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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2021)
6A | OCTOBER 7, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL City Hall closes for “Destruction Day” Community Sharing Warming Shelter prepares for winter service Umpqua Public Trans- operates from 7:30 a.m. to Douglas Betterment shut- During its meeting last week, the Beds for Freezing Nights board decided to not open its warming service again this year and asked that the pallet shelters be used instead. The Community Sharing Warming Shel- ter was established in January this year to make use of the pallet shelters when nights dip to 29 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The collaborative program replaced Cot- tage Grove’s previous sheltering service for the homeless during freezing nights. SLSD from A1 exemptions were approved among sports staff as well, but “we haven’t even started on the coaches and volun- teers for the next season of sports,” said Curtis. Five of the 11 who ini- tially said they would not comply have now decided to start vaccinations and several are on track be vaccinated by the Oct. 18 deadline. Two others have opted to request excep- tions, another two are on leave and one resigned, re- portedly due to a desire to homeschool their children. The final staff member of the 11 had not stated their intention as of Monday’s board meeting due to being out sick. Curtis said she has made sure to meet with all staff members who are asking for exemptions and at- tributed the changing of their opinions to princi- pals and department su- pervisors closely listening to concerns and answering questions, a quality other school districts in the area may lack as they adopt “no exception” and other less accommodating strategies for dealing with unvacci- nated staff. “My goal the entire time is, of course, to make sure that everyone’s healthy and safe,” said Curtis. “And so we’ve been watching our COVID [cases] and to see what spread we had, even though we had some peo- ple unvaccinated in our system.” SLSD reportedly has no COVID spread in schools, she said, “so we felt like we didn’t have to do what some districts around us are do- ing.” As of last week, there were 23 students who had been confirmed as testing positive. The site has a stated seasonal opening pe- riod from Nov. 1 to March 31. Community Sharing and city staff are partnering to prepare the warming shelter facility for this winter’s opening. To open, volunteers are needed to assist with the op- eration of the warming shelters. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Community Sharing at 541-942- 2176 or the Community Center at 541-942- 1185. Quarantines have also been in effect for some a as a precautionary measure. The Cottage Grove foot- ball team recently can- celed its homecoming game scheduled for this Friday (Oct. 8). The team was quarantined follow- ing “someone in the foot- ball program” contracting COVID, said Athletic Di- rector Garrett Bridgens. Bridgens did not verify whether the case involved staff or students. “We’ve been relatively healthy compared to some of the stories I’m hearing in other school districts,” said Curtis, adding that, except for a few isolated incidents, the district seems to be upholding its safety agree- ments. For those who remain unvaccinated, Oregon Health Authority and Or- egon Department of Edu- cation recommend special protocols to add more lay- ers of protection measures after the Oct. 18 deadline. Among measures, un- vaccinated workers will be asked to wear KN95 masks, participate in a weekly screening program, sanitize common areas and to eat alone inside the building. Outdoor tables have been made available for col- leagues to eat together. Unvaccinated staff have expressed concern around the weekly screening, how- ever, as it requires sharing personal information. The school district is continuing to work with staff members to find solutions on this point. Following its first month of adjustment back to in-person schooling, the district is also likely to start tightening up its rules on safety protocols, which in- cludes mask-wearing and social distancing. Curtis noted that com- passion will be a key fac- tor in navigating the road ahead. She said speaking with those hesitant to take the vaccine illuminated un- derstandable concerns. “Some of them were real issues that I would have concerns with, too — fami- ly members who had blood clots from the vaccination — well, that might make me pretty hesitant, too. So, I understand some of those,” she said. “In the end, we’re all human and we’re all try- ing to navigate this very un- predictable time that keeps changing. … I think as people get their questions answered, and more time goes by, people are getting more comfortable with the vaccination.” Those volunteers and staff who have not met re- quirements by Oct. 18 but intend on complying will be put on unpaid leave and will remain so until they come into compliance. As with many other dis- tricts, maintaining staff will be a concern this year. New hires and temps are already on their way as some schools such as Har- rison Elementary have seen turnover. In particular, drivers re- main a critical staffing is- sue. Not only is the district down by six drivers, some have had to quarantine. “And we really need all portation District (UPTD) has started a new bus route called the Lane-Douglas Connector (LDC). This new service offers safe, reliable, accessible transportation to veter- ans and the general public in rural communities for better access to healthcare services and shopping op- portunities. Lane-Douglas Connector 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays with scheduled stops at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Roseburg, Ray’s Food in Drain, Walmart and PeaceHealth Medical Center in Cottage Grove, and the Veterans Affairs Clinic in Eugene (LTD bus stop nearby). The stop in Drain serves as a connection point for passengers of the North tle. The route is operated by South Lane Wheels as a pilot project funded by the Rural Veterans Healthcare Transportation grant. For service information and timetable go to: www. southlanetransit.com, or to schedule a ride, call UPTD dispatch toll-free at 888- 232-8121. of them,” Curtis said. “We have everybody driving that can possibly be driv- ing.” Still, Curtis said she felt SLSD is doing better than other districts which are telling parents they can no longer transport kids. One idea for addressing staffing problems capital- izes on the fact that bigger districts are not allowing for certain vaccine excep- tions. Curtis suggested to the board on Monday that staff who have been let go by those districts may be available for hire at SLSD, but it will depend on if the district can offer exceptions for new hires after the dead- line passes. The district will wait for legal counsel before making a decision on that front. In the meantime, SLSD is also putting focus on the needs of students. Part of the district’s ed- ucation strategy this year revolves around “rigorous learning.” “To ensure that rigorous learning is making a differ- ence, we want to be looking at student work and stu- dent accomplishment and student data,” said Curtis. “And the strategy we’re de- veloping around that is cre- ating professional learning communities.” Achieving this calls for establishing a “collaborative culture.” “Culture eats structure for breakfast,” Curtis said. “We could work on struc- ture every day, but if we don’t work on the culture first and have that be au- thentic, transparent, caring for one another, the struc- ture really doesn’t get to make a lot of difference.” One manifestation of this is the Student Voice proj- ect, which will focus on the role of student stories in the classroom. Information collected from these stories are meant to be included in educator decisions about how to better service stu- dent needs. The program states on its website that it aims to “position students as sto- rytellers, organizers and partners who advocate for student-driven solutions to educational inequity.” The next SLSD board work session is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Meetings are conducted in a hybrid format. Links to virtual meetings can be found by accessing the board’s agenda page on the website at www.slane.k12. or.us. Handguns Long Rifles Concealed carry classes Call for Schedules Install, Service, and Replace Pumps and Water Filtration Systems Test Water Quality And Water Flow Rate Free Appraisals I’ll Come to You! BUY & SELL Gold, Silver, Scrap, Men’s Jewelry, Costume Jewelry, Pieces & Parts. Even Junk! 25+ Years Experience The Jewelry Girl, LLC L ISA R USSELL (541)556-9598 For service after hours, Call (503)991-9159 Bonded Licensed Insured CCB# 225978 Brandon Ervin (Owner) Tel: 541.649.8100 24 Hr. 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