2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017
State allows schools to write off 14 hours of instructional time
State Dennis Richardson’s
new designee to the Board
of Education, said the board
should not count time missed
for inclement weather as
instructional time.
“We are already at the
lowest in the country in
terms of instructional time,
and I don’t want you to eas-
ily give up that precious
time,” Sordyl said, before a
unanimous vote in favor of
the temporary rule. Sordyl
does not have a vote on the
board.
Board of Education mem-
ber Jerry Colonna said the
temporary rule provides
relief to districts that had
different situations during
the storms.
“This is one of those
things where we want to be
helpful instead of just com-
pliance monitors,” Colonna
said. “I resist the leap that
this says we do not honor
instructional time. I think we
honor the differences around
the state, and we want to be
helpful in them being suc-
Temporary
rule to respond
to snowstorms
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Ore-
gon Board of Education has
approved a temporary rule to
allow schools to opt out of
14 hours of state-mandated
instructional time for this
school year for inclement
weather or facility closures.
The board unanimously
passed the rule Thursday
at the request of several
school districts that closed
schools for several days
in December and January
due to snow and ice storms
statewide.
“It’s really unusual cir-
cumstances that is making
us consider this flexibility,”
said Salam Noor, deputy
superintendent of the Oregon
Department of Education.
Kim Sordyl, Secretary of
cessful in what they want to
do.”
The rule is effective only
for this school year and
requires school districts to
receive approval at a public
meeting of their local school
board. School districts
must also provide a written
request to the Department of
Education, explaining why
they cannot meet the min-
imum standard for instruc-
tional time.
“It’s not enough to solve
the problem so school dis-
tricts still will be required
to add back days to comply
with the minimum instruc-
tional time,” said Emily
Nazarov, a Department of
Education operations policy
analyst.
Some school districts,
such as Beaverton, shut-
tered schools for nearly
two weeks. Others, such
as Hermiston, have pushed
back their graduation date
by several days to make up
missed time, according to
officials in those districts.
Schools in Clatsop County
have only had a few snow
days.
“We were just notified
that Portland Public Schools
is considering holding
school during s pring break
and Saturdays and extend-
ing school days to make up
the time,” Noor said.
Until 2015, the 14-hour
waiver had been regularly
available to schools to make
up time for missed days due
to inclement weather. That
year, the Board of Educa-
tion nixed the provision
in order to protect instruc-
tional time, which is among
the lowest amount required
nationwide.
Schools are required to
provide at least 900 hours of
instruction annually to ele-
mentary and middle school
pupils and 990 hours to
high school students, except
seniors who need only 966.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Henry Hanson climbs up the Astoria Column hill as snow
falls in Astoria in January on one of the few snow days for
local schools.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
55
40
38
Partly cloudy
53
40
52
37
Cloudy with a little rain in
the afternoon
Partly sunny
TUESDAY
50
37
Cloudy
Considerable cloudiness
Disaster declared for storms in
Josephine and Lane counties
The Daily Astorian
ALMANAC
REGIONAL WEATHER
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
38/55
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 50°/36°
Normal high/low ........................... 51°/38°
Record high ............................ 63° in 1983
Record low ............................. 16° in 1957
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... 0.02"
Month to date ................................... 5.70"
Normal month to date ....................... 8.72"
Year to date ...................................... 5.70"
Normal year to date .......................... 8.72"
Tillamook
36/57
Salem
31/51
Newport
39/54
Jan 27
First
Full
Feb 3
Coos Bay
37/56
Last
Feb 10
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
7:33 a.m.
8:08 p.m.
Low
2.8 ft.
-0.5 ft.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Hi
48
44
31
39
31
36
48
21
82
33
40
49
63
48
83
45
56
45
50
47
37
28
57
50
46
Ontario
14/25
Klamath Falls
11/37
Lakeview
2/35
Ashland
27/51
Associated Press
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
24
39
54
50
53
34
51
50
54
55
Today
Lo
8
20
39
32
43
11
29
32
39
37
W
c
pc
s
pc
pc
s
s
pc
pc
pc
Hi
24
41
53
50
53
37
52
49
54
56
Sat.
Lo
6
25
38
31
45
15
29
32
40
38
W
c
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
52
36
47
54
49
54
35
52
48
38
Today
Lo
30
22
31
33
31
42
22
31
31
25
W
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
c
Hi
52
35
48
54
51
55
34
52
49
35
W
s
pc
c
s
c
sf
s
pc
pc
sf
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
c
c
s
pc
pc
Hi
52
42
31
46
32
34
50
18
81
32
38
55
69
49
75
51
58
41
51
41
38
27
58
53
46
Sat.
