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Wednesday, May 20, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SPRD: District
makes changes to
maintain stability
Continued from page 1
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
Raising your puppy to enjoy hiking with you takes some early work.
PAW PRINTS: Make sure
puppy is ready before
heading off to the trail
Continued from page 15
them attached. It9s handy,
because you can work on
recall but don9t have the
worry if they choose to
ignore you.
When training your pup
make sure you teach him the
<stop= command. It9s also
important on hikes in the
wilderness. This means that
when you say the word, he9ll
immediately pause and turn
stone still. This command is
useful in dangerous situations
when your dog9s movement
could mean the difference
between getting home safely
and taking a snake bite to the
face, among other things.
However, you can9t teach
a dog to love the outdoors
without ever letting him step
off the front porch. Practice
the real thing by bringing
your puppy with you on
short trips to the outdoors
after he has had all his shots.
Introduce him to strange
sights and sounds, if he is a
small breed you can even
carry him.
As your puppy approaches
a year of age, you can begin
taking them on shorter <real
hikes.= The general time
limit still applies, but the
older your puppy, the farther
you can go.
A 12-month-old puppy
can hike around 60 minutes
at a time, which is usually
enough to cover 2-3 miles.
Remember to take fre-
quent breaks and bring water,
even if your dog doesn9t
seem tired, and look for signs
that they9ve hiked too far.
Aim to stop long before that
point.
reflects reductions in over-
head and anticipates a drop
in program revenue and col-
lected property taxes.
<A conservative approach
is how the district will remain
stable in these uncertain
times,= Executive Director
Jennifer Holland told The
Nugget.
SPRD stopped all pro-
grams and in-person service
on March 16 in compliance
with Governor Kate Brown9s
<Stay Home, Save Lives=
executive order. Staff was
laid off .
<We weren9t sure if it was
going to be a few weeks or a
few months,= Holland said.
<We quickly realized that this
wasn9t going to be a short-
turnaround situation.=
SPRD had been gearing
up for an expansion of pro-
grams and now is looking at
reductions. That meant that
SPRD had to restructure staff-
ing and reduce overhead over
the long-term. Two positions,
the program director position
held by Chad Rush and the
events coordinator position
held by Shannon Rackowski
have been eliminated. Other
positions have been restruc-
tured to focus less on admin-
istrative tasks and program
development and more on
front-line delivery of services.
Because SPRD is a public
agency, those who hold posi-
tions that have fundamentally
changed must reapply for the
revised position in an open
hiring process. Holland said
she expects that positions will
begin to be posted in June.
Holland expressed
gratitude for the response of
the community and every-
body involved in a very tough
situation.
<Everybody has been very
respectful of the decisions
SPRD has had to make,= she
said. <There9s been a lot of
compassion and grace from
the community. All the folks
that were affected by this
4 they all understand.=
Core programming
focuses will be on childcare,
day camps and after-school
programming. Recreation
coordinator Jason Huber
has been working half-time
to develop a framework for
recovery.
Holland said that she
expects SPRD to have some-
thing to offer in the way of
kid-care programs by June 22.
She said that parents 4
many of whom have been
trying to juggle work and
homeschooling with restless
kids 4 <were all very excited
when we opened summer
camp registration.=
Everyone recognizes that
what summer camps may
look like is still an evolving
question 4 and there are sure
to be limitations created by
restrictions on the numbers
of students. State guidance
requires stable groups of 10
for summer camp activities,
with social distancing pro-
tocols in place, which may
limit what can be done where.
Transportation of small
groups may become an issue.
<My feeling is that we will
have to not offer any field
trips this season,= Holland
said.
<We have to comply
with that (state guidance),=
Holland emphasized. <If we
can9t meet protocols, we can9t
do programs. We9ll have all
that protocol laid out prior to
the camp.=
Holland noted that pre-
school teachers9 positions did
not fundamentally change and
they don9t have to reapply.
<Those people will be
recalled when the District is
in a position to need their ser-
vices again, or their employ-
ment,= Holland said.
Holland noted that the
District will continue to
deliver on commitments
made to voters who recently
approved local option fund-
ing for the District, including
providing after-school pro-
grams and maintenance of the
physical plant.
The coronavirus pandemic
and the ongoing effort to
quell the spread of COVID-
19 have forced SPRD, like
virtually every other entity
in Sisters, to adapt and make
hard choices.
Fundamentally, Holland
said, the SPRD is forced to
take <a conservative approach
so that there is a District to
come back to.=
Black Butte Ranch Rural Fire Protection District Notice of Budget Hearing
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