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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019
Clatsop County
graduation rates
School year
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
Four-year graduation rates for the five area
school districts compared to the Oregon state
average for the last five years.
District
Percent graduated
Warrenton-
Hammond
66.7%
69.1
74.2
76.2
76.7
65.6
74.8
72.9
Astoria
63.3
77.7
76.3
75.4
74.4
Seaside
66.7
73.4
Knappa
65.9
66.7
70.3
90.6
94.3
100
Jewell
83.3
75
86.7
Oregon
72
73.8
74.8
76.7
78.7
Source: Oregon Dept. of Education
Edward Stratton and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
Graduation: ‘These
are the type of programs
that excite students’
Continued from Page A1
dropout prevention pro-
grams in high school. The
measure has helped fund a
six-week summer school
to help about 20 at-risk
eighth-graders get a head
start, Jackson said. The
measure has also helped
the school district add
more diverse programs
such as agriculture and a
Future Farmers of Amer-
ica club.
“These are the type of
programs that excite stu-
dents in their passions and
interest, and in turn their
learning,” Jackson said.
Jackson also credited
partnerships Astoria has
created with groups like the
Northwest Regional Educa-
tion Service District and the
Lower Columbia Hispanic
Council to help low-income
and Hispanic students.
Warrenton High School,
with a 76.7 percent grad-
uation rate, continued
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
A property in the Evergreen Acres neighborhood near Elsie is overrun with trash.
64.3
a steady upward climb
extending back at least
seven years. The school
district has been lauded for
academic success despite
containing more than half
the students in the county
considered homeless.
Seaside, which had
dipped in the 2016-17
school year, was back up
to 73.4 percent last year.
The school district has
commonly posted a grad-
uation rate of around 75
percent.
Knappa, which posted
a 20 percent increase in its
graduation rate in 2016-17
at more than 90 percent,
again improved, last year
reaching 94.3 percent.
Jewell School, a small
K-12 campus , posted a
78.7 percent graduation
rate last year, a 10 percent
increase from 2016-17 but
down from the last 100
percent graduation rate the
school district achieved in
2013-14.
Kathleen Morgan
The Astoria High School Class of 2018 posted a 77.7 percent
on-time graduation rate, the highest Principal Lynn Jackson
said he can remember in his 12 years as an administrator.
Elsie: The county typically would
sell the dilapidated property
Continued from Page A1
In situations like the one near
Elsie , the county would typically sell
the dilapidated property . For neigh-
bors like Jette and Weber, that solu-
tion isn’t adequate.
They feel the property is in
such disarray that it is practi-
cally unsellable, which makes
them worry the blight and poten-
tial pollution will simply con-
tinue while it stays on the county’s
books.
Even if the property does sell,
neighbors say there is no guarantee it
will be cleaned up .
“I want them to clean it up, and
then sell it,” Weber said.
But that’s a task easier said than
done, Steele said. Though the county
technically owns the property, the
government is not liable for the mess
it inherited, and faces legal hurdles
Don Morden was com-
mitted to keeping the t rolley
running and acted as sched-
uler of all the volunteers,
conductors and motormen,
a position he retired from in
2011.
“It was kind of a thank-
less task because it’s kind
of like herding cats,” said
Jim Wilkins, a retired con-
tractor and trolley vol-
unteer who served for a
term on the City Coun-
cil with Morden. “You
have a lot of volunteers,
nobody’s getting paid, and
you’re trying to get them
to show up and fi ll shifts.
If they didn’t show up, Don
would drive the trolley
himself.”
As Wilkins remembers
it, Morden spent a lot of
time fi lling in for people
who didn’t show up.
“He never complained,
just did it,” Wilkins said,
adding, “He was a true gen-
tleman and I would stress
the ‘gentle’ part of that.
Don wouldn’t hurt a soul.”
One of the great trag-
edies in Morden’s life
occurred when his wife
died.
Anne Morden died in
2011 from injuries sus-
Monica Steele, the interim county manager
when handling the personal e ffects
left behind.
“We can’t just remove property
that isn’t ours,” Steele said. “You
have to take steps to notify the owner
of the items.”
But there are notable excep-
tions made on a case-by-case basis,
Steele said. Last year, county com-
missioners voted to take posses-
sion of a dilapidated property on G
Road in Jeffers Garden a year ahead
of schedule. The county is in the pro-
cess of cleaning the property up after
it was determined to be rapidly losing
value.
Sirpa Duoos, a county property
management specialist, said it’s the
aim of the county to make sure these
types of properties sell.
“We will look at all the situations
and come up with a reasonable mini-
mum bid so it does sell,” Duoos said.
Regardless of how the sale plays
out , there is still an underlying frus-
tration for Jette and Weber, who feel
their complaints were overlooked for
years .
“There should be no indifference
to rural areas,” Weber said. “(They)
should get the same respect as any-
where else in the county.”
Suit: Agency faces at least three other active lawsuits
Continued from Page A1
The lawsuit mirrors facts
reported in November by
The Oregonian . The story
cited an internal Department
of Human Services review
of Secord ‘s death that found
mistakes in the way case
workers handled prior inter-
actions with the teen and his
family.
The agency refused to
provide records involving
Secord to his relatives, the
lawsuit contends.
A spokesperson for the
child welfare agency did not
immediately respond to a
message to comment on the
lawsuit.
The agency faces at least
three other active lawsuits
tied to the deaths of chil-
dren. It may soon face sev-
eral more.
The families of four peo-
ple, two children who died
in foster care and two adults
allegedly killed by a fos-
ter child, have fi led court
papers saying that they are
considering whether to sue
the department.
Councilor: Morden was committed
to keeping the t rolley running
Continued from Page A1
‘WE CAN’T JUST REMOVE PROPERTY THAT ISN’T
OURS. YOU HAVE TO TAKE STEPS TO NOTIFY
THE OWNER OF THE ITEMS.’
tained in a car accident
when a log truck rear-ended
the couple’s small pickup
truck near the Old Youngs
Bay Bridge . Don Morden
was seriously injured in the
accident but recovered.
In comments below
the trolley group’s post
announcing his death, peo-
ple remembered Morden as
a “proactive versus reac-
tive” man who served the
community.
“So sad to see this,”
wrote Jeff Hazen, the exec-
utive director of the Sunset
Empire Transportation Dis-
trict. “Don was all about
community.”
Two more cases recently
ended, with the state on track
to pay a combined $2.3 mil-
lion to those children’s sur-
viving relatives.
In addition to the wrong-
ful death lawsuits, state
attorneys are defending
the agency’s actions in at
least eight other civil suits
involving children who
survived.
The suit fi led on Secord ‘s
behalf seeks $3 million in
non economic damages and
$400,000 in economic dam-
ages. A judge appointed Sea-
side attorney Jeremy Rust
to represent the interests of
Secord ‘s estate earlier this
month.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Christina Secord, left, Trevor Secord’s mother, hugs friends
and family before the start of a candlelight vigil in 2017 to
remember the life of her son.
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