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4A | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | APPEAL TRIBUNE Issues Part-time workers at higher risk, Salem-Keizer weathers storm Continued from Page 1A Local schools, ranging from K-12 dis- tricts to higher ed institutions, have faced similar challenges during the pan- demic, but generally haven't seen the impacts in employment numbers. Turnover rates for salaried employees at Chemeketa Community College in Sa- lem, for example, have remained mostly consistent, according to Chemeketa spokeswoman Marie Hulett. Hulett said the college saw an overall turnover increase of about 1% in 2020, but that was "largely attributed to retire- ments." Turnover for part-time, hourly em- ployees increased significantly in 2020 due to the move to remote learning and the nature of temporary work at the col- lege, she explained. With the return to hybrid and in-per- son classes, it seems numbers are im- proving. "Trends so far into 2021 remain con- sistent with low turnover numbers," Hu- lett said, adding that they continue to successfully recruit for critical positions. Chemeketa also is working to add back part-time, hourly and student posi- tions as the campus reopens, she said. Contrary to what may be seen in other parts of the country, attrition rates in Sa- lem-Keizer Public Schools, have surpris- ingly decreased. In the 2018-19 school year, 227 li- censed teachers and administrators left the district. The next year, including the first few months of the pandemic, 184 left. By comparison in 2020-21, which was fully impacted by COVID, 189 licensed employees left, 50 of whom retired and 139 resigned. half of COVID-19," Hultberg said. "They're tired. Some are choosing to re- tire. Some are leaving the profession. Some are going to other care settings." Providence Oregon, for example, with hospitals and medical offices through- out the state, employs 23,000 care- givers, spokesman Gary Walker said. Vacancies there — typically 1,000 to 1,200 at a time — have risen to 2,000, he said. In response, some hospitals are offer- ing bonuses and other incentives to at- tract and retain workers. At Salem Health, all frontline staff and non-managerial employees re- ceived a cash bonus at the end of July, spokeswoman Lisa Wood said. Salem Health also has offered addi- tional paid time off to workers who sign up for extra shifts. And it offers pay in- centives to cover extra shifts during the pandemic's patient surge. "The pandemic has certainly tested and tried the most dedicated nurses and has challenged health care systems to truly demonstrate the commitment they have to their nursing staff," Wood said. Perhaps most importantly, Salem Health chose not to lay off any staff early during the pandemic, when other health systems staffed for their patient volume, said Cheryl Wolfe, Salem Health's presi- dent and CEO. That meant the hospital did not have to staff up again for the current surge. But she said, "staff are tired, physical- ly and emotionally, from more than 18 months of COVID response and crisis management." Rebuild Continued from Page 1A One year later, the North Fork is a place in transition. Instead of dense for- est, wide-open views of char-black mountain rise overhead as a layer green ferns and grass and saplings spreads out below blackened trees. Behind gates meant to keep out visi- tors and deter thefts, the canyon is a beehive of activity. Some residents have already fin- ished new homes, some are halfway up – the wood frames jutting into the sky – while others have been delayed by insur- ance payments, the cost of materials, dis- putes with contractors or permitting. And still others have vowed they won’t ever return. “Nothing is guaranteed,” Peterson said. “All you can do is enjoy the journey – the way I enjoyed working on that cabin. But if it’s gone tomorrow, you have to accept it and decide what comes next. I think that’s what a lot of us out here are trying to do.” Returning after a traumatic escape Don Myron could never see the stars or surrounding mountains from his home in the Elkhorn Woods, a small cluster of homes in the Little North San- tiam Canyon. Now he has a great view of both, due to a wildfire that came close to taking his life. When the Beachie Creek Fire explod- ed Labor Day night, Myron was trapped by downed trees blocking North Fork Road and wildfire that engulfed the for- est both upstream and downstream of his house. Under a red sky and with the wildfire closing in, Myron made his way down to the river where he spent the night sur- rounded by a wall of flames while hold- ing off the blowing embers with a green plastic chair. He lost his home. But for him, it was never a decision about whether to re- turn. With the help of family, he already has a shop on site and his new house framed. “This is where I belong,” he said. “I love the river, and that doesn’t change. Plus, along with the views of the stars and mountains, I have so much sun now that I could grow a garden if I wanted.” For others, the decision to return has been tougher. Scott Torgerson, a longtime teacher at Clear Lake and Forest Ridge elemen- tary schools, was also trapped by the fire and escaped by sprinting 4 miles down a road surrounded by flames. He endured severe burns that re- quired multiple surgeries, and lost the home that held all the memories of his wife, Vivienne, who’d died just a month earlier. “All of the trees are gone, the house is gone. The area looks pretty bad and there’s always that apprehension over, ‘What if there’s another fire?’” said Erik Torgerson, Scott’s son. “There is a trau- ma that will always be there.” But the sense of community that re- mains is stronger than the fear. “He has lots of friends who are re- building and it’s a very supportive com- munity. They all have dinners together,” Erik said. “I think he does want to get back to living his life up there. Rebuild- ing is something he’s excited about, even if it’s never