FROM PAGE ONE
Thursday, OcTOber 21, 2021
The ObserVer — A5
MANDATE
Continued from Page A1
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Austin Hawks, a paraeducator with La Grande High School, helps
students as they receive their lunches at La Grande High School on
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.
LUNCH
Continued from Page A1
“I’ll have to do a last-
minute menu change and
that’s sometimes hard —
and sometimes impossible,”
Corta said. “Its difficult and
stressful, but we still get
those kids fed.”
From shortchanged
orders to out-of-stock sta-
ples and favorites, schools
are making do with less.
As well, the time it takes to
order supplies has increased
dramatically as filling
the pantry now involves
dealing with multiple ven-
dors to fulfill ingredient
requirements.
Michelle Glover, busi-
ness director at La Grande
School District, said that
creating orders once took
little over an hour on Fri-
days. That same order now
takes as long as four to five
hours to finish as kitchen
supervisors scramble and
broker with different sup-
pliers to get ingredients
shipped out in time for next
week’s lunch.
And even then, some
supplies might be entirely
out of stock, or orders
arrive with less than was
expected.
“Our orders are not
being fully fulfilled, and so
that’s what’s caused the real
challenges,” Glover said. “It
looks like it’s coming and
it doesn’t arrive. We don’t
get any notice in advance,
so they’re having to be cre-
ative and on their toes with
alternate plans in place.”
Even though school
districts uses different
suppliers and ordering
methods, the same issue has
been affecting many local
school districts, including
Imbler.
Corta said that each
week is a struggle to get
orders in for the Imbler
schools. She now orders
two weeks ahead of time,
a method she employs to
help dampen the effects of a
supply chain that has been
disrupted by worker short-
ages at manufacturing and
processing plants, truck
drivers shortages, and
delayed shipments from
cargo ships.
She’s not alone. Schools
both big and small across
Union County — and
Eastern Oregon — have
suffered similar supply
chain woes. Those issues
aren’t limited to just food.
At La Grande High
School, foam lunch trays
have been particularly dif-
ficult to procure, leading
to lunches being served in
plastic bags as opposed to
trays. As well, the school
has been shorthanded one
kitchen staff member,
meaning that lunches that
once offered a variety of
foods such as enchiladas or
pizza have been diminished
to sandwiches nearly every
day of the week.
“They are definitely
struggling with the supply
chain for food items so defi-
nitely menu preparation
(suffers),” Glover said. “If
we’re planning on serving
this and then product
doesn’t arrive, or comes in
short, and it’s not enough
to cover all sites — we are
having to be flexible in
meal preparation.”
Pendleton shared sim-
ilar worries with regard to
supply chain problems —
though like other schools,
the situation is varied as
different districts broker
with different suppliers for
food.
“We weren’t able to
get hamburger patties for
a while, and so we would
substitute chicken nuggets
or burritos,” said Suzanne
Howard, director of nutri-
tion services with Pendleton
School District. “Or, we
weren’t able to get pizza for
a while, so again we would
either not serve them that
day if we had other options
to serve, like at the middle
school/high school we
served more than one. And
then otherwise we would
just have to replace it.”
Programs such as the
Summer Seamless Option
— which provides free
lunches to lower-income
students over the summer
— were also hit by supply
chain interruptions. Those
programs will continue to
operate and feed students,
according to Howard.
Still, the districts aren’t
worried about having to
deny students lunch just yet.
“We’re not always able
to serve what I have on the
menu, but we always have
a backup. I feel a lot more
fortunate than what I’m
hearing in other parts of the
country,” Howard said.
The hospital employs
just under 800 employees,
making it one of the
largest employers in
Union County. Grande
Ronde Hospital released a
statement that noted more
than 99% of its employees
will be remaining with
the hospital, either having
received the COVID-19
vaccine or by filing a valid
exemption. According
to the press release, the
“greatest majority” of
the employees are fully
vaccinated.
“While we support
compliance with Oregon’s
COVID-19 vaccination
requirement in order to
continue our mission, we
have also respected our
employees’ right to make
the choice whether to vac-
cinate or not,” the press
release said. “We provided
guidelines and policies to
help our employees navi-
gate that choice, including
the process for exemp-
tions, and have offered
vaccine availability
for those who chose to
vaccinate.”
The press release
emphasized sadness over
the loss of employees
and thanked them for
their service to the hos-
pital. The 99% remainder
of employees indicates
that roughly 10 or fewer
employees left the hospital
because of the the vaccine
mandate.
Schools maintain
majority of staff
At the La Grande
Fire Department, Chief
Emmitt Cornford
expressed his concern of
losing employees in the
months leading up to the
deadline.
According to Corn-
ford, the department lost
one full-time employee
who chose to take a job in
another state and one part-
time employee who chose
to resign.
The department’s
remaining EMTs and
staff have either received
the vaccination or filed
an exemption. Cornford
noted that employees
will have to work extra
hours to make up for the
lost positions, but that
the department will still
operate at the highest
standards.
“Our service to the
community won’t change,”
he said. “When you’re
short of staff it can make
it a bit challenging, but the
public shouldn’t notice any
difference in our service.”
Med Transport, Inc.,
an advanced life support
ambulance service based
in North Powder, has not
seen much of an imme-
diate impact from the
deadline. According to
owner Chris Arvidson,
the privately owned
service has flexibility
with the mandate since
Continued from Page A1
The renovation of the historic Liberty Theatre in downtown La Grande —
shown here in its earlier stages — is about 75% complete, its supporters
said in October 2021.
employees are sent on jobs
nationwide.
