THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 5A
SHAKE-UP
Continued from Page 1A
through. We had almost
every family dinner around
the table.”
Educational impact
In mid-March schools
in Oregon were closed at
part of the initial steps
taken to counteract the pan-
demic, and in April classes
reopened in an online
format.
Parker is a multidis-
ciplinary teacher at the
sixth-grade level. One of
the major challenges, he
said, was connecting stu-
dents with the material and
supplies needed for online
study, but he praised the
efforts made by the school
district.
“It was a major adjust-
ment for kids and families,
and as educators. I think
our district really tackled
the challenge and embraced
it, all the way from admin-
istration down to the
teachers, our cooks (and)
custodians,” he said. “Our
entire district staff really
tried to make it the best
we could for kids and their
families.”
Although Jill already
instructs in an online
format at Baker Web, she
also meets in person with
students in an advisory
role, and the pandemic has
highly altered that aspect of
her job.
She said her students’
lives were heavily impacted
outside of school.
“Our students were a
little bit lucky that their
schooling wasn’t inter-
rupted, per se, but their
lives were interrupted. I
have a student who does
plays at Elgin Opera
House,” she said, adding
“As much as I love our
home, I don’t want to be
here 24/7 through the whole
school year,” she said.
I have. I didn’t know what
to say. I didn’t know how to
help guide them.”
Jill McKinley is on the
board for La Grande Little
League, which during the
spring also had to cancel.
“I knew when that deci-
sion came down, it felt
like it was disappointment
after disappointment,” she
said. “Everyone had that
experience.”
Perspective
Even with the plethora of
changes, cancellations and
the unknown that still lies
ahead, the McKinleys feel
fortunate.
“Parker and I both have
commented we’re super
lucky,” she said. “We both
have jobs, both have job
security going into next
year.”
Parker said faith was a
key for the family as well.
“We did a lot of praying,
a lot of trusting in what was
going on and knowing we
were trying to make deci-
sions the right way and for
the right reason,” he said. “I
believe we are being looked
out for. I believe that faith
has played a major part in
it too.”
They also commended
each other for what they
brought to the table while
going through the last
few months. Jill pointed
to Parker not only helping
set structure at home with
the changes, but how he
dealt with the challenges,
especially with the loss of
baseball.
“Parker handled not
having a baseball season so
well that I was thoroughly
impressed with how pos-
itive he maintained,” she
said.
Parker added the rest of
the sixth-grade teaching
staff and his coaching staff
was a huge support, but said
his wife was vital.
“She is by far a rock that
I can lean on,” he said. “She
understands everything that
goes into what we have to
do as far as coaching (and)
teaching. She gets it and
supports it 100%.”
Home life
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
The McKinley family, back row from left: Parker, Cade, Shea and Jill. Front row, Emma
and Ryker.
that the student has an
interest in pursuing acting.
“There isn’t a timeline
when it can open back up.”
BWA won’t be con-
ducting those in-person
meetings all this school
year, which Jill said will be
a challenge.
“That’s kind of weighing
on me,” she said.
were more than happy to
accommodate that. People
have been good to talk
about it. If they wanted us
to put them on hold and
wait, we’ve done that. We
had another that wanted to
communicate (by) phone.
All of those are just a part
of our community working
together.”
Business
Spring sports
cancellation
Parker McKinley
co-owns We Paint La
Grande, and while there
was an impact with the
business — he said things
were put on hold during the
fi rst month of the pandemic
— it wasn’t nearly as severe
a hit as others in the region
have taken.
“We’ve been able
to keep our employees
working and business
moving forward,” he said.
“We’ve had a few cus-
tomers who were a little
bit uneasy with the state
of the pandemic, and we
There were high expec-
tations for the La Grande
High School baseball team,
which Parker would have
been coaching for his sev-
enth season this spring, as
the squad was loaded with
seniors and athletes who
had been part of the foot-
ball and wrestling state
championships earlier in the
school year. He said he held
out hope as long as pos-
sible that the season would
happen, but as state man-
dates in April kept Oregon
largely closed, the Oregon
School Activities Associ-
ation eventually was left
with no choice but to cancel
the spring season.
“I didn’t want that to be
taken away from the kids.
My biggest hope was for
that big group of seniors,
and certainly the high hope
we had for success for the
year,” he said. “It was going
to be a lot of fun to be part
of. Even more important,
that group of kids com-
mitted four years to the pro-
gram. You practice and play
(as a) freshman, sophomore,
junior and really all of it
is for that year, the senior
year.”
He said when he realized
the season was gone, he was
left speechless.
“When it fi nally did set
in that it wasn’t going to
happen, that we were going
to lose (the season), it was
really hard on me, and I
didn’t know what to say,” he
said. “I was trying to fi nd
something positive to say,
that leadership quality I feel
While there was more
time at home together
during the quarantine,
there also was a unique
aspect of both educators
now teaching from home
and simultaneously helping
their own children — ages
14, 11, 8 and 6 — adapt.