quite the same place.” Wary of living there again A barrier seen in July blocks access to further travel on the North Fork Road in Elkhorn. WESLEY LAPOINTE/ STATESMAN JOURNAL Nick Schumacher doesn’t want to go back. The house he had been renting since 2018 near Elkhorn, along the Little North Santiam River, was destroyed in the fire. It was nearly a year before he could get himself to return to see it. “There wasn’t really much left,” Schumacher said. “I chose not to get out and poke around just because it’s kind of hard.” Schumacher turned his car around that day and returned to the FEMA trail- er in Mill City where he’s been living since February. He said the two-bedroom house – the one he lived in with his girlfriend and two children – was the only one in the area that was rented. He operated a landscaping company out of the house, and he’s been trying to relaunch the business since. Schumacher’s drive up North Fork Road, witnessing how drastically the area had changed, helped convince the Stayton native he wants to live in Lane County. He’s looking for a place in downtown Eugene. “There’s some things that could nev- er be the same up there,” Schumacher said of North Fork. “When I was living up there originally, it was a fairy tale – house on the river, these great neigh- bors. Now it’s all burned and dead. I don’t think I would ever live there again.” Future of camp, golf course Damien Ramirez was looking forward to sending his son, Dominic, to Camp Cascade. When Ramirez was growing up in Mill City in the 1980s, an experience at the basketball camp on the North Fork was transformative. He got away from home – though not that far – and played basketball all day for a week under the shade of trees, without the pressure of the rest of the world. He wanted that for his son. “A lot of times, that’s the first chance probably a lot of kids have to get away from home and be coached by other people and get to meet kids that they’ll wind up playing against in the future,” Ramirez said. The camp was among several recrea- tion venues along the North Fork, in- cluding Elkhorn Golf Course, that were nearly wiped out by the Beachie Creek Fire. Most of their buildings were de- stroyed, as was nearly every tree on the properties, either by fire or necessitated removal afterward. And with roads leading to them blocked, potentially for years, it’s uncertain when they will be able to reopen. “For me, it was just a sanctuary,” said B.J. Dobrkovsky, who worked at Cas- cade Sports Camps as a director since 2009. “I got to go unplug and be in na- ture and be around basketball. “We get to confront things and work on things and watch people grow. And I "In Salem-Keizer, we have been navi- gating that, I believe, better than most," said John Beight, head of human re- sources for the district. "(That) was su- per important ... because we weren't sure how the pandemic was going to im- pact us." Classified staff members saw more turnover; however, they didn't see a sig- nificant change during the pandemic. And Beight said their attrition rates match the demographics of those em- ployees as they tend to skew older. Classified staff, who account for about 1,940 employees in the district, in- clude instructional assistants, behavior- al experts and secretaries. In 2018-19, 338 classified employees either retired or resigned. The next year, including the first few months of the pandemic, that total increased to 355. And it was 344 this past school year, 71 of whom retired. "It's been really a pleasant experience for me to see that although there are lots of challenges with operations in a pan- demic," Beight said, "an increase in staff turnover hasn't been one of them, for us." Surviving a decade-long shortage Salem-Keizer's numbers aren't just positive given the pandemic. They're also positive given the long-lasting im- pact of the 2008 recession. Beight described the 2008-11 window as the beginning of a national educator shortage. A decade later, this need for educators, particularly licensed teach- ers, is "part of what we consider the new normal," he said. Brian Turner, a former principal who now serves as the director of recruit- ment and staffing for Salem-Keizer, said the district has more than 200 types of feel like as much as we’re teaching bas- ketball, we’re really teaching boys to be men because we have them there, we have a captive audience there.” Legendary high school basketball coach Barry Adams and Gleason Eakin founded the camp in 1969. Over the years, NBA players Danny Ainge, Damon Stoudamire, Terrell Brandon, Blake Stepp, Charlie Sitton and Payton Pritchard, along with coach- es Erik Spoelstra, Mark Few and Rick Adelman played or coached at the camp, along with nearly 60,000 other youths ages 9 to 17 from throughout the world. It celebrated its 50th year of camps in 2019, but didn’t hold camp last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unclear whether the camp will be rebuilt. “I hope people want to,” Dobrkovsky said. The future for Elkhorn Golf Course is similarly murky. Garyn Wood organized a GoFundMe on June 18 for the course and its owner, Anthony Jaramillo, wrote that all struc- tures, the main irrigation and all of the golf carts at the course were destroyed in the wildfires. He wrote that workers were trying to water all 18 greens by hand to keep them alive. FEMA spokesperson Paul Corah said he drove by the course in early August and there wasn’t much left but the green grass. “I drove by and go, ‘This thing has got a lot of issues,’” he said. Woes with contractors, cleanup Denise Collins jumped through all the hoops after the loss of her “dream house” in the Elkhorn community. “Living here has been the best 17 years of my life,” Collins said. “There was never a second thought about coming back.” She waited months for FEMA to clear the debris from her house. Then she wait- ed for electricity. And then, on June 4, she received permits from Marion County to rebuild with a contractor she’d