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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2020)
COMMUNITY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 SCHOOLS “These kids need to be in a classroom setting.” Continued from Page 1A — Jamie Agard, who has a third-grader and a senior attending online classes in the Baker School District Agard said her son is struggling, and she fears that the longer online education continues, the farther behind he will be. That concern is prompt- ing Agard and some other parents to lobby the Baker School Board, which meets this evening, to return to in- person classes. “These kids need to be in a classroom setting,” Agard said Wednesday morning as she prepared to go to work for the fi rst time since online classes began. Agard, who is a single mother, said she took the fi rst two weeks off to help Jaxon adjust. “He can’t keep up with the pace that’s going on the com- puter,” she said. “When my son’s in tears every day, and he’s afraid to raise his hand and interrupt, that’s just not working.” Agard said that although she’s frustrated with what she sees as the limitations of online education, she is grate- ful for the efforts of the school district and its employees. “His teacher’s great,” she said. “The district has done a really great job. I commend them for that.” Agard said she’s not as worried, from an academic standpoint, about her older son, Zander Arriaga, who’s a 17-year-old senior. But she’s saddened by the reality that he is missing the start of his fi nal year of high school and his last year as a football player for the Bulldogs. “I know it’s affecting him, but he’s not showing it as much as my third-grader,” Agard said. She said Jaxon cries when she drives by Brooklyn. She said she’s fortunate that her parents live in Baker City and can be present when Jaxon is taking online classes. Without family support, Agard said her older son would have to shoulder that responsibility, which she thinks is unfair since he too has online classes to attend. Agard said she feels great sympathy for parents who lack that option. “How many families out there are having the same stress?” she said. “It’s ter- rible.” Agard believes a return to in-person classes is justifi ed based on the number of COV- ID-19 cases in Baker County — 92, as of Wednesday. Ten of Oregon’s 35 other counties have had fewer cases. “My opinion is this is politi- cal, the numbers just don’t add up,” Agard said. “There is no reason why Baker should not be in school.” Agard contends that the epidemiological evidence, which shows that the elderly, and particularly those with underlying medical con- ditions, are vastly more vulnerable to COVID-19 than children. According to the Oregon Health Authority, no Orego- nian younger than 20 has died from the virus. And of the 4,725 people 19 or younger who have contracted the virus, 55 were ever hos- pitalized as a result — about one-tenth of 1 percent. Agard believes that even if students are infected, they are “going to recover just fi ne.” She acknowledges that some people disagree with her position, but she stands by her belief the effects of online classes are more dire for students than the virus might be. Karen Shaw agrees with Agard about the need to have Baker students return to their regular classrooms. Shaw has shared infor- mation on her Facebook page about how parents can participate in this evening’s school board meeting through Zoom. “We’re going to hopefully storm the meeting and let people speak from their hearts,” Shaw said. “I think hearing from people and the parents of these kids is going to be the best thing.” Shaw has seen fi rsthand how benefi cial in-person instruction can be compared to the online version. As a lead teacher at the Baker Head Start Center, Karen Shaw sees how the preschoolers in her classroom are thriving as they attend in-person classes daily. Her own four children — ages 17, 15, 14 and 11 — the youngest of her family of eight children, aren’t so lucky, she says. They, like Agard’s two sons, are enrolled in the Baker School District’s com- prehensive distance educa- tion program. Shaw, who moved to Baker City from Pendleton about a year ago, hopes that she and other parents can infl uence the Baker School Board mem- bers to return as quickly as possible to in-person classes. “Our kiddos are here,” she said of her Head Start stu- dents. “And my kiddos need to be in school.” Shaw says her own chil- dren are self-motivated and competitive and strive to do well in their classes. But it’s the camaraderie of being with their friends and the loss of the benefi ts of athletic compe- tition that especially concerns her for them. BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A She and her ex-husband share parenting of the four children. Her 17-year-old, a senior at Baker High School, and her 11-year-old, a sixth- grader at Keating Elemen- tary, are at Keating with their father and his wife. She has a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old who are at home with her. “I’m fi ve minutes from home,” she says, which allows her to make a quick trip to the house if her children get in a bind with their online learning. “For people who don’t have a support system, I don’t know how they do it.” Her daughter, who’s a senior, was especially devastated about not being able to return to classes and participate in sports as her fi nal year of high school got underway, Shaw said. The other three also