NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Oregon Senate advances $9.3B school funding plan
By HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
SALEM — A $9.3 billion plan
to fund Oregon schools for the next
two years is headed to the state
House after the Senate passed it on
a bipartisan vote with little debate on
Tuesday, May 25.
The state school fund budget
includes $300 million more than
necessary to maintain current level
K-12 services and programs, legis-
lative analysts said.
That proposed funding level
sparked controversy earlier this
month, when Gov. Kate Brown sent
a letter to legislative leaders urging
them not to pump more money into
the state’s funding system in which
districts receive formula-based
distributions to spend as they decide.
Advocates for educational equity
have been pushing for the state to
overhaul the funding system to
target more investments to histori-
cally underserved students, includ-
ing children in poverty and students
of color.
Under Oregon’s school funding
formula, districts receive much more
money for students with disabil-
ities and somewhat more money
for those living in poverty or learn-
ing English as a second language.
However, it delivers the same for
white and Asian students as Black,
Latino and Indigenous students, for
whom schools have delivered poor
outcomes in the past.
Lawmakers have discussed
potential changes in private meet-
ings this session but opted not to
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Students at Echo School sit socially distanced in John Cox’s high school history class on Feb. 2, 2021. The Oregon
Senate on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, advanced a $9.3 billion school funding plan, $300 million more than necessary
to maintain the current level of K-12 services and programs.
make any changes to Senate Bill
5514, which the Senate approved on
May 25.
In a speech on the Senate floor,
Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland,
said other state funding streams and
unspecified proposals still under
consideration this session “directly
target the educational disparities
for Black, Indigenous and students
of color.”
“All, in my view, should be
targeting an expectation that all of
Oregon’s students are encouraged
to enjoy learning and tap into the
innate curiosity that they are born
with,” Frederick said.
Stand for Children Oregon Exec-
utive Director Toya Fick, a propo-
nent of changing the state school
fund formula, has pointed to rising
graduation rates among Black and
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Partly sunny and
warmer
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
Very warm with
partial sunshine
Hot
Very hot
79° 48°
85° 54°
95° 63°
98° 65°
83° 46°
90° 51°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
95° 58°
102° 66°
100° 67°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
68/47
70/43
77/49
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
78/51
Lewiston
76/49
83/51
Astoria
68/49
Pullman
Yakima 81/47
73/44
78/50
Portland
Hermiston
80/53
The Dalles 83/46
Salem
Corvallis
77/47
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
74/45
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
79/47
77/48
75/44
Ontario
80/49
Caldwell
Burns
72°
47°
75°
50°
102° (1934) 37° (1954)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
78/49
0.00"
0.42"
1.01"
1.70"
1.42"
5.00"
WINDS (in mph)
76/47
75/42
Trace
0.47"
1.23"
4.03"
7.58"
6.34"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 71/42
81/52
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
79/48
84/51
67°
44°
73°
49°
100° (1934) 31° (1918)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
71/46
Aberdeen
72/46
76/52
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
70/50
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
90/53
Sun.
NE 4-8
NNE 6-12
NE 3-6
NNW 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
81/43
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:11 a.m.
8:35 p.m.
none
8:11 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
June 2
June 10
June 17
June 24
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 101° in Needles, Calif. Low 18° in Brimson, Minn.
Oregon discloses huge surge
in wasted COVID-19 vaccines
The Oregonian
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
90° 59°
Latino students in recent years as
evidence the state’s targeted invest-
ments to help those students are
paying off and should be expanded.
Others, including some lawmak-
ers, have argued the state cannot
direct more funding to help under-
served students until it further
boosts the base state school fund.
School district officials and the
statewide teachers union produced
SALEM — More than
half of all Oregonians are
now at least partially vacci-
nated against COVID-19.
But demand has slowed in
recent weeks, and that’s
apparently playing a role
in the growing number of
wasted doses reported by
state health officials.
On Tuesday, May 25,
the Oregon Health Author-
ity reported 9,090 vaccine
doses have now been wasted,
spoiled or expired since
December. That’s more than
double the total disclosed last
week, which stood at 4,418,
and it’s more than quadru-
ple the 1,922 reported three
weeks ago.
For context, Oregon
through May 4 had reported
administering nearly 3.1
million doses of vaccine,
meaning just 0.06% of doses
had been wasted, spoiled or
expired.
But since then, Oregon
has reported administer-
ing 719,665 doses against
7,168 that have been wasted,
according to calculations of
state data by The Oregonian.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
That means that for every
100 doses recently admin-
istered, one dose has been
wasted — a far higher rate
than during the first five
months of vaccinations.
