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PA G E 8
PA GE 19
PENDLETON
Librarian
discovers
U.S. news
ignored
Holocaust
Exhibit at the
library probes
what Americans
really know
By TRISH YERGES
For East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The “Ameri-
cans and the Holocaust” traveling
exhibition at the Pendleton Public
Library is attracting visitors and
raising eyebrows about what Amer-
icans knew about the systematic
genocide of millions of European
Jews and millions of others.
Assistant library director James
Simpson, who is working on a
related project to digitize data on
the holocaust for future use by
researchers, said, “The information
on the (exhibit) panels is supposed
to provide the viewer with what we
knew.”
The exhibit is on display until
July 1.
Simpson pointed out that during
the 1930s there were not a lot of arti-
cles in American newspapers that
mentioned German concentration
camps, and the ones that did rarely
mentioned they held Jewish people.
Sometimes articles mentioned
so-called “undesirables” or Poles
were in the concentration camps,
he said, and there was no mention
in newspapers of mass annihilations
going on at these camps until the
1940s.
Dachau concentration camp in
Germany was opened in March
1933, less than two months after
Hitler was appointed as chancellor
of Germany. One Associated Press
article Simpson found reprinted in
the East Oregonian read: “Dachau,
Germany — Guards today killed
three communists and wounded
one who were attempting to escape
from a concentration camp.”
Other than this brief mention,
news on concentration camps
and their prisoners was rarely
published, Simpson concluded from
his research into local newspapers.
Denial a common theme
However, he did fi nd local news-
paper articles about the war in
general, articles with anti-Semitic
themes, and “articles about Reich-
stag laws that prevented German
Jews from participating in public
See Holocaust, Page A7
‘AGE BUBBLE’
pushes up class size at
McKay Elementary School
District shift s
resources as fi ft h
grade class booms
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — McKay
Elementary School class
size looks to grow signifi -
cantly from fourth grade
last year to fi fth grade for
2022-23.
Fourth grade had just
19 students per teacher in 2021-22, accord-
ing to Matt Yoshioka, director of Curric-
ulum, Instruction and Assessment for the
Pendleton School District. But class size
could rise to 29 in fi fth grade for the coming
year, he estimated.
Such a projected sharp spike in the
student-to-teacher ratio concerns families
with children in grade school.
“Several parents have contacted the
district to get answers,” said Amy Marvin,
mother of a McKay fi fth grader, “and there
has not been a response. Funding does not
seem to be an issue, according to several
educators I have spoken to. This would be
a huge increase in class size for kids still
catching up from pandemic online school-
ing.”
She said no other school in the district
will have classes this large.
Moving resources to meet needs
Yoshioka said the class size increase is
due to the number of students.
“There’s an age bubble at McKay,”
he pointed out. “Next year, fi fth grade at
McKay will have 29 students per teacher,
but the year after that, only 22 per class.
Last year the classes were 29 and 30 in
fi fth grade at McKay. This year they were
17 and 19 due to a smaller group coming
through.”
Historically, 29 is not out of line in a fi fth
grade class, he said. Washington Elemen-
tary had 24 to 25 students per fi fth grade
class this year and Sherwood had 27.
“A fi fth grade class with a size of 27 to
30 is not out of our norm for any of our
schools,” he said.
The district shifts around resources to
keep class sizes as even as possible, Yosh-
ioka explained. But hiring more teachers is
tough. Enrollment in the district dropped
about 36 elementary students this year,
which means less state funding.
“When we lose funding, we have to make
adjustments.” Yoshioka said.
The district had to look at the big picture
as a whole to keep class sizes down as best
as possible to make decisions based on the
resources it has, Yoshioka stressed.
We continue to make K-3 classrooms
the highest priority in keeping class sizes
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Parents Amy Marvin, left, and Tiff any Tovar on June 8, 2022, talk about their concerns re-
garding the fi fth grade class increasing in size at McKay Elementary School, Pendleton, in
the next school year.
down,” he said, “as these grades have been
shown to be the most critical to a child’s
academic development.”
“A FIFTH GRADE
CLASS WITH A
SIZE OF 27 TO 30 IS
NOT OUT OF OUR
NORM FOR ANY OF
OUR SCHOOLS.”
— Matt Yoshioka, Pendleton School
District director of Curriculum, Instruction
and Assessment
Some parents worry about
eff ects of larger classes
Marvin noted the Oregon Education
Department reported average state class size
in 2019-20 for fi fth grade was 22 students and
studies show optimal class size is 15 to 20.
Marvin said her son isn’t struggling
as much as some fellow students because
her husband is a teacher. Nursing instruc-
tor Tiff any Tovar’s son, however, is falling
behind. She is concerned about the eff ect of
a 30% increase in student-teacher ratio.
“I have seven students in my class,”
Tovar said. “I can’t imagine teaching and
grading 31.”
Her son already was on an Individualized
Education Program before online learning
during the pandemic put him further behind
the curve. He needed extra help in reading
and math, requiring in-person instruction.
“This year he experienced an exponen-
tial amount of growth, being back in school,
playing catch up after the pandemic,” Tovar
said. “I fear overcrowding and teacher burn-
out next year. It’s not reasonable to expect
one teacher to meet the needs of 31 students.”
Sherwood to have most fi fth
graders in district
Yoshioka said the district’s largest group
of fi fth graders next year will be at Sher-
wood Elementary School.
“Even larger groups are coming up at
Sherwood over the next three years, at 96 to
104 students per year. McKay and Washing-
ton do not have such large groups. Sherwood
is also our largest school by enrollment,
currently at 461 students.”
The district has no plans to reduce the
number of fi fth grade teachers at any school,
he said, but Sherwood is getting another
grade teacher. Rather than a new position,
he said, the district is shifting staff at Sher-
wood.
“Based on projections, we will have a
smaller group of incoming fi rst graders at
Sherwood this fall,” Yoshioka concluded.
“We do not need fi ve fi rst grade teachers
there. We will have four grade one teachers
at Sherwood and one additional fi fth grade
teacher, but the number of total teachers at
Sherwood has not increased. Class sizes are
still projected to be 20 or 21.”
A special project
Umatilla robotics
students build an
off -road wheelchair for
a young Baker City boy
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Gus Macy, son of
Levi and Karla of Baker City, is set
for a very enjoyable summer, accord-
ing to his mother. Team Confi dential,
the Umatilla High School robotics
team, is responsible for some of his
latest summertime plans.
The team made a wheelchair specif-
ically for 6-year-old Gus, who has spina
bifi da and is unable to use his legs.
“What we determined to do as a
robotics club is to give him a chance
to have more activities with his
family outside of normal wheelchair
activity,” Team Confi dential coach
and UHS teacher Kyle Sipe said.
He described it as a “trike, retro-
fi tted into an e-bike.” It’s electric, so
Gus, who is unable to peddle a bicy-
cle, can use his thumb to control the
throttle and operate the chair.
Karla Macy said such chairs, built
for off -road adventuring, can cost
more than $20,000. This one, she
said, will make a big diff erence in
her son’s life.
“This is a new and exciting way
for him to get around,” she said.
Umatilla School District/Contributed Photo
See Chair, Page A7
Gus Macy of Baker City checks out his new wheelchair that Team Confi den-
tial, the Umatilla High School robotics team, built for him.