Lo
33
30
21
23
26
24
27
4
67
22
28
36
48
33
56
28
41
32
30
30
30
14
42
39
33
funds to reduce the impacts
of hazards statewide. We
look forward to working
with our local, state and fed-
eral partners throughout this
recovery process, even as we
are currently assessing dam-
ages from the winter storms
we’ve had over the past few
weeks to determine if addi-
tional federal assistance is
warranted.”
Attorneys in Hanford chemical
vapor case head to mediation
Burns
1/22
Sat.
Lo
32
22
31
34
32
44
20
33
31
25
W
pc
c
pc
c
pc
pc
c
c
pc
c
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Lo
31
32
24
17
26
28
26
9
66
24
26
33
45
31
58
30
43
32
27
30
29
14
41
36
31
Baker
8/24
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
Tonight's Sky: The new moon (4:07 p.m.) will be
located on the same side of the earth as the sun and
will not be visible in the night sky.
High
8.2 ft.
9.4 ft.
La Grande
19/35
Roseburg
33/54
Brookings
38/55
Feb 18
John Day
24/41
Bend
20/41
Medford
29/52
UNDER THE SKY
Time
2:00 a.m.
1:12 p.m.
Prineville
18/39
Lebanon
31/51
Eugene
32/50
Sunset tonight ........................... 5:13 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 7:43 a.m.
Moonrise today ........................... 7:22 a.m.
Moonset today ........................... 5:19 p.m.
Pendleton
22/35
The Dalles
30/37
Portland
31/48
SUN AND MOON
New
President Donald Trump
has declared a disaster for
the storms and flooding
in two Oregon counties in
December.
The declaration makes
federal money available to
help state and local govern-
ments with repairs in Jose-
phine and Lane counties.
Damage estimates are about
$16 million.
“This disaster declaration
will provide much needed
financial assistance to two
counties that were hardest
hit by severe weather last
December,” Oregon Office
of Emergency Management
Director Andrew Phelps
said in a statement. “We will
also receive mitigation grant
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
s
pc
c
pc
c
sf
s
c
s
c
pc
s
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
c
s
pc
pc
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Daily Astorian publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and,
for veterans, a fl ag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business
day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices
and upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m.
the day of publication.
RICHLAND, Wash. —
Parties in a lawsuit over
employee concerns about
exposure to chemical vapors
at the Hanford Nuclear Res-
ervation are headed to
mediation.
The Tri-City Herald
reported that both plaintiffs
and defendants have asked a
federal judge to move back
the lawsuit’s trial date in
order to allow them to pur-
sue a resolution out of court.
Dozens of Hanford work-
ers have been sickened by
vapors escaping from under-
ground nuclear waste stor-
age tanks. The tanks contain
wastes left over from the
production of plutonium for
nuclear weapons.
Workers who smell the
vapors are told to leave the
area and are offered medi-
cal checks. Nearly all work-
ers are medically cleared to
return to work the same day.
Hanford for decades
made plutonium for nuclear
weapons, and the site near
Richland in southeastern
Washington is now engaged
in a massive cleanup of
the resulting radioactive
wastes.
The wastes are stored in
177 massive underground
tanks, and it is vapors
escaping from some of
those tanks that are thought
to be making workers sick.
The vapors are invisible and
are not radioactive. Their
exact content is not known
because the exact contents
of the tanks, some dating
back to World War II, are
not known.
Transit district seeks new
volunteers for budget committee
The Daily Astorian
The Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District Board
of Commissioners is seek-
ing volunteers from Clatsop
County, who are registered
voters, to serve on the dis-
trict b udget c ommittee.
The committee is com-
prised of seven district
board members, and seven
community members, who
are appointed by the Board
of Commissioners and serve
a three-year term. There are
currently two community
member positions open.
Budget c ommittee meet-
ings are held up to three
times a year. Those inter-
ested in serving are asked
to submit a letter of interest
by Feb. 15. Letters can be
emailed to jeff@ridethebus.
org, dropped off at the Asto-
ria Transit Center or mailed
to Sunset Empire Transpor-
tation District, 900 Marine
Drive, Astoria, OR 97103.
For information, contact
Jeff Hazen at 503-861-5399
or jeff@ridethebus.org.
DEATH
Jan. 17, 2017
COLE, Gregory Neal, 66, of Seaside, died in Portland. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary & Crematory
in Seaside is in charge of the arrangements.
CORRECTION
Bride’s dad restored car
— In a story on Page 10 of
T he Daily Astorian’s wed-
ding supplement Wednesday
about the Courtney Rudat
and Kevin Berry wedding,
LOTTERIES
the 1930 Hupmobile was
restored by the bride’s step-
father, Randy Hansen. The
article had attributed the
restoration to the groom’s
father.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Cannon Beach Tourism and Arts Commission, 9 a.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., work session, City Hall, 698 Pacifi c
Way.
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
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OREGON
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