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Wednesday, November 6, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
How to address a
problem at school
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Sisters has a tight-knit
school community and a
good reputation across the
state for its programs and
staff. Yet in any endeavor,
conflicts inevitably arise. The
Sisters School District has a
protocol laid out for handling
grievances and concerns that
arise in the classroom or out-
side of it 4 and school board
chair Jay Wilkins believes in
the process.
<We are in our best posi-
tion to do our duty as public
officials when the process is
followed all the way,= he told
The Nugget last week.
That process is laid out
on the SSD website at http://
ssd6.org/discrimination;
http://ssd6.org/files/2013/03/
KL-Public-Complaints-.pdf;
http://ssd6.org/files/2019/02/
KL-R-G1.pdf.
<The basic idea of the pro-
cess is that problems should
be addressed as close to the
origin of the problem as pos-
sible,= Wilkins said.
If there9s an issue between
a teacher and student, the
process should start with an
attempt to resolve it with a
meeting of the family and the
teacher. The next step would
be to take the matter to the
school principal, and if that
doesn9t resolve the matter, on
to the schools superintendent.
Only after such attempts to
resolve an issue are unsuc-
cessful would it be appropri-
ate to appeal the matter to the
school board.
In the case of an appeal to
the board, that is conducted
in a private meeting.
<We9re really looking at
everything the family wants
to present, and everything
that the relevant people in the
district want to present and
determine if policies were
followed appropriately or
not,= Wilkins explained.
The board will generally
formulate findings and rec-
ommendations and refer the
matter back to the schools
superintendent for action.
<In practice, Wilkins said,
<we kind of collectively get
to that decision.=
Each step in the process
has timelines for response
attached, which can vary.
In cases where a hearing
before the board does not
resolve an issue, patrons of
the district have the option
to make a representation to
the Oregon Department of
Education.
In a small town, in which
school board members are
readily accessible to the pub-
lic, awkward situations can
develop where a board mem-
ber might be buttonholed at a
party or in the grocery check-
out line, where a member of
the public might informally
air a grievance.
Wilkins notes that board
members can9t really say or
do anything about a matter
presented in such a manner.
<You want to be empa-
thetic,= he said. <Whoever
has that concern, that9s a real
concern for them. But at the
same time, you don9t want
to get so involved that you
become biased or lose objec-
tivity. They9re hurting 4 but
you make it worse if you
don9t follow the process.=
The board chair also noted
that the board has to act col-
lectively, not as disparate
individuals, when addressing
concerns.
Wilkins said that transpar-
ency of decision-making is as
important to the members of
the board as it is to the pub-
lic they serve. School boards
are subject to Oregon9s robust
public meetings laws.
<The desire for transpar-
ency is an important one
for us,= Wilkins said. <We
don9t want to be meeting and
making decisions out of the
Outlaws headed to state e playoffs
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
The Lady Outlaws hosted
Cottage Grove in a play-in
game at Sisters High School
on Saturday, November 2.
They bested the Lions in a
three-set sweep with scores
of 25-16, 25-22, and 25-20.
Sisters will advance to
the state tournament, which
will be held at Forest Grove
High School on Friday and
Saturday, November 8-9,
where the final eight teams
will compete for a champion-
ship trophy. The Outlaws first
game will be against league
foe Philomath at 10 a.m. on
Friday.
In the first set against the
Lions on Saturday, teams
kept the score close. With the
score tied 11-11 Sam Silva
headed back to the service
line and served up an ace
to give the Outlaws a 12-11
lead. The next play, Greta
Davis had a big stuff block
and Sisters went up by two.
Sam served the Outlaws to
a lead of 17-11. Sisters held
onto the momentum and the
Lions couldn9t close the gap.
Sisters went down 0-5 at
the start of the second set,
and at 3-8 Coach Rory Rush
called timeout. The Outlaws
regained their focus, earned
the sideout and Sydney
Myhre went back to serve.
Sydney served the next six
points to give the Outlaws a
one-point advantage. Teams
again battled back and forth
until Addy Myhre went back
to serve with the score even
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Greta Davis has been a force at the net for the Outlaws.
at 15-15. Addy served the
Outlaws to a four-point lead,
19-15. The Lions made a run
and closed the gap to 23-22,
but Sam Silva served out the
game and the Outlaws posted
a second-set win.
The Outlaws battled from
behind in the third set, and
down by four at 9-13, Rush
again called a timeout. Sisters
worked hard, and an ace from
Sophie Silva finally tied it
up 18-18. Sam Silva had a
tip kill the next play to give
the Outlaws the go-ahead
point at 19-18. Sisters buck-
led down, focused and closed
out the match with a kill from
Natalie Sitz.
Davis led the team with 12
kills and six blocks. Sophie
Silva recorded 11 kills and
four blocks, and Sam Silva
added nine kills and four
aces.
Rush said, <Tonight
showed growth from every-
one. Early in the season we
would have been rattled
being down 0-5, but tonight
we were able to stay calm and
focus on what we needed to
do. We focused on good serv-
ing and finding holes in their
offense. I9m very proud of the
girls and looking forward to
being back in Forest Grove.=