OFF PAGE ONE
HERMISTON: 134 students transferred into the district
Page 10A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
iston saw an increase of 712
children ages 5 to 17. In 2000
there were 2,880, and by
2010 it had jumped to 3,592.
Mooney said the growth
of the youth population is
reflective of changes in the
surrounding area.
“When the community
grows, the school grows,” she
said.
Mooney said the increase
in enrollment has had some
benefits, including the poten-
tial to add new programs.
“The really good aspect
is that there are more oppor-
tunities for kids,” she said.
“The ability to offer different
programs is good. I know
we’re looking at adding some
health occupation programs.
We’ve been able to offer
a greater range of elective
classes.”
The district has several
programs aimed at career
preparation,
including
agriculture, food and natural
resource systems; arts, infor-
mation and communications;
business and management;
family consumer sciences
and human resources; health
sciences; and industrial and
engineering systems. One
such class is the Columbia
Basin
Student
Home
Building Program, which
allows students to construct
“People follow the jobs. It’s really just
general economic growth in the region.”
— Mark Morgan, Hermiston Assistant City manager
a home that will then be sold.
She said that those addi-
tional classes are the areas
in which a larger student
population allows the district
to expand.
“Math
requirements,
language arts requirements
— other schools will have
those same offerings,” she
said. “What sets us apart is
the ability to offer outside of
that.”
The programs can offer
some incentives for students
in smaller districts. Mooney
said 134 students transferred
into the district this year from
other areas while 131 trans-
ferred out.
Mooney said there are
some challenges that come
with the growth, as well.
“With growth comes
growing pains,” she said.
“In Pendleton, the pains are
different, and the opportuni-
ties are different.”
The biggest challenge
for the district will be space.
After a failed bond in May
that proposed to build a new
elementary school and rebuild
two others with increased
capacity, the district is going
to have to take another look
at how to handle the still-
growing student population.
Right now, the solution to
the growth has been to use
modular classrooms, but
district employees have said
that will be difficult to main-
tain as a long-term solution.
The city of Hermiston
presented data collected by
Portland State University that
looks at projections for the
area’s urban growth boundary.
Although Hermiston and
Pendleton were found to have
similar populations within
their city limits at the time
of the forecast, Hermiston’s
urban growth boundary was
projected to grow much
faster. In 2000, the population
within Hermiston’s urban
growth boundary was 15,635.
In 2010 it was 19,234. The
projected population for 2016
was 21,488, and for 2035, it
was 28,667.
By contrast, the popu-
lation within Pendleton’s
urban growth boundary was
17,161 in 2000, but dropped
a bit by 2010, and is projected
to increase just slightly, to
18,395 people, by 2035.
Hermiston Assistant City
Manager Mark Morgan said
the reason for overall growth
in the area is fairly straight-
forward.
“People follow the jobs,”
he said. “Unless it’s a resort
destination, people don’t
typically say, ‘I’m going to
move to Hermiston and then
find a job.’ It’s really just
general economic growth in
the region.”
He cited the expansion
of several food processing
plants and new data centers in
the area in the last few years,
all of which have created
scores of jobs and, as a result,
growth in other parts of the
community.
Morgan said another
reason Hermiston might be
seeing more people moving
in is its proximity to the
Tri-Cities.
“We
are
absolutely
different housing markets,”
he said. “But with the correla-
tion in commuting patterns,
there’s ways I believe we’re
tied to them.”
He added that because
most people seeking a place
to live based on work are
more likely to be at the age
where they have school-going
children, it’s safe to assume
that with this population
increase, school enrollment
will continue to climb.
“I don’t see it going
anywhere in the near future,”
he said.
AYALA: One of four men facing charges for the killing
Continued from 1A
and Steve Nelson, live out
of state, but he has met with
them in person and spoke
several times with them on
the phone.
“In all the conversations
I’ve had with the Nelson
family, they continue to
express the magnitude of the
loss,” Primus said. “There is
no way that hole could ever
be filled.”
Ayala is one of four men
facing charges for the killing.
The other three have their
cases pending in federal court.
Ayala’s attorney, Sohaye Lee
of Portland, said her client is
the “first one to step up and
take responsibility for his
actions.”
Temple also asked Ayala if
he had anything to say.
“I just want to apologize to
Mr. Nelson’s family,” he said.
Three
members
of
Nelson’s family were in the
courtroom. Jaclyn Jenkins,
Primus’ chief deputy pros-
ecutor, during a break in the
proceedings brought them a
box of tissue.
Ayala now goes back to
the federal prison in Sheridan,
Oregon. Court records show
his sentencing for the federal
crimes is Aug. 9 in U.S.
District Court, Portland.
Primus also plans to
bring charges against the
other defendants: Joseph
Aaron McIver, Armando
Ruben Vargas and Nicholas
Benjamin Jones.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Edward Duarte Ayala reads a copy of the final judg-
ment with his attorney, Sohaye Lee, of Portland, after
being sentenced for manslaughter and conspiracy to
commit burglary in connection with the homicide of
Thadd Nelson of Meacham. Ayala received a 16 year
sentence for the crimes.
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Brown voices
her opposition to
Trump policies
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND
—
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
castigated the Trump
administration’s policies
Friday, while reiterating
her commitment to curbing
climate change, protecting
immigrants and improving
health care and
education.
Obama’s
Affordable Care
Act
enabled
nearly 1 million
Oregonians
to
access
health
insurance. About
98 percent of
children and 95
percent of adults Brown
in the state now
have health insurance.
“When I saw the Trump
proposed health care … I
call it the anti-health care
bill,” Brown said, referring
to the American Health
Care Act.
The
Congressional
Budget Office estimates
the federal bill would
reduce the number of
Americans who are insured
by 23 million.
Despite a $1.4 billion
revenue shortfall in the state
budget, Brown repeated
her goal of increasing the
number of people enrolled
in the Oregon Health
Plan without decreasing
coverage.
Brown
made
the
comments
during
an
appearance at the Portland
City Club’s Friday Forum
at the Sentinel Hotel. The
theme of the event was
“Governing under the
Trump Administration.”
Brown also pledged to
continue Oregon’s goals
for reducing greenhouse
gas emissions despite
Trump’s
controversial
decision to pull the country
out of the Paris climate
agreement. His announce-
ment Thursday has upset
several of America’s allies,
according to news reports.
The governor also
expressed
disapproval
of
federal
Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos’
comment that likened
education to car insurance.
“I don’t think that is
my approach. I think it is
critically important that
we all have really good
access to a good
public education
because I see
education
as
an elevator. It
enables us all
to rise,” Brown
said.
When pressed
by interviewer
Nicole Maher,
president
of
the
Northwest
Health Foundation, about
shortcomings in Oregon’s
education funding formula,
the governor said now is
not the time to fix it.
“It’s really hard to
change a funding formula
when we don’t have
enough resources coming
in,” Brown said. “…I
think our first priority as a
state must be to get more
resources into our educa-
tion system as a whole.
Then I think we can have
that conversation about the
funding formula.”
The Ways and Means
subcommittee on educa-
tion approved a $8.2
billion biennial budget
for kindergarten through
high school on Thursday.
Oregon education officials
have said that amount will
require reductions in staff,
programs and school days.
Democrats
in
the
Legislature are pushing
for a commercial activity
tax on corporations that
could help boost education
funding for the state’s next
budget for 2017-2019.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
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