Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
August 12, 2020 - Vol. 45, No. 17
August – Shatm – Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Data shows covid
contagion rates
The tribal organization is set to
re-open on Monday, August 17.
Tribal Council and the Warm
Springs Covid-19 Response Team
plan to meet this Friday to review
and further discuss this matter.
In late July and early August,
Council and the Response Team
were considering re-opening the
organization this week; however,
further testing then showed an in-
crease to more than 70 active
Covid-19 cases on the reservation.
Council and the team then
agreed another week of closure
was in order.
Some good news this week is
the number of active cases fell by
about half from the early August
high of the more than 70.
The current number is still high,
though more manageable, said
Caroline Cruz, general manager of
Health and Human Services, and
Response Team member.
Data graphics
A series of compelling graph-
ics, produced by Warm Springs
health experts and management,
help to tell the story of the inci-
dence of the coronavirus on the
reservation. The following are
some of the findings from the
compilation of this critical public
health data.
The numbers reflect the situa-
tion at the end of July and into
early August. According to the data:
By far the most likely place that
people on the reservation have
contracted the virus is through the
household (see page 7 graphic) .
The second most likely place of
contagion is while visiting at gath-
erings.
The third most likely place is
listed as “unknown.” And by far
the least common place to contract
the virus is at the work place.
This could be attributed to the
shut-downs since late March; and
the many precautions—distancing,
masks and plexiglass dividers, tem-
perature taking, cleaning and sani-
tizing—adopted at tribal places of
work.
Most people on the reservation
who have contracted the virus were
listed as ‘Not working.’
Cases by week, by age
According to the data: The
number of cases by week—based
on Health and Wellness Center
testing—steadily increased from
the week of June 15 to the week
of July 20, then went down dur-
ing the week of July 27. Specifi-
cally:
The week of June 15: Five
cases. The week of June 22: Four-
teen cases. The week of June 29:
Sixteen cases. The week of July 6:
Twenty-one cases.
Please see COVID-19 on 7
Comprehensive Distance
Learning for 509-J schools
Like the other school districts in
the state, Jefferson County 509-J
will begin the 2020-21 school year
using Comprehensive Distance
Learning.
Because of the
coronavirus, there will be no on-
site teaching at least for the first
six weeks of the new school year.
State health metrics leave Com-
prehensive Distance Learing as the
only teaching alternative available,
at least for the start of the year.
This is true of all or all but one of
the other districts in Oregon.
School will start on the Tuesday
after Labor Day, September 8. The
week before will be an orientation
time: This is an opportunity for
students and families to become
familiar with the Comprehensive
Distance Learning approach.
This approach will be more in-
volved and intensive than the dis-
tance learning employed during fi-
nal months of last spring term,
when all the schools initially closed.
This fall term there will be time
during which the teachers and stu-
dents will meet for face-to-face
learning, though conducted virtu-
ally and online.
To ensure equity, the district has
acquired many Chromebook de-
vices that will be distributed to stu-
dents and families who have no
home computer. Students can then
access the lessons online.
If a household has no internet,
this would be provided through ac-
cess to a hotspot, at a cell tower.
This would accommodate nearly
all of the district households. A
solution will be developed for the
very rural households that have no
cell tower service.
The daily lessons would be ac-
cessed live with the teacher and
students in virtual classrooms.
Lessons may also be accessed later
through digital video. Some as-
pects are being worked out as the
new school year approaches.
In March of last year the dis-
trict had to end on-site learning
with almost no warning. This fall
the learning sessions will be more
intensive and comprehensive, as
the district teachers and other
staff have since gained much
greater experience and training,
said Ken Parshall, superintendent.
An idea earlier this summer
was for the district to employ the
‘hybrid’ option as outlined by the
state. This would have allowed stu-
dents and families to choose either
on-site learning or Comprehensive
Distance Learning.
In the meantime the state—the
governor’s office, Oregon Depart-
ment of Education and Oregon
Health Authority—established new
health metrics. By these metrics,
the on-site learning option is no
longer possible in Jefferson County,
as with other district in the state.
Specifically, an on-site learning
health metric would require a
Covid-19 positivity test rate of 2
percent for three consecutive
weeks. In the 509-J district the
current rate is 17 percent; so there
is far to go in meeting the standard.
The positivity test rate is one of
the health metrics that apply.
Some districts are already plan-
ning for the entire 2020-21 to be
under the Comprehensive Distance
Learning model. “We’re not ready
to go that far,” Mr. Parshall said.
Instead, as the year progresses,
the district will develop its on-site
learning model. This will require
far more planning, as the on-site
standards are more complex, due
to obvious health and safety fac-
tors.
If the district at some point
meets the health metrics, or if the
metrics themselves were to change,
the district could then implement
the on-site or the hybrid plan.
The district is updating families
every Thursday evening on the lat-
est developments.
Listen to KWSO 91.9 FM at noon
this Friday, August 14 for a talk show
featuring superintendent Parshall, Warm
Springs Academy Principal Bambi
VanDyke, and Madras High School
Principal Brian Crook.
Water notice
continues for now,
work complete
The Shitike Creek crossing
water line replacement was
completed this past weekend.
The boil water notice re-
mains in effect, though, for the
Agency area until the required
samples are completed and re-
viewed by the EPA.
Water conservation efforts
are still needed as the water
tanks recover. The Water Dis-
tribution Center is closed until
further notice.
Meanwhile, progress was
noted on a potential federal
funding source for a long-term
reservation water line solution.
The pending federal legisla-
tion is the the Western Tribal
Water Infrastructure Act, a pro-
posed addition to America’s
Water Infrastructure Act of
2018.
This bill is sponsored by
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley.
If adopted by the full Con-
gress and signed into law, the
act would provide an additional
$20- to $30 million for safe
drinking water projects to West-
ern tribes.
The Confederated Tribes’
water crisis last year was an
inspiration for this bill: The
current water crisis on the
reser vation has helped
move the bill forward, as the
situation was made worse by
the pandemic.
And also meanwhile, Or-
egon lawmakers this sum-
mer approved more than
$3.5 million in emergency
water system repair funding
to the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs.
The Oregon Legislature
Emergency Board unani-
mously approved the expen-
diture from state reserves.
The money passes
through the Oregon Busi-
ness Development Depart-
ment to the tribal govern-
ment. The funding must be
used by the end of the year.
The aid request origi-
nated with Rep. Daniel
Bonham, R-The Dalles,
whose district encompasses
the reservation.