SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 | 5A
SIUSLAW from page 1A
Local Service Plan ser-
vices are intended to: im-
prove student learning;
enhance the quality of
instruction provided to
students; assure equitable
access to resources; and
maximize operational and
fiscal efficiencies.
Since Lane ESD works
with the county’s 16 school
districts, it has to provide
tailored support for each of
them.
“One of the equitable
things that we like to do
at the ESD is bring about
equitable services for our
middle-sized and smaller
districts,” Scurto said. “Siu-
slaw, being considered a
middle-sized district in the
county, doesn’t have some
features that some of our
larger districts have. What
we’re trying to do with this
service plan is to provide
those services.”
Three new areas for the
Local Service Plan include
nursing, communication
and legal services.
Siuslaw School District
Superintendent Andy Grz-
eskowiak said the ESD is
also providing a navigator
for the Student Success Act.
“The compliance on this
piece of legislation is large
and there’s four quarterly
check-ins, on top of ev-
erything else we’re doing.
(Lane ESD) knows how to
kind of focus in, get right
to the basics and help us get
our all of our reporting and
compliance pieces done on
time. So, it’s a solid work
plan for us,” he said.
After discussion, Mann-
Heintz moved to approve
the resolution, again sec-
onded by Pimlott.
“I would just say that our
services that we that we get
from the ESD are valuable
and we should go with our
plan. We need to,” Mann-
Heintz said.
Next, the school board
appointed two communi-
ty members to the Budget
Committee.
Budget Member Position
6, a two-year term expiring
June 30, 2022, went to Jen-
nifer Ledbetter, who wrote
letter to the board. She read
it aloud during the public
comments section of the
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meeting.
“I decided I’d volun-
teer, and I ask you to sup-
port me,” Ledbetter said.
“I bring to the table the
perspective of a parent of
a current student, a com-
munity member and also a
Siuslaw alumnus.”
Budget Member Position
2, a three-year term expir-
ing June 30, 2023, went to
Erin Linton, who stated in
her application that she has
kids in all three schools.
The Siuslaw Budget
Committee is now full.
The next big agenda item
was to give direction to the
district’s Facility Advisory
Committee.
Resolution 020321-3.2
“resolved that the Siuslaw
School District Board of
Directors authorizes the
Facility Advisory Commit-
tee to investigate the fol-
lowing potential building
or grounds improvement
projects on behalf of the
board.”
Three elements were em-
phasized: a long-term goal
to replace the high school
without putting strain on
households impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic;
a list of work at the elemen-
tary school focusing on
seismic repairs, safety and
access, totaling $10-13 mil-
lion; and high school safety
priorities.
According to Burns,
“This kind of just provides
an outline for them, and if
they find that the dollars
are going to be higher for
what we want to get done,
then we’ll review that then.”
The resolution was
moved by Mann-Heintz
and seconded by Director
Dennis King.
The meeting also includ-
ed an update on current
athletic program guidance.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s
Feb. 10 announcement al-
lows schools to resume
outdoor contact sports,
including high school foot-
ball, provided schools fol-
low certain health and safe-
ty protocols.
Siuslaw High School
Athletic Director Chris
Johnson presented the
governor’s updates and
explaining what the new
guidance would mean for
Vikings football and oth-
er sports moving forward.
(People can read more
about that in “Governor,
OHA Announce New
Guidance on Outdoor
Sports” in the Feb. 13 edi-
tion of the Siuslaw News.)
At the end of the meet-
ing, Director John Barnett
commented, “I’d also throw
a thank you out for our ath-
letic department and our
coaches. This is a new big
learning curve for them,
and I know they’ve been
waiting on pins and nee-
dles to move forward with
all this. … I just appreciate
their flexibility, and how
they’re willing to really put
the kids first and just get a
resemblance of an athletic
season together.”
The meeting also in-
cluded a consent agenda,
prep work for next month’s
meeting, public com-
ment about the return to
on-campus learning, Stu-
dent Calendar Revisions,
administrator reports, rec-
ognition of students and a
vaccination update.
“All of the primary build-
ing site staff have been
through the first round (of
vaccinations),” Grzeskowi-
ak reported.
The district is over 90
percent vaccinated, with
more than 180 of the 189
staff members having at
least their first dose of
COVID-19 vaccination.
Pimlott, the director of
Pharmacy Services and
Patient Safety Officer for
PeaceHealth Peace Harbor
Medical Center, said, “I do
want to acknowledge our
educators for being will-
ing to come in and receive
the vaccine. It just shows
their determination and
their drive to get back in
the classroom with our stu-
dents, so I just really appre-
ciate that.”
Grzeskowiak
also
went over Lane County’s
COVID-19 metrics, espe-
cially how numbers relate
to opening Siuslaw Ele-
mentary to on-site instruc-
tion.
“We know that there’s
two triggers for bringing
upper grades in. It’s either
four weeks of successful
elementary operations, or
three consecutive reports
below 200 and in the yel-
low zone.
“There’s a good chance
that you could start phas-
ing in middle and high
school operations before
elementary has four weeks
of operations under their
belt,” he said. “We just keep
watching that one number.
And high school and mid-
dle school have tuned up
their schedules and will be
ready to move in short no-
tice.”
Upper grades can bring
students to campus follow-
ing either four weeks of
successful elementary op-
erations, or three consec-
utive COVID-19 case rate
reports below 200 people
per 100,000.
The board acknowl-
edged the hard work done
by Siuslaw Elementary
Principal Mike Harklerode
and his staff to prepare to
reopen the school
“That’s not an easy task,”
King said. “We just applaud
Mike and the team.”
The school board also
got good news through
Business Manager Kari
Blake. She announced that
Siuslaw received the sec-
ond allocation of the El-
ementary and Secondary
School Emergency Release
(ESSER) funds from the
federal government. The
first round brought in
$702,000.
“We will be receiving
$3,510,762, which is a good
chunk of funding that’s go-
ing to help get us through
this pandemic. … It’s a nice
security to have to get us
through these times,” she
said.
Towards the end of the
meeting, Burns provided
a timeline for upcoming
meetings of the board and
the upcoming May 18 spe-
cial election.
“We also have received
notice that the school board
positions up for reelection
are Position 2, John Bar-
nett; Position 6, Suzanne
Mann-Heintz, and my po-
sition (4),” Burns said. “I’ll
announce right now that I
am not going to run again.
We’ll be looking for some
new people on the board.”
Burns is completing his
16th year on the board.
Barnett thanked him,
saying, “You’ve dedicated
a lot of time and a lot of
countless hours, and it’s
appreciated, Paul.”
Candidate filings for
school board positions are
accepted through March
18 at www.lanecounty.org/
elections.
At the Feb. 17 special
meeting of the board,
Mann-Heintz announced
that she would not be run-
ning for her seat.
“I’ve loved every minute
of serving,” she said.
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