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MARIANO RIVERA
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SPORTS, B1
E O
AST
AS
143rd Year, No. 68
REGONIAN
REGONIA
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019
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Families fi le suit over students’ shortened days
Aidin Schell
is a third-
grader
from
Pendleton.
Though not
involved in
the lawsuit,
his mother
said he has
had many
problems
with the
district
shortening
his school
day due to
behavioral
disabilities.
Pendleton, Hermiston families talk about diffi culties with districts
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Disability Rights Oregon fi led
a lawsuit Tuesday accusing school
districts in rural Oregon of cutting
school days short for children with
disabilities, blaming the state for
failing to provide the resources to offer
a full day of education.
The four plaintiffs in the suit claim
that practice violates state and federal
laws, and are suing the state of Oregon,
Governor Kate Brown and Oregon
Department of Education Director
Colt Gill.
The plaintiffs are all students in
Oregon public schools with behav-
ior-related disabilities. The lawsuit
gives detailed accounts of the experi-
ences of four boys. It does not iden-
tify the boys or the districts by name,
instead using initials.
Disability Rights Oregon attorney
Joel Greenberg said the four children
represented in the case were selected
because they represent the breadth of
the issue. The children range from ages
6 to 14, live in communities around the
state, and have behavioral problems of
differing severity.
“One of the points of the lawsuit is
that the issue of shortening a child’s
school day instead of helping them
learn to be successful is happening to
a lot of students,” said Greenberg.
The suit describes each boy’s expe-
rience with special education programs
in their district, and how each district
systematically responded to each
child’s disruptive behavior by short-
ening their day instead of conducting
functional behavior assessments or
modifying their behavior plans.
It talks about the negative impact of
the shortened day on the students, both
academically and socially. It describes
a 7-year-old boy who was mostly
non-verbal, but due to his shortened
See Families, Page A8
Contributed by Jennifer Schell
HART BEATS LONGER
Hermiston bus service
adds hours to better
accommodate workers
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
S
tarting in February, Herm-
iston residents will have
increased access to public
transit. Hermiston Area
Regional Transit, or HART, will
increase its circulation from six
routes a day to 10, beginning Feb. 4.
The service will be available from
7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through
Friday, increasing from its current
hours of 9:12 a.m. to 4:48 p.m.
The routes will stay the same,
with 21 stops on each route, and the
service, operated by the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation’s Kayak Public Transit
system, will remain free to the public.
In 2017, the system’s fi rst full year
of operation, they gave 2,723 rides. In
2018, they gave 4,812 rides, according
to Kayak Transit Coordinator Susan
Johnson.
Hermiston Assistant City Manager
Mark Morgan said the city initially
introduced the program with the hope
of supplementing the senior/disabled
taxi program. When assessing the
program, he said, 45 percent of the
users needed the service between
noon and 5 p.m., and two thirds of
the riders were all going to the same
three locations: the hospital, Life-
ways, and Walmart.
Johnson said the increased hours
will allow them to hire another
driver, bringing them to one full-time
and two part-time drivers. She said
this spring they will also be getting
a 22-passenger bus, which she said
they hope will increase ridership.
See HART, Page A8
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
Hermiston Area Regional Transit, or HART, will increase its circulation from six routes a day to 10, beginning Feb. 4. The service
will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. At left, Kayak Transit driver Ron Myer, navigates through the
Walmart parking lot in Hermiston Tuesday. At right, the HART bus leaves the stop on Southwest Third Street.
Pendleton library director retires
Assistant librarian
will step into role
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Pendleton Public Library is
turning the page on its leadership.
Library Director Mary Finney
announced at a December library
board meeting that she would be
retiring on Jan. 31. The following
day, assistant director Jennifer
Costley will take over the library’s
top post.
In an interview Tuesday, Finney
said it felt like the right time to
retire after working for the library
for the past 28 years, the
librarian in 2012, Costley
last fi ve spent as director.
was elevated to assis-
Finney said one of the
tant director when Davis
highlights of her career was
retired.
being involved in the move
With Finney considering
from the library’s old loca-
retirement over the past
tion at 214 N. Main St. to
two years, City Manager
Finney
the newly opened Pend-
Robb Corbett said the city
leton City Hall in the late
decided to train Costley to
1990s.
take over for Finney in the event of
Originally hired as a library her departure.
services librarian in 1990, Finney
Costley said she was “over the
had risen to assistant director by moon excited” to take over as the
the time former Director Kat Davis next director.
announced her retirement in 2013.
She said she had just returned
After a nationwide search for a from maternity leave, so she hadn’t
new director failed to yield a suffi - been able to give much thought on
cient candidate, the city promoted how her tenure might affect library
Finney to the director position.
services and programming. But
Hired as a youth services she plans on soaking up as much
knowledge as she can from Finney
before the end of the month.
The youth services librarian
position has been vacant since the
last leadership changeover, with
Costley continuing to manage the
children’s section along with her
duties as assistant director.
With Costley set to be promoted
again, the library will leave the
assistant director position unfi lled
this time and restore the youth
services librarian.
Finney said the thing she was
most proud of during her time as
director was the staff who worked
under her.
She said she had no immediate
plans once she was retires beyond
“reconnecting with my cat.”