meal to a client at the Bob Chisholm
Community Center meal site.
AN ANCHOR FOR
THE COMMUNITY
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
ning masks run the prepackaged food out
to the cars, one at a time, and put it in a
trunk or pass it through a window.
hree days per week, a small
Increased demand
Since the start of the coronavirus pan-
company of volunteers trav-
demic, the senior meals program has seen
els around Seaside and Cannon
an influx of participants. In March, North-
Beach, delivering meals to more than
West Seniors authorized more meals to
four dozen seniors and providing a vital
meet the big spike in demand, according
human connection that contributes to their
to Duffy. When the state ordered a two-
well-being.
week freeze from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2, Duffy
“We’re an anchor,” said Chris Duffy,
said they anticipated another increase.
coordinator of the local senior meals and
“The trend is, when things are more
Meals on Wheels program run out of the
in shutdown mode, our
Bob Chisholm Commu-
nity Center.
demand increases, espe-
cially curbside,” Duffy
The senior meal pro-
HOT LUNCH
gram is managed via a
said.
contract with NorthWest
On the first day of the
Seniors 60 and older can
Seniors and Disability
freeze, they served more
pick up a hot lunch from
Services, which has meal
than 30 curbside meals,
11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
sites throughout Clatsop,
while during the sum-
at the Bob Chisholm
mer — when more busi-
Tillamook, Yamhill, Mar-
Senior Center, 1225 Ave.
nesses were open and
ion and Polk counties.
A, Seaside. Drive up
COVID-19 cases seemed
For the Meals on
Avenue B to pick up at
steady — they were doing
Wheels portion of the pro-
back door. Meals are $3
gram, volunteers deliver
about 15 to 20 meals per
each.
to clients on Mondays,
day. Since the spring, the
For information, call
Wednesdays and Fridays.
Meals on Wheels pro-
Suzanne Bjaranson at
gram has served about 40
Those 60 and older
503-861-4202. For new
to 50 clients per week.
receive a hot meal as
Meals-on-Wheels inqui-
At the same time, the
well as a frozen meal for
ries, call 503-304-3420.
program is operating with
the following day. Cli-
ents are also welcome to
fewer volunteers, partic-
ularly in the kitchen, to
stop by from 11:30 a.m.
accommodate social distancing. While
to 12:15 p.m. Monday through Friday for
the program usually has about 30 people
curbside meal pickup, which has become
volunteering in a given month, it now has
the long-term alternative to meals being
about 10 volunteers handling meal deliv-
served inside the senior center.
ery and two in the kitchen to run curbside
Under statewide health protocols and
pickup.
procedures, clients now drive up to the
building and indicate from a distance how
See Meals, Page A6
many meals they need. Volunteers don-
T
See Reopening, Page A6
Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham has
accepted the position of police chief in
Enterprise.
“It’s an exciting, mixed emotion type
of thing,” Ham said. “It’s not that we were
necessarily wanting to leave Seaside,
as much as this was an opportunity we
decided to take a look at.
“The city of Seaside, the commu-
nity, has always treated me very well. It
is strictly a personal decision my wife and
I have thought about, contemplated and
researched for the past several years. If this
works out, it’s a good time to make that
move.”
Ham will take over for Joel Fish, who
was elected sheriff for Wallowa County.
Ham will lead a department of three full-
time officers, significantly smaller than the
Seaside Police Department’s 20 full-time
officers.
“It seems to be a really good depart-
ment and very well received in the com-
munity,” Ham said.
Ham, 50, was raised in Salem. He
started his law enforcement career as
a reserve officer in Independence and
received his first paid police job in Octo-
ber 1995, when he joined Seaside police as
a patrolman.
See Ham, Page A2
Owner opens
Gearhart
school fields
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The new owner of Gearhart Elemen-
tary School responded to calls to keep
playing fields open to residents by doing
just that.
After meeting with Mayor-elect Pau-
lina Cockrum and City Administra-
tor Chad Sweet, Robert Morey, of Scofi
Gearhart LLC, announced last week
he will provide parking and temporary
access from both the north and south to
the more than 3-acre eastern portion of
the 8.5-acre site. The field has histor-
ically been available as play fields for
Gearhart children.
“The western portion of the site will
be fenced off while we work to under-
stand building and site conditions and
the goals of the broader Gearhart com-
munity,” Morey said.
See Gearhart, Page A3
District receives 30-day middle school purchase extension
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
After public comment
and a 90-minute closed
executive session, Sun-
set Empire Park and Recre-
ation District board mem-
bers authorized executive
director Skyler Archibald to
seek a two-month extension
before purchase of Broad-
way Middle School from the
Seaside School District.
The Seaside School Dis-
trict fell short of the 60-day
extension, agreeing to a
30-day extension for the
completion of due diligence
on Broadway Middle School.
The extension request
came last week after direc-
tors received emails, letters
and comments from crit-
ics of the purchase, includ-
ing more than 30 peo-
ple in the Facebook group
“Transparency for SEPRD
Taxpayers.”
Diane Wells
See Delay, Page A3
Carol Lierman, Donna Sunnel and Lindsey Morrison seek a review of the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District’s purchase
of Broadway Middle School.