“Our employees can
pick and choose their
assignments,” he said. “If
their assignment requires
a vaccine, they can get
a different assignment if
need be. We’re sending
people throughout the
country.”
Arvidson noted that
several employees on the
medical services staff are
currently in Louisiana,
while a number of emer-
gency service workers
are aiding fire crews in
California.
The company provides
medical transport ser-
vices, contracts nurses
and paramedics and holds
multiple state licenses in
order to assist in medical
staffing across the country.
Emergency services
face minimal
backlash
LIBERTY
The Observer, File
alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Demonstrators against the vaccine mandate gather outside La Grande City Hall on Saturday, Aug.
28, 2021.
The foundation’s
grant from the Wildhorse
Foundation went toward
installing sound and light
equipment. At the La
Grande Urban Renewal
Agency meeting on Oct.
6, the city agreed to
extend the loan agreement
with the Liberty The-
atre Foundation following
delays due to COVID-19.
The original hope
was for the venue to be
ready in some capacity
before this year’s Eastern
Oregon Film Festival,
but supply shortages and
spikes in prices during the
Union County’s public
schools also do not appear
to have been impacted in a
major way by the mandate.
La Grande School
District Superintendent
George Mendoza said
his district has lost four
staff members, all non-
teachers, because of the
state’s COVID-19 man-
dates. Mendoza said all
the individuals resigned
over the past six to eight
weeks,
“They all had concerns
about the mandates,” Men-
doza said.
The La Grande School
District has more than
300 employees counting
substitutes and coaches
and Mendoza said many
steps were taken to help
all of its staff meet the
state mandate. He said he
is happy that a very high
percentage of his staff
will be remaining with the
school district.
“I’m very thankful for
the support we receive
from our staff,’’ Mendoza
said.
The Cove School Dis-
trict will be retaining all
of its teaching and non-
teaching staff, according
to superintendent Earl
Pettit. Still, the school dis-
trict did suffer some losses
— two coaches and four
substitute teachers. One
pandemic have delayed
that vision. According to
O’Toole, the opening will
likely be delayed until
next year.
The 12th rendition of
the film festival is set
to start on Oct. 22, uti-
lizing the McKenzie The-
atre at Eastern Oregon
University.
The Liberty Theatre
will eventually serve as
the home base for the
film festival and open
its doors for live perfor-
mances from local orches-
tras, choirs, performing
groups, and theater
companies.
“We are committed to
a long-standing partner-
ship with the film festival
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EOU plans ahead for
in-house deadline
Employees of Eastern
Oregon University are
not impacted by the
state mandate. However,
Eastern has put a similar
vaccination mandate in
place, with a deadline of
Oct. 22.
Tim Seydel, Eastern’s
vice president for univer-
sity advancement, said
EOU’s employees were
asked to submit their
plans regarding the uni-
versity’s mandate by Sept.
in any capacity possible,”
O’Toole said.
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15. This was done to give
the university a better
idea of what to expect and
to make it easier for it to
plan.
The process leading
up to the Oct. 22 deadline
has been smooth.
“We have a good
response. We have not had
any issues,” Seydel said.
State agencies retain
bulk of staff
The Oregon State
Police, in addition to
schools and health care
providers, also fall under
the umbrella of the state’s
Oct. 18 vaccination man-
date. A press release from
the OSP indicates 93%
of its employees have
met the requirements of
the mandate and that the
remaining 7% have appli-
cations for exceptions that
are now being reviewed.
Of the OSP’s
employees, 78% have
been fully vaccinated and
15% have been granted
exceptions for religious
or medical reasons. Nine-
ty-six percent of the
exceptions were granted
for religious reasons.
A total of four OSP
employees in the state are
known to have resigned
in response to the state’s
vaccination mandate.
Each of the four cited the
state’s mandate when they
resigned, according to the
press release.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation,
another state agency
affected by the mandate,
also has a high employee
mandate compliance rate.
Katherine Benenati of
ODOT said that as of the
morning of Oct. 19, 95%
of the agency’s employees
had met the require-
ments of the mandate.
This meant that 4,406 of
ODOT’s 4,627 employees
had met the standard,
Benenati said.
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Please come and celebrate the life of
Steven R. King
born June 1st, 1959 passed
away August 17th, 2021.
Steven’s Celebration
of Life will be
Sat., October 23rd, 2021
at 2 pm at
Island City, City Hall,
10605 Island Avenue.
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of the coaches was with
a fall sports team and the
other was a spring sports
coach.
Pettit said the loss
of the four substitute
teachers will reduce the
school district’s pool
to six. The superinten-
dent said this is below the
number he believes the
school district needs and
that he will be trying to
add to the district’s list of
substitute teachers.
The Elgin, Imbler,
North Powder and Union
school districts each also
will be retaining all of
its staff, the districts’
superintendents reported.
Imbler School District
Superintendent Doug
Hislop said he is delighted
that he will be able to
keep all of his staff, noting
that it will help maintain
stability for the students.
“We want to be as
normal as we can be in an
unnormal time,” he said.
Union School District
Superintendent Carter
Wells also said he is
delighted that his staff is
still intact.
“It would have been
horrific to have lost staff
because of the mandate,”
Wells said. “Each and
every staff member plays
a vital role in our daily
operations.”
Wells said that his staff
members, including non-
teachers, build important
relationships with
students.
“When you lose a
trusted adult it has a det-
rimental impact on stu-
dents because of the rela-
tionships built with them,”
he said.
He was co-owner of
Countryside Kennels LLC,
with his wife Molly.