REGION
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
School district talks budget
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
North Hill abuzz with pollinators
A swarm of honeybees fly around an arborvitae bush at the corner of Northwest
Despain Avenue and 10th Street on Tuesday in Pendleton.
HERMISTON
Judge Hill promoted to Brigadier General
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Colonel Daniel J. Hill
of Hermiston will soon be
Brigadier General Hill.
Hill, a Umatilla County
circuit court judge, will be
promoted to Assistant to the
Chief
Counsel
of the National
Guard Bureau.
He will serve
as an adviser to
Judge Advocate
General of the
Army
starting
June 1.
Hill has been
serving as State
Judge Advocate, Hill
the top legal posi-
tion in the Oregon National
Guard, since 2015.
He said he will be able to
fulfill his new national posi-
tion duties part-time from
Hermiston while continuing
to serve as a circuit court
judge. On occasions that
the National Guard job does
require travel, the Oregon
Judicial Department will
provide someone to fill in
during Hill’s absence so that
the work of the court is not
disrupted.
As assistant to the Chief
Counsel, Hill said his job
duties will include being
a liaison between various
parts of the Guard’s legal
system and interactions
with the Active Component
and the U.S. Army Reserve,
working on Judge Advocate
management policy, super-
vision and rating of National
Guard military judges,
reviewing
professional
misconduct complaints and
other military law
matters.
“It’s kind of a
facilitator role,” he
said.
Hill said he will
be the first person
to do the job in its
current form, so it
is “going to be kind
of interesting to see
what I get handed.”
General Michael
L. Stencel, The Adjutant
General for Oregon, stated
in an email announcing
the promotion that Hill is
an example of a “true citi-
zen-soldier.”
“Col. Hill’s selection is
a testament not only to his
performance in the Oregon
National Guard, but also to
his proven abilities and years
of service as a circuit court
judge in Umatilla County,”
Stencel wrote.
A news release from the
6th District Circuit Court
congratulated Hill and called
the new position and rank a
“well-deserved promotion.”
Oregon Supreme Court
Chief Justice Thomas
Balmer congratulated Hill
as well.
“That is a great honor,
but if your service in the
National Guard is anything
like your service in OJD, not
a surprise at all!” he wrote.
“We are proud of you and
wish you every success in
your new duties.”
Hill said the promotion
is a “good career capstone”
and he looks forward to the
challenge.
“I think it’s going to be a
change of pace, looking at
the world differently, from a
higher policy level,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the
different perspective.”
Hill graduated from
Hermiston High School,
obtained an associate’s
degree from Blue Mountain
Community College, a bach-
elor’s degree from Oregon
State University and a law
degree from Willamette
University and a master’s
degree from the U.S. Army
War College in 2014. He
went into active duty for the
Army as a first lieutenant
with the Judge Advocate
General’s Corps in 1987 and
joined the National Guard in
1991.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Morrow County sheriff restructures command
East Oregonian
Morrow County Sheriff
Ken Matlack announced
Tuesday an overhaul of
his department’s command
staff that includes four
promotions to lieutenant.
“The
driving
force
behind the move is to be
more fiscally responsible
and decrease the overtime
budget, while operating as
efficiently as possible,” he
said in the written statement.
Terry Harper, a 28-year
veteran of the sheriff’s
office, is the new operations
lieutenant in charge of the
criminal and patrol divi-
sions, courthouse security,
the search and rescue team
and the county’s off-road
vehicle park. And Melissa
Ross serves as the new
administrative lieutenant.
She worked as a sheriff’s
office dispatcher from 1999-
2000 and has been with the
agency since 2005. She
will oversee the civil unit,
concealed handgun permits
and records management.
She also takes on the
office’s new role of public
information officer.
Kristen Bowles steps
up to communications
lieutenant in charge of
a sergeant and eight
deputies of the commu-
nications/9-1-1
division.
Dan Robbins will serve as
the corrections lieutenant,
supervising
community
corrections deputies and the
community service director,
who collectively oversee
115 offenders.
Brian Snyder moves up
from detective to criminal
sergeant to direct crim-
inal investigations, court
security staff, the school
resource officer and the
detectives with the Blue
Mountain
Enforcement
Narcotics Team.
And Ivy Zimmerman is
the new civil sergeant in
charge of the civil unit and
patrol deputies while they
perform civil duties.
Matlack also congrat-
ulated his staff on their
promotions.
The Hermiston School
District held its first budget
meeting
Monday
and
discussed some proposed
changes, but no layoffs or
loss of instructional hours
despite a likely reduction in
state funding.
Superintendent
Fred
Maiocco presented the
budget message to the board
and budget committee,
which
includes
seven
community members.
Some of the highlights
he mentioned for the next
year’s budget included
keeping current staffing
levels, continuing to provide
professional development
and training, and providing
additional
support
for
students that need more
help. The district will main-
tain the full school calendar,
without taking away any
instructional days.
