Cottage Grove Sentinel
Community & Lifestyle
B1
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THURSDAY | MAY 28, 2020
CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT
942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM
SLSD prepares for 2020-21 budget woes
By Nick Snyder
nsnyder@cgsentinel.com
Let turtles
cross the road
ODFW biologists advise Orego-
nians to be on the lookout for tur-
tles on roadways, bike paths or trails.
During the months of May through
July, female turtles begin searching for
suitable nesting grounds to lay their
eggs.
“It’s not uncommon to see female
turtles on land at this time of year as
they leave the water to lay their eggs,”
said Susan Barnes, Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife Conserva-
tion Biologist for northwest Oregon.
“If you see a turtle on land, the best
thing to do is let it continue on its path.
Don’t try to return it to water.”
It’s fine to move it off a road or trail
(if it is safe to do so,) but put it on the
other side, pointed in the same direc-
tion it was headed.
Barnes, a co-chair of the Oregon Na-
tive Turtle Working Group, works to
conserve Oregon’s turtles year-round.
“Our native turtles are in decline, so
anything we can do to help makes a
difference,” added Barnes.
She suggests the public can help
by reporting turtle sightings on the
Native Turtles of Oregon website or
through iNaturalist or HerpMapper,
mobile applications that can be down-
loaded on your smartphone or other
mobile device.
“This helps us identify the locations
of our native turtles as well as invasive
turtles that we may try and remove,”
said Barnes. Turtle sightings also help
ODFW and their native turtle conser-
vative partners decide where to con-
duct visual surveys for turtles, to col-
lect more information about turtle at a
particular location.
Oregon has only two species of na-
tive turtles: the western painted and
the western pond. Both are both pro-
tected by state law; it is illegal to take
them from the wild and to keep them
as pets.
Non-native turtles include red-
eared sliders and snapping turtles. It
is illegal in the state to buy, sell, pos-
sess or release non-native turtles. Red-
eared sliders are relatively easy to iden-
tify. Most have red “ears” (markings)
on the side of their heads.
If you are in possession of a non-na-
tive turtle, contact your local ODFW
office for guidance.
Both the western painted and west-
ern pond turtle are included on the
State Sensitive Species List (ODFW
2016) as “Sensitive-Critical” and high-
lighted in the Oregon Conservation
Strategy as a priority species in need
of help. Population declines are due
to habitat loss, degradation of nesting
areas by invasive plants, illegal col-
lecting, disease and competition from
non-native turtles.
In an email sent to South Lane
School District (SLSD) staff and
families on Monday, May 18, Su-
perintendent Yvonne Curtis out-
lined the most recent developments
in how the global COVID-19 pan-
demic will impact local education
and SLSD operations.
The Student Success Act (SSA)
was passed during the Oregon Leg-
islature’s 2019 session and, once
fully implemented, was set to in-
ject $2 billion every two years into
statewide education beginning in
the 2020-21 school year. SLSD was
expected to receive $2.3 million in
2020-21 through the Student In-
vestment Account (SIA) portion of
the initiative, but coronavirus clo-
sures of all kinds and future eco-
nomic uncertainty have put those
plans in serious doubt.
“Even as we closed schools and
began providing new services
during the coronavirus pandem-
ic, we hoped for these increased
investments in schools,” Curtis
said in the email. “As we close the
ninth week of staying home, we
face a new reality ... The anticipat-
ed new state investments in school
supports are no longer expected to
make their way to Oregon Schools
in full, if at all, next school year.”
Curtis specifically pointed to
rising unemployment throughout
the state – due to COVID-caused
layoffs and business closures – as
a factor which will significantly
impact tax revenues and public
budgets in the coming months and
years. It may leave Oregon schools
in a dire economic state for an un-
determined amount of time.
In a press release issued on
May 18, Governor Kate Brown
addressed the coming budgetary
shortfalls.
“With many Oregon business-
es restricted or shut down, travel
suspended and jobs lost, we expect
the revenue that we receive to fund
state services will also be signifi-
cantly reduced ... Our early discus-
sion indicated this impact could
be a reduction of $3 billion for
the current budget period. We are
exploring all available options to
weather this recession, and I have
directed state agencies to prepare
prioritized reduction plans equal-
ing a 17-percent reduction for the
upcoming fiscal year as a planning
exercise to explore all options.”
For their part, Curtis and the
SLSD district office announced in
the email upcoming efforts that
will aim to lessen the financial
impact of these budgetary cuts for
next school year.
“As we await more concrete fi-
nancial information expected next
week, South Lane School District
is already slowing down hiring and
spending, discussing furlough days
and anticipating layoffs as we de-
velop budget contingency plans,”
Curtis wrote.