signed a contract with earlier. “It was such a hallelujah day after all of those months,” Collins said. “I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to be able to go home soon.” Three days later, her contractor asked for $30,000 more to build the house, she said. “It took going to a lawyer and working through a month of negotiations to finally have them understand that I have a valid contract and for them to abide by the let- ter and the law of my contract,” Collins said. But now she’s waiting again. “I’m still waiting for my foundation. I want to trust them – we designed a lovely new home,” she said. “I really want to come home and it’s very disappointing to have to have gone through all of this and to be stalled by the people who could real- ly help me the most.” The price of rebuilding The most challenging part of rebuild- ing in the North Fork – or just about any- where in the Santiam Canyon – has cen- tered on the fact that insurance payments are often smaller than what’s needed to rebuild. While some residents grumbled about the time it took for FEMA to clear their home sites, or the county to issue per- mits, people generally gave Marion Coun- ty good marks for making it easy to navi- gate the red tape. “Honestly, we couldn’t be happier positions, and some have historically been harder to fill, such as special educa- tion positions. At the start of the pandemic, the dis- trict worked with both unions to save money through limited furlough days. Throughout, the district has offered ad- ditional training to help recruit and re- tain new teachers, such as ones geared toward early-career educators who haven't taught in person yet. The district also has relied heavily on its grow-your-own programs, which help high school students or current staff members reach higher degrees of education and return to work for the dis- trict. This is especially useful, Turner said, at increasing the racial diversity of em- ployees since the district's student pop- ulation is a "minority-majority" district, with about 57% of the district's 40,400- plus students identifying as a race or ethnicity other than white. Beight said these efforts have been so successful, national organizations have encouraged other districts to use similar programs. "Even through a pandemic, we have been able to make deep connections with students," Turner said. While educators and students have had to endure a lot of hardship over the last year and a half, he said, "Not all has been lost." Contact education reporter Natalie Pate at npate@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6745, Twitter @NataliePateG- win, or Facebook at www.Face- book.com/nataliepatejournalist. Tracy Loew is a reporter at the States- man Journal. She can be reached at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503- 399-6779, or on Twitter at @Tra- cy_Loew. about the way the county has handled it,” Erik Torgerson said. “They’ve been very responsive and helpful.” The biggest roadblock has centered on the price of materials or the lack of con- tractors. “A lot of people have found themselves under-insured,” said Wes Baker, who has been slowly clearing the property where his family’s cabin used to sit in the Elk- horn community, not far from the bound- ary with Willamette National Forest. “With home insurance, you get a set value of what it would cost to replace your home. And the money you get is that number. But it’s not necessarily the actual cost of what it is to replace it.” Prices for items like lumber skyrocket- ed over the past year due to COVID-19’s cratering of the economy and disruptions in the supply chain. “My insurance paid me everything we’d agreed on,” said Craig Randall, whose family has lived in the North Fork since 1910. “Problem was, that still ended up being $69,000 less than what it actu- ally cost to build. But there’s nothing that can be done about it. You just have to gut it up and move on.” Still, Randall is willing to deal with the problems. “My family has been here for 110 years,” he said, “so this fire wasn’t chasing me out.” Assuring a fire-safe future Jim Quiring remembers a time when there was no bridge, electricity, phones or running water at his family’s cabin on the North Fork in Elkhorn. “We had to cross the river on a raft,” Quiring said of coming up the canyon in 1954. “It was sort of a Huck Finn kind of transportation. It was a whole different world – a much more primitive world.” But it also was a world more familiar with wildfire. Multiple wildfires burned in the canyon during the 1800s, Quiring said, including the big 1903 fire. Pictures of the Elkhorn community from 1910 and 2021 look remarkably similar – both show a fire-burned landscape of trees below Evans Mountain. “It was pretty open back then, and it wasn’t until later over the years that it all grew into the beautiful forest everyone knew and loved,” said Quiring, who lost his cabin to the fire and still is waiting to re- build. “In a lot of ways, nature is just reset- ting the clock. It’s all part of the natural process.” That reality – that this area is fire-prone and that fires are becoming more common – is something residents need to plan for when they’re rebuilding, he said. The Elk- horn and Little North Fork areas should all prioritize fire-resistant materials and de- fensible space as they rebuild, he said. “Fires will come again,” Quiring said. “Within my lifetime, I think we’ll see anoth- er fire up here and I want us to be prepared. We need to think about fire breaks near the community, roof materials, defensible space. “The forest is going to come back – it al- ready is – and it’s going to be beautiful. But we need to think about this now so that when the next fire does come, we don’t all lose our houses again.” Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler Zach Urness has been an outdoors re- porter, photographer and videographer in Oregon for 13 years. Urness can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
