INSIDE
PLAYING THE ANGLES: DON’T WAIT AROUND TO TRY FLY-FISHING | OUTDOORS & REC, B1
April 9, 2022
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
LA GRANDE SCHOOL
DISTRICT
Bond
backers
tout
‘perfect
scenario’
Measure 31-105 would
fund $4.854M school
bond, plus kick in
$4M grant from state
By DICK MASON
The Observer
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
La Grande Middle School student Zackary Simonis works on a Chromebook computer during class on Thursday, April 7, 2022. School offi cials said the
utilization of Chromebooks and Google products because of the pandemic will continue even after case rates drop.
SILVER LINING
Schools will continue to use new skills, tools acquired during pandemic
By ALEX WITTWER • EO Media Group
L
A GRANDE — More
than two years have
passed since the
beginning of the COVID-19
pandemic in Oregon, which saw
businesses and schools close down
repeatedly.
Schools were forced to make sweeping
changes to continue operations. Some of
those changes are here to stay.
“One of the things that will be sticking
around for us here at Pendleton High
School is that all of the teachers have
become familiar with the Google plat-
forms, especially Google Classroom,” said
Principal Patrick Dutcher. “Now it’s been
two years of running their lesson plans
and assignments there. That helps with
retention if kids are absent. I mean, obvi-
ously the state’s going back to more of an
accountability when it comes to recording
absences, but that has allowed families
to get online to see what they’ve missed
because the teachers do a really good job
of updating the Google classrooms, espe-
cially for the daily assignments.”
Pendleton had already planned to add
an online teaching component to their cur-
riculum, but the pandemic accelerated that
need. State and federal grants also allowed
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Ronan MacDonald, a student at La Grande Middle School, works on an assignment during class on
Thursday, April 7, 2022. After two years of the pandemic and a return to in-class learning, mainstays of
the remote learning environment — including Google classrooms and assigned Chromebooks — are
here to stay, according to school offi cials.
the school to enact a one-to-one plan,
which gives every student a Chromebook
to be used for school.
“If you’re a student at Pendleton High
School, you have a Chromebook assigned
to you at the start,” Dutcher said. “A
lot of teachers were incorporating that
technology into their lesson plans as
it is, knowing each kid has access to a
Chromebook.”
But while schools now have the ability
to do remote learning in the case of emer-
gencies, snow days will still be in place
due to the chaos of switching to a remote
learning environment on short notice.
“Snow days are what they are. I think
it’s hard to get people organized on the
fl y,” Dutcher said. “You know, there’s
something about being a kid and the
Americana of having a snow day. But, as
See, Learning/Page A6
LA GRANDE — Supporters
of the La Grande School District
hope that regional history repeats
itself next month.
La Grande School District
voters will be determining the fate
of a proposed $4.854 million bond
in the May 17 mail election. The
bond would help pay for the con-
struction of a new academic and
athletic center that would replace
the aging Annex building just out-
side La Grande Middle School. If
voters approve Measure 31-105,
the La Grande School District
will receive a $4 million Oregon
School Capital Improvement
Matching program grant from the
state to help fund the construction
of the new building.
Suzy Mayes, a retired edu-
cator who is co-chair of the bond’s
political action committee, Citi-
zens for School Renovation, notes
that school district patrons would
essentially be getting a 2-for-1
bargain, paying for a bond and
getting a matching grant almost
worth the same amount at no cost.
“It is a no-brainer, you will
double your investment,” Mayes
said during a Bond Information
Night session at Central Elemen-
tary School on Thursday, April 7.
Similar 2-for-1 opportunities
proved too good for voters to pass
up in the Imbler, North Powder,
Union, Enterprise and Wallowa
school districts between 2010
and 2021. Voters passed bonds
for capital construction when the
state guaranteed each school dis-
trict a matching grant of between
$3-$4 million.
Not once did voters in Union
or Wallowa counties reject a bond
when there was a matching grant
during this span. In many cases,
the bonds passed overwhelmingly.
The Imbler bond, for example,
passed in 2010 with 75% sup-
port, and in 2019 in Union, its
See, Bond/Page A6
Trooper rises to
the challenge
State trooper comes to the rescue with pizza
for hungry students from Union High School
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — A
broken-down school bus,
hungry teenagers and a con-
cerned Oregon State Police
trooper all crossed paths on
the night of Feb. 11, and the
outcome was a win for all
concerned.
Trooper William Blood,
working out of OSP’s John
Day outpost, was on patrol
that Friday when he came
across a disabled Union
See, Trooper/Page A7
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
TUESDAY
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Trooper William Blood stands beside his patrol car on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The Oregon State Police
recognized Blood for helping a busload of Union High School basketball players who were stranded in
Prairie City on Feb. 11.
Horoscope ....B2
Local...............A2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Outdoors ......B1
Sports ............A9
Sudoku ..........B5
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
27 LOW
41/22
A bit of snow
A.M. snow
showers
EOU PITCHER ENJOYING STRONG SENIOR CAMPAIGN
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 42
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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