“These are difficult times
for public schools,” Maiocco
said. “But we have done our
best.”
The district’s balanced
budget proposal totals
$164,478,089 for the 2017-
2018 school year. That
number is an $82.9 million
increase over the past year.
The most significant change
to the budget is the allotment
of $72 million for potential
bond expenditures, if the
bond measure passes on
May 16.
The
general
fund,
budgeted at $61.5 million,
an increase of nine percent
over the past year.
“It’s easier to take it
away (if the bond doesn’t
pass) than to not have it, so
we’ve included it for now,”
Maiocco said.
Maiocco acknowledged
that it will be a difficult
budget year, with a state-
wide schools deficit of $1.6
billion. Challenges, he said,
will include attracting and
retaining qualified staff,
more crowded classrooms,
an increase in PERS costs
and reductions to federal
grant funding.
Director of Business
Services Katie Saul went
over the district’s various
funding sources, and noted
some that will not arrive this
year.
Among the funds that
will be discontinued are the
Farm to School Grant, which
was used to fund farm-fresh
produce at the schools, as
well as the College and
Career Readiness fund,
which was designated to help
with visits to local colleges
and universities. Other things
that were discontinued were
the Alternative Education
Innovative Learning Center
(ILC), which was absorbed
into Hermiston High School
earlier this school year.
Saul also noted some
new funds that were added
to next year’s budget.
Measure 98, which allots
$800 for each high schooler
in the state, will be included
in the budget, although Saul
said the district does not
know if it will receive the
full amount for each student
due to the statewide budget
shortfall.
Saul also went over the
district’s expected revenue
and expenditures. The bulk
of the school’s revenue is
made up of the state school
fund and property taxes.
Some of the district’s
budgeted expenditures will
include the food service
fund, which receives both
federal and state money, and
the textbook reserve fund.
The district will also budget
for a planning principal and
secretary for a new school
on Theater Lane.
In the event that the bond
passes, the district will hire
staff to oversee the construc-
tion and begin planning
operations for that school.
There will be another
budget committee meeting
on Monday, May 15. A
public budget hearing will
be held Monday, June 12,
after which the school board
may adopt the budget.
PENDLETON
Yoshioka takes charge for next two months
serves as the director of
curriculum, instruction and
Besides the new title, assessment, said he’ll make
Tuesday didn’t seem to any decisions that need to be
mark too many changes for made, but the solutions to the
Matt Yoshioka, the newly district’s pressing issues have
either already been
appointed interim
set in motion or will
superintendent
be addressed by the
for the Pendleton
district’s next top
School District.
administrator.
Although the
Unless
the
school board unan-
Oregon
Legis-
imously voted to
lature
comes
have him lead the
through with more
district for the next
funding, Yoshioka
two months, Yosh-
said the planned
ioka sat in the audi-
layoffs of 10
ence at the board Yoshioka
district employees
meeting rather than
the superintendent’s chair at will proceed as planned.
The reduction in force
the center of the dais.
And when the meeting includes cutting a coordi-
ended, he returned to his nator and director position
usual office at the end of at the district office — Yosh-
the hall, passing the vacated ioka said he couldn’t reveal
superintendent’s office near their identities until they
were informed of the deci-
the building entrance.
Yoshioka said his job as sion later this week — but
interim superintendent is to reassigning their duties will
act as a steward, keeping the belong to the new superin-
district running until a new tendent and not Yoshioka.
Similar to the budget
superintendent takes over
situation, the responsibility
July 1.
Yoshioka, who usually of creating the strategic plan,
East Oregonian
a document that will offer a
vision of the district’s future,
still lies with the school
board and the community
committee meeting to put it
together.
Yoshioka is keeping the
superintendent’s seat warm
after former superintendent
Andy Kovach abruptly left
the district Friday. Kovach
was expected to stay on as
superintendent through June
after announcing his resigna-
tion in February.
The school board will be
interviewing the superin-
tendent finalists Wednesday
evening and expect to select
a candidate by the end of the
week.
The candidates are Aaron
Chavez, superintendent of
the Wahluke School District
in central Washington, Chris
Fritsch, assistant superin-
tendent of Longview Public
Schools in southwestern
Washington, J.T. Stroder,
superintendent of Gardiner
Public Schools in Montana,
and Jim Wagner, superinten-
dent of Kimball Area Public
Schools in Minnesota.
BUTTE CHALLENGE
SATURDAY , MAY 6 , 2017
5K Run, 5K Walk, 10K Run, Kid's Butte Scoot
All races begin & end at Hermiston's Butte Park
DRAWINGS • FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Online registration & race information at
WWW.BUTTECHALLENGE.COM
All proceeds benefi t THE HERMISTON
CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!