Two of their children had
better success adjusting to
the online study format, but
the other two really missed
the social interaction.
“Our second grader,
Ryker, he did fi ne, but our
youngest, she’s a person-
ality,” Jill said. “She is as
social as her dad. She really
missed her kindergarten
teacher. Those little people
run on routine.”
Both also said that
despite taking a positive
outlook on life, they expe-
rienced personal challenges
during the early stages. For
Parker, it was the inability
to have even a hint of an
idea of what the day would
bring.
“The constant changing,
wondering, shutdowns, clo-
sures, it was really hard to
navigate through. It was
not something anybody had
ever experienced,” he said.
Jill called the quaran-
tine hard, and added that
despite the benefi ts of extra
family time, at some point
you are bound to go a little
stir-crazy.
SCHOOLS
CALLS
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
There are statewide
and countywide excep-
tions to allow some schools
to reopen, according to
the update. If a county
has fewer than 30 cases
per 100,000, kindergarten
through third grade are
allowed to reopen.
A district in the county
is allowed to have in-person
instruction for all grade
levels if there are less than
30 cases per 100,000 for
three weeks and if the dis-
trict has less than 250 stu-
dents enrolled, provided it
is able to comply with the
guidance set out by ODE
and gain approval from its
local public health agency.
When addressing the
requirement for physical
distancing, the Oregon
Department of Education
said students must never be
excluded from face-to-face
instruction, disciplined for
struggling to learn, and/or
disciplined for struggling
to adhere to new proce-
dures for how school oper-
ates. Schools and teachers
are encouraged to work
with students regarding any
struggles that may occur
when adjusting to this new
model of learning.
The Oregon Department
of Education maintains all
students from kindergarten
up and all staff must wear
face coverings. While a
face covering is preferred
over a face shield the alter-
native is acceptable in cer-
La Grande Police
reported eight calls in
2019 and 13 in 2020 at
Bud Jackson’s Eatery and
Taps, 2209 Adams Ave.
Owner Ron Bruce said
the place has had a few
calls for disorderly con-
duct when people would
get upset after being cut
off.
Additionally, he said he
recently made a call about
vandalism.
“People aren’t coming
down here to get drunk,”
Bruce said. “They’re here
to have good food, play
some pool and have a
good time.”
Throughout the pan-
demic Bud Jackson’s
has remained open for
takeout, and when allowed
it opened its doors for
dining in.
Justin Marler man-
ages Benchwarmers Pub
Contributed by Oregon Department of Education
The Oregon Department of Education has released new guidelines that allow for
in-person education. For counties with less than 30,000 residents, in-person instruction
can resume if all requirements have been met.
tain situations. Face cov-
erings can be removed in
some situations, such as
when staff are working in
their private offi ce or when
a “sensory break” is given
for a student who needs to
remove their mask away
from the other students.
If a student will not wear
a face mask, they must still
have access to learning.
The most common way this
will be done is through dis-
tance learning. However, if
a student or staff member
cannot wear a mask or par-
ticipate in distance learning
due to a disability, accom-
modations can be made.
A school must have phy-
sician’s orders stating the
child cannot wear a mask or
an already established Indi-
vidual Education Plan or
504 plan in place to make
exceptions to the mask
requirement, according to
ODE’s guidelines.
Attendance is still
required in distance
learning, according to the
ODE requirement. In dis-
tance learning or a hybrid
model, if there is no inter-
action from a student over
a 24-hour period, the stu-
dent is considered absent
for the day, or for the class
depending on grade level.
Interaction can include
logging into video calls,
turning in assignments,
emailing a teacher or uti-
lizing online classroom sys-
tems and logging in that
day.
“Attendance data won’t
and should not be used in
the 2020-21 school year for
comparative or account-
ability reporting but as a
potential tool in helping
understand the changes
happening in how and
where students learn and
teachers teach,” the guid-
ance stated. “What is most
important at this time is our
collective effort to support
active engagement and pro-
vide resources to meet stu-
dents and families expe-
riencing challenges with
staying connected.”
Regardless of the model
of learning being used,
ODE requires students be
taught emergency prepared-
ness. The guidance man-
dates 30 minutes a month
be dedicated to teaching
emergency procedures. For
hybrid or in-person instruc-
tion, schools are required to
conduct monthly fi re drills,
and twice a year a school
must conduct an earth-
quake drill and a safety
threat drill. COVID-19 pro-
cedures can be utilized
if they do not compro-
mise the drill, and if dis-
tancing procedures cannot
be implemented the drill
must be over in less than 15
minutes.
After-school programs,
extracurriculars and sports
must also follow ODE’s
guidelines. Union Coun-
ty’s school districts will be
announcing their complete
and updated reopening
plans by Aug. 17. There
are no more anticipated
changes to guidelines from
the Oregon Department of
Education before school
begins.
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calls in 2019 and none in
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service were likely med-
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