FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2022
GRADUATION
Continued from Page A1
Thank you and I hope to
see you soon.”
McIlmoil, who is also
the high school’s head
football coach, later
encouraged the LHS Class
of 2022 to “face the world
with a selfl ess, fearless
attitude and remember
what your family, com-
munity and teachers have
taught you and don’t ever
forget who you are.”
La Grande School
District Superintendent
George Mendoza, who
also spoke during the com-
mencement ceremony,
urged the graduates to be
lifelong learners.
He said part of this
involves letting the people
who come into your life
teach you something.
“Let them bring value
to your life,” he said.
The superintendent also
encouraged the graduates
to learn from mistakes and
to accept and acknowledge
them.
“Try not to repeat them
and move on,” he said.
He added that some-
times the most signifi cant
VETERANS
Continued from Page A1
said, but the VA is com-
peting with employers who
can off er better pay and
incentives. And coaxing
people back to work after
learning to work remotely
due to the pandemic is
another challenge.
Catching up on travel
reimbursements, he said,
also is about staffi ng and it
could come down to con-
tracting that out.
“Obviously that will be
at higher cost to do that,
but we are committed
to getting those claims
down,” he said.
Recruiting registered
nurses “is challenging
across the board,” Kelter
said, and while the VA has
made hiring incentives,
applicants might pass
because they can get on
somewhere else faster. The
VA also has cut down its
on-boarding process, but
the VA still has the obli-
gation to ensure someone
treating vets is safe.
Kelter said as a veteran
himself and with a son and
BUDGET
Continued from Page A1
refl ects a higher than antic-
ipated boost in what the
state will be paying school
districts per student in
2022-23. Mendoza said
it had been anticipated
the state would be paying
school districts $8,700 per
student but instead districts
will be receiving $9,400 per
student.
Mendoza said the school
district has a signifi cant
amount of COVID-19 relief
funds for the next two
school years, but the district
is restricted in what it can
spend the relief funds on.
After two years the school
district will have little if
any COVID-19 funding
remaining to buff er its
enrollment decline, he said,
meaning the chance of lay-
off s starting in the 2024-25
school year will be much
greater if enrollment does
not rise signifi cantly.
“Our reality is we will
hit a signifi cant fi scal cliff
if our enrollment does not
improve and if our State
School Fund formula is not
adequate,” Mendoza said in
the school district’s budget
document.
The State School Fund
formula refers to the
amount of money school
districts receive per student.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Members of the La Grande High School Class of 2022 attend their commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
growth experience comes
from what is learned after
making a mistake.
Mendoza also encour-
aged the graduates to
strive to stay positive and
to have gratitude.
“We have many bless-
ings, if we look for them,”
he said.
The LHS Class of
2022 was hit hard by the
COVID-19 pandemic, one
that forced students to miss
activities and receive all
instruction online for many
months.
Danelle Lindsey, a La
daughter in the military
now, he is keenly inter-
ested in access to veteran
care.
smart decisions in the fi eld,
and when the recommen-
dations ultimately come
down, the VA is looking
at some matters that will
aff ect Eastern Oregon
veterans.
The VA is looking at
more telehealth care in
Boardman and Enterprise,
for example, and Kelter
said he wants to see a pro-
vider at those locations
more often as well as a
nurse.
“The staffi ng model that
we’re pursuing there I think
will help in those areas in
particular,” he said, adding
the VA also is examining
how it can best staff the La
Grande clinic to meet vet-
erans’ needs.
The AIR Commission is
recommending to increase
services in the Tri-Cities
because the need is there,
he said, but it remains to be
seen what that means for
Walla Walla.
He stressed the AIR
Commission is about pro-
viding more and better care
to veterans, not about cut-
ting costs.
And he said shifting
Walla Walla’s rehabilita-
tion treatment to Spokane is
what is on the plate, but not
other services.
Wyden at the end said
details will be forthcoming
on the next two meetings,
but his point in all this is
making the government
go the extra mile for vet-
erans rather than making
veterans go extra miles for
their care.
Discussion on
AIR Commission
recommendations
Boyd and Kelter also
addressed concerns on the
Asset and Infrastructure
Review — AIR — Com-
mission to modernize and
realign the VA health care
system.
Boyd said at this point,
changes to Walla Walla and
other places are just rec-
ommendations, and imple-
mentation will take years.
Between now and then, she
said, there are going to be
numerous steps for more
input.
“It’s going to take all of
us to come to a good imple-
mentation plan,” she said.
Kelter said the question
comes down to how to take
the recommendations of the
AIR Commission and make
sure they have positive
results, including balancing
the use of technology and
in-person care.
He noted this process
does not take the place of
The school dis-
trict’s enrollment has
been declining since the
COVID-19 pandemic hit
Oregon in March 2020.
Mendoza said the school
district is down 244 stu-
dents since the start of the
pandemic.
The school district now
has 2,120 students, down
from the 2,364 it had in
October 2019. Enrollment
has been progressively
worsening.
The school district had
2,230 students in October
2020 and 2,179 students in
October 2021, according to
the La Grande School Dis-
trict’s 2022-23 proposed
budget document.
Mendoza had said he
hoped to get about 80 of
the students lost back this
school year, but as the
numbers indicate, the dis-
trict instead has lost 59
students.
The superintendent said
enrollment is down in part
due to state COVID-19
requirements that polarized
parents and the school dis-
trict, resulting in some par-
ents deciding not to send
their children to La Grande
School District schools
based on masking and vac-
cination issues and what
environment they want
their children to be in.
Issues like this have led
more families to home-
Grande School Board
member, praised the gradu-
ates for persevering through
the trials posed by COVID-
19. She said this revealed
the students’ strength.
“Never before have we
asked students to face such
amazing obstacles: a pan-
demic, masking and con-
stantly changing rules
and regulations,” she said.
“And you faced it and are
standing here today as
graduates.”
The school board
member encouraged the
students to let the strength
they gained from dealing
with challenges help them
take on future challenges.
“The world is going
to throw more curve-
balls your way. Let your
strength, determination
and integrity guide you
through life with the atti-
tude of ‘I survived a pan-
demic, I’ve got this,’” she
said.
Carter Perry, one of
the school’s fi ve valedic-
torians, along with Derek
Begin, Braden Carson,
Cole Jorgensen and Isa-
belle Kump, said what
members of his class
accomplished is remark-
able in light of the
pandemic.
“Our accomplishments
have been astounding,”
he said, “even during and
after a shutdown unlike
any in the past 100 years.”
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