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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com December 9, 2015 Marijuana license comments wrap up R ISE AND SHINE By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Steve Tool/The Chieftain The sun rises over Wallowa County on a recent morning. State survey: Area schools still lagging in math scores By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain The Oregon Department of Education report cards for 2015 show Wallowa County schools continuing to struggle to bring math scores up to the state target — 40 percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards. The level of failure in math is signi¿cant for certain grade levels in the three largest dis- tricts in the county. Wallowa High scores the lowest in the county with just 6.7 percent of 11th-grade stu- dents meeting or exceeding state standards for math. The statewide report is not stellar, either. Just 31.6 percent of Oregon’s 11th-grade stu- dents meet the math standard. Younger students in Wal- lowa did much better, beating the state average (42.5 percent) with 50 percent of students in grades 6-8 meeting or exceed- ing state standards. Wallowa students in grades 3-5 were near the state average (44.8 percent) with 43.9 percent. Wallowa School Superin- tendent Bret Uptmor said com- mittees were looking at new materials and that the district expected to show improve- ment in the coming year. “Keep in mind, this is the ¿rst year this assessment was ever given,” Uptmor said. “Our kids took the OAKS test since freshmen year and had met the essential skills for graduation. The value of the test to students is just gradu- ation. The staff feeling is that the kids may not have put all their effort into that last test to represent us the best. We’re al- ready working with our juniors to help them to understand that this is an institutional value as well.” Enterprise School district showed percentage rates that began low but improved as students moved up in grades. Just 29.4 percent of students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded the standard, compared to the state’s 44.8 percent average. In grades 6-8 the district met the goal, but the state exceeded it with a score of 42.5. By grade 11, Enterprise showed 45.8 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations, while the state lost ground with an av- erage of 31.6 percent. Enterprise School District Superintendent Brad Royse said the higher scores in later grades were no reason for com- placency. “I’ve de¿nitely got a plan of attack for where we’re low,” he said. “The district has been working since the beginning of the year on this.” Royse highlighted eight key things the district was doing to improve math performance. • The district hired two math specialists over the summer. • A review of new math cur- riculum tied to standards for adoption next year is underway. • Monitoring of all classes has increased. • Teacher goals reÀect an increase in math instruction, monitoring and assessment • The district is reviewing new measurement tools. • Staff is working at better communication with parents on the increased math standards. • Staff has been encouraged to map educational opportuni- ties in classes. • There’s a renewed dedica- tion of current in-service time to math instruction and im- provement. Joseph Charter School was in pretty good condition over- all, with a dip in math scores the middle grades. Grades 3-5 were less than a point below the state target at 39.6 percent. The state as a whole beat its 40 percent goal with 44.8 percent. By grades 6-8, Joseph’s per- centage dropped to 31.6, com- pared to the state’s 42.5. But by grade 11, Joseph surged ahead, outstripping the state perfor- mance by more than 10 per- centage points, with 46.7 per- cent to the state’s 31.6 percent. Joseph School District Su- perintendent Lance Homan said the district had made a number of changes this year to prepare for the new testing, but that it had expected a drop in scores statewide because of the new test. Joseph Charter is addressing student need by creating small work groups of students with similar dif¿culties so that they can get more individual instruc- tion, he said. “We’ve identi¿ed that as a way we can get kids caught up faster,” he said. “We’re also putting more emphasis on solving problems with multiple steps.” The district also shufÀed teachers in the lower grades to make each class self-contained and sent teachers out for train- ing in the Smarter Balance pro- gram. “Training has always been very helpful,” Homan said. “We’re always trying to get our teachers to workshops.” Stellar scores throughout the county included 92.9 per- cent of ¿fth-grade students in Wallowa meeting or exceed- ing state standards for science; 92.9 percent of Joseph Charter 11th-graders in science; and more than 95 percent of Enter- prise students in all grades for both science and English lan- guage. Oregon schools were not rated in 2015 because of the transition from OAKS testing to Smarter Balance testing. “We didn’t have a choice about changing testing,” said Royse. “This is the third time since I’ve been an administra- tor here (17 years) that they’ve changed the testing system.” The full reports are avail- able for viewing at: http://www. ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/ reports.aspx It was dif¿cult for propo- nents of retail marijuana to ¿nd an approach that would impress Wallowa County Commissioners at the Dec. 7 public meeting. The meeting was the second of two sched- uled to allow public comment before commissioners make a decision on whether to license marijuana producers, proces- sors, wholesalers, dispensa- ries and retailers or opt out of licensing any marijuana busi- nesses in the county. The Thornton Room in the county courthouse was packed Monday morning and proponents of licensing came well prepared and armed with handouts from sources, in- cluding one from the National Cancer Institute that report- ed that studies on marijuana show that it can and has killed cancer cells. Proponents made some headway in defending the li- censing of medical marijuana dispensaries based on com- passion for the sick and dying, but commissioners were un- impressed with scienti¿c ar- guments either for or against, interpretations of probable tax bene¿ts or discussions of the potential for added jobs in the industry. Commissioners took seri- ously the concern that by nor- malizing the use of cannabis it would absolutely result in the product being used by chil- dren. “It will get to the kids,” Commissioner Paul Castilleja said. As to potential tax bene¿ts, the idea that the county would base a decision based on po- tential taxes, was “slightly ri- diculous,” said Commissioner Susan Roberts. “I don’t want to have the county base its decisions on whether or not we’re going to get tax dollars,” Roberts said. “There are lots of ill things that we could do that would generate tax dollars. We get a lot of things off of alcohol tax, cigarette tax all of that and then we spend a lot of that helping people not do those things. “ Commissioner Mike Hay- ward, after thanking all who testi¿ed and acknowledging their points, said he was con- vinced the issue was one of values. “I’ve become a real nega- tive person about science,” he said. “My dealings with the forestry sector — which I have a lot more familiarity with than this — you decide what you want the outcome to be and you get the science to back it up. And it sounds like it’s the same in this industry — you can get science on both sides. “So, to me, science doesn’t count. It’s about people’s val- ues and what they want to do with their lives. If their values choose to believe that set of science, that’s where they’re going to be.” As to the potential of jobs created in the industry, Hay- ward pointed out that no po- tential producers were present at the meetings to argue their point. “The producers that might make a living doing this, I don’t see any of them here,” Hayward said.” I don’t know if that means they’re not inter- ested or what.” All commissioners noted that different decisions might be made in the future. simple basic toys Inland the ones they play with again and again the ones they remember forever Inland Octopus provides an extraordinary assortment of toys that inspire thought, activity and happiness through accomplishment. open 7 days a week closed Thanksgiving Free Gift Wrapping! 7 East Main Walla Walla Thank You Thanks to all who expressed their condolences at the passing of our loved one, Melvin Lathrop. Our family much appreciates all the care that he received while in the hospital from all the caregivers. Joan Lathrop & family A3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to my darling girl Zari, the smartest, sweetest and most wonderful girl in the world! Love, GGM ANNUAL WALLOWA COUNTY Food Bank Drive SPONSORED BY THE WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN Donate and have a chance to WIN $100! The more you donate, the more chances you have to win. We’re asking everyone to pitch in and help our local food banks by donating this month. This will help those in our community who are in need. Your donations can be in the form of unexpired, nonperishable food items or cash donations that will be used to purchase such items for the food bank. Your name will be entered in a $100 prize drawing one time for every 10 items donated and/or $10 donation increment. Please bring donations to the Wallowa County Chieftain office by Wednesday, December 23rd at 5pm. The drawing will be held December 24th and the WINNER will be notified that day. All participants will be highlighted in the December 30th issue of the Chieftain . Thank you for supporting our community! If you have any questions, please call Cheryl at 541-426-4567