As schools have transitioned to
online distance learning, making
the average school day look very
different, SLSD — and several dis-
tricts in Lane County and Oregon
at large — will be furloughing all
staff four days over the final four
weeks of the school year in an ef-
fort to save money for the fall.
Both of the district’s union
groups support the decision as a
necessary measure to guard the
financial health of the district
See BUDGET 2B
Getting back in action
PHOTO BY DAMIEN SHERWOOD/CG SENTINEL
Warm, sunny weather and a slow reopening of area businesses and facilities brought out tennis players and pickle ballers
alike to the courts at Coiner Park last weekend. After two-plus months of inactivity due to stay-at-home orders, many
residents are eager to get back outdoors.
CGHS announces graduation plan for seniors
Despite the abnormal circum-
stances due to coronavirus school
closures, South Lane School Dis-
trict and Cottage Grove High
School (CGHS) have found a way
to honor their graduating seniors.
Last Thursday, May 21 CGHS
administrators announced a gradu-
ation plan for Sat., June 6 that will
allow seniors to celebrate in their
caps and gowns and receive their
diplomas while still honoring social
distancing guidelines.
The graduation ceremony will
consist of three parts: an online cer-
emony to be held before all other
events; a grad cruise to the school
ending with diploma pick-up; and
an optional picture in front of the
school at the end of the cruise.
The online graduation ceremo-
ny will begin at 11 a.m. on June 6
and will feature speeches by CGHS
valedictorians and principal Kevin
Herington as well as the reading of
all graduate names. A link to the
online festivities is yet to be an-
nounced.
Following the online event, stu-
dents and their family members
are invited to congregate – safely in
their vehicles – in the back parking
lot of CGHS beginning at 1:30 p.m
before starting the cruise at 2 p.m.
Yard of the Week
brought to you by:
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. 6th • (541) 942-3325
Week of May 21st Winner is: 1598 Elm
Yards will be selected each week by nominations.
To nominate a yard you can call City Hall (942-5501)
or Chamber of Commerce (942-2411)
Vehicles will travel to the front of
the school where graduates will re-
ceive their diplomas in front of the
gym while remaining in their cars.
Afterwards, each senior is welcome
to exit their vehicle and have a grad
picture taken in front of the main
school building before exiting the
parking lot and concluding the
graduation cruise.
Leading up to the ceremony on
June 6, CGHS has also outlined
several other important dates for
seniors and their families:
• Senior scholarship night: on-
line, Wed., May 27 at 6:30 p.m.
• Senior awards night: online,
Tues., June 2 at 6:30 p.m.
• Cap and gown handout: Thurs.,
June 4 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Baby videos: online, Thurs.,
June 4
In addition to the announced
dates of graduation festivities,
CGHS has also outlined a num-
ber of safety protocols during each
stage of the events for graduates
and other attendees to ensure that
the event complies with coronavi-
rus-related public health concerns.
Staging:
• Remember to pick up name
See GRADUATION 2B
Limited camping returns to state parks June 9
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation
Department
(OPRD) will offer limited
camping at many state park
campgrounds starting June
9. State park camping closed
statewide March 23 in an ef-
fort to contain the spread of
coronavirus and limit travel,
especially to smaller commu-
nities and rural areas.
A list of which camp-
grounds will open June 9 is
still being finalized. That list
will be published on oregon-
stateparks.org by the end of
May. Not all parks or services
will be available. Most of the
campgrounds opening accept
reservations, but some first-
come, first-served state park
campgrounds may open as
staff and funding are avail-
able.
Those campgrounds that
do open will honor existing
tent and RV reservations
starting June 9, and will ac-
cept new reservations from
one day to two weeks in ad-
vance, instead of the usual
nine months in advance. Res-
ervations will still be made
through OPRD’s contracted
vendor, Reserve America at
https://oregonstateparks.re-
serveamerica.com/. RV and
tent campers without reser-
vations will be welcome at
open campgrounds as space
and staffing permit.
Reservations for most
yurts and cabins, and group
camping and group day-use,
are still subject to cancella-
tion. Visitors holding those
reservations will be contacted
if a cancellation is required.
Two main forces determine
when a state park camp-
ground can open. Some com-
munities, such as the north
coast, are not yet ready for
overnight visitors from out-
side their area.
A more widespread fac-
tor relates to funding. The
Oregon State Park system is
not funded by taxes, but by
revenue from park visitors,
a small share of the Oregon
Lottery, and a portion of state
recreational vehicle registra-
tions. The revenue needed to
operate state parks has fall-
en drastically since March,
meaning one of the most
popular state park systems in
the country is being operated
by about half the usual staff.
With a skeleton crew and
limited means to hire more,
there will be far fewer staff
available to help visitors and
address common problems
such as noise and pets. Trash,
See CAMPING 2B