Tim Heider, a spokes-
person for OHA, said in an
email that wastage “may
increase as the vaccine roll-
out continues.” He said that’s
because vial sizes for some
vaccines have increased,
those vials may be opened
without every dose being
used, and more providers,
including smaller sites, are
now receiving vaccines.
Heider’s response matches
wording from a Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion document written last
week, which he did not attri-
bute to the CDC.
“CDC and our partners
are doing everything possi-
ble to minimize the amount
of vaccine that goes unused,”
the federal document reads.
“We recognize that as
we continue to create more
opportunities to vacci-
nate more people, it may
increase the likelihood of
leaving unused doses in a
vial,” the CDC document
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals
postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
SALEM — Oregon has surpassed 200,000
confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of
the pandemic, health officials said on Thurs-
day, May 27. The state’s death toll is 2,660.
Oregon Health Authority Director Dr.
Patrick Allen said this is a reminder the
pandemic is not over.
“As we head into the Memorial Day
holiday weekend, this milestone is a grim
reminder that while case counts are decreas-
ing statewide in large part due to vaccina-
tion, there remains a risk of COVID-19 in
Oregon, especially for those who are not yet
vaccinated,” Allen said in a press release. “I
urge caution for Oregonians who are not yet
vaccinated. You are still at risk of infection
and should wear a mask indoors and practice
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group
also said. “While we want to
continue to follow best prac-
tices to use every dose possi-
ble, we do not want that to
be at the expense of missing
an opportunity to vaccinate
every eligible person when
they are ready to get vacci-
nated.”
OHA began regularly
disclosing wasted doses
in early April, when only
656 doses had been wasted
compared to more than 2
million administered.
“We believe that our
health system partners are
managing their vaccine
responsibly and doing every-
thing that they can to mini-
mize waste,” the agency’s
chief financial officer, Dave
Baden, said in an April 7
statement.
“At this point, considering
the logistical complexity of
operating large-scale vacci-
nation programs, the small
amount of wasted vaccine in
Oregon is expected and not
surprising,” he added. “This
amount is a small fraction of
the more than 2 million doses
that have been safely deliv-
ered, managed and injected
in the arms of Oregonians.”
IN BRIEF
Oregon surpasses 200,000
COVID-19 cases, but rates
continue to decrease
-10s
their own cost estimate for 2021-
23 and it was $600 million higher
than legislative analysts calculated,
at $9.6 billion. That funding level
would allow districts, including
some with declining student enroll-
ment, to avoid layoffs, supporters
said. A school boards representative
vowed on May 25 to continue push-
ing for an additional $300 million in
the remaining month of the legisla-
tive session.
Republicans, who are in the
minority in the Legislature, are
pushing for schools to fully reopen
for in-person classes in the fall, and
they support the higher school fund
level as a way to achieve that.
The state school fund is the
largest single line-item in the state
budget and its passage will give
school districts around the state
certainty of the funding amounts
they can expect as they finalize
their local budgets for the next year.
Lawmakers must still decide how to
provide $200 million of the school
fund money, after they ditched a
plan to tap a reserve account for that
amount in the face of criticism from
the governor.
With a $1 billion windfall
revealed in the latest revenue fore-
cast last week and $2.6 billion from
the latest federal relief package,
there is no shortage of options.
If the House passes the $9.3
billion budget, this will be at least
the fourth biennium in a row the
Legislature will have approved a
larger state school fund than legis-
lative analysts said was necessary
to continue services and programs.
ADVERTISING
Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group:
• Karrine Brogoitti
541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Multimedia Consultants:
Local home
delivery
Savings
(cover price)
$10.75/month
50 percent
541-564-4531 • kschwirse@eastoregonian.com
52 weeks
$135
42 percent
• Audra Workman
26 weeks
$71
39 percent
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
13 weeks
$37
36 percent
Business Office
EZPay
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
• Kelly Schwirse
• Dayle Stinson
541-966-0824 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
physical distance precautions.”
Despite the grim milestone, Oregon’s daily
case count, hospitalizations, deaths and posi-
tivity rates have been decreasing.
OHA reported on May 26 that during the
week of May 17, the number of daily cases
decreased by 25% from the previous week.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations during
that week were 224 — the lowest figure in
five weeks.
Earlier this month, Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown set statewide and county COVID-19
vaccination targets, with the hope of reopen-
ing the state’s economy.
Brown said most statewide coronavirus
related restrictions will be lifted when 70%
of Oregon’s residents who are 16 years and
older receive their first COVID-19 vaccine
dose. Currently, more than half of Oregon’s
eligible population who are 16 or older have
received at least their first vaccine dose.
— Oregon Public Broadcasting
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Renee Struthers
at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Commercial Print Manager: Holly Rouska
541-617-7839 • hrouska@eomediagroup.com