are active in sports and miss their friends. Shaw said she fi rst took her concerns to Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett, who has been the county’s incident commander during the pandemic, and Bill Har- vey, commission chairman. Bennett suggested she gather parents to meet with the Baker School Board during the Board’s September meet- ing, which starts tonight at 6 p.m. via the Zoom computer app. Information about how to log in to the meeting is avail- able by calling the District Offi ce, 541-524-2260, or on the District website baker5j.org under Boards & Committees. Shaw says she believes that the declining number of new COVID-19 cases in Baker County should allow the District to consider returning to in-person classes. Although the rules are different for early childhood education, Shaw says the Head Start classrooms have been operating without any outbreak of the coronavirus. Teachers and other adults working in the program wear School Board will discuss COVID-19 A portion of the Baker School Board’s work session, which will begin at 4:30 p.m. today, will be about COV- ID-19 metrics and state requirements that would allow the District to return to in-person classes. The regular meeting starts at 6 p.m. The public com- ment period will begin around 6:20 p.m. Superintendent Mark Witty noted that last week was the fi rst in which Baker County met the requirements that would allow schools to return to in-person classes. The requirements call for schools to work with local health authorities to determine that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the previous three weeks is 30 or fewer, with less than half of the cases, or fi ve or fewer, reported in the last week of that three-week period. Baker County has had 16 cases in the most recent three- week period, according to the Oregon Health Authority, with only one case in the last of those weeks. Another requirement is that the local health depart- ment determines that there is no community spread of COVID-19. “This week is last week’s information, but they would say at this juncture they don’t see it as community spread,” Witty said. The superintendent said he will not ask the Board to act on the issue at tonight’s meeting, but he will be looking for consensus on how to proceed. The Board already has been considering the options, with an eye on not acting too rashly and moving to in- person school too quickly only to have to move back to online within a week or two, Witty said. Under guidance of the Oregon Department of Educa- tion’s “Ready School’s, Safe Learners” program, which limits student cohorts to fewer than 50, it will be much easier to return Grades K-6 to in-person classes because they meet in self-contained classrooms. Grades 7-12 rotate to different subjects throughout their buildings, and maintaining the cohort size limit and required social distancing will be more diffi cult, Witty said. Another change in the metrics is expected to be an- nounced by mid-October, Witty said. The majority of the District’s workforce is prepared to return to in-person classes when that’s possible, he said. “We must manage this in a way to minimize our liability risk,” he said. — Chris Collins masks while they are inside the building. They remove their masks when they go out- side and the preschoolers are not required to wear masks. “It’s going wonderfully. They’re thriving,” Shaw said of the preschool program. Shaw said changes were made in the Head Start class- rooms to accommodate the state guidelines during the summer program. Shaw said she has talked to parents who have been in tears because of the hardships caused in their families by distance learning. “I’m just trying to get the parents to have a voice and I’m hoping (the school board) will listen,” she said. Baker County Sunday Worship First Service 8:30 am 2nd Service & Sunday School am Jr. High & High School Youth Tues 6:30 pm Youth Pastor Silas Moe 675 Hwy 7, Baker City • 541-523-5425 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am 1995 4th Street, Baker City 541-523-5201 firstpresbaker.blogspot.com & HARVEST CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (Preschool-12 Grade) Harvest Cafe 9 am Morning Worship 10:10 am 3720 Birch St, Baker City 541-523-4233 The first Sunday of each month is Mission Breakfast. Donations and non-perishable dona- tions for NEOCC are accepted. Third & Broadway 541-523-3891 Sundays 10 AM Service & Children's Church Thursdays 5:30-6:15 pm Free Community Dinner Celebrate Recovery Classes start at 6:15 pm SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH Saturday Worship 11:00 am www.bakercitysda.com 17th & Pocahontas, Baker City 541-523-4913 Pastor Troy Teeter Services at 9 am 1st & 3rd Sundays, Holy Eucharist 2nd & 4th Sundays, Morning Prayer 5th Sunday, Morning Prayer 1250 Hughes Lane, Baker City (Corner of Cedar & Hughes) 541-523-3533 www.bakernaz.com 2177 First Street • Baker City Entrance on 1st Street Corner Church & First Streets 541-523-4812 Sunday Worship 9:00 ඉඕ & 10:30 ඉඕ 9 AM - Baker Valley Ward 10:30 AM Baker City 1st Ward Noon - Baker City 2nd Ward Family History Center - no cost Tues & Fri 1-4 PM Wed & Thurs 10 AM - 1 PM Wed Evenings 5:30-8:30 PM 2625 Hughes Lane, Baker City 541-523-2397 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH Elkhorn Baptist Church Sunday Service 11:00 am Sunday School 10 am Morning Worship 11 am Evening Worship 6 pm Discovery Kids Worship : pm 3520 Birch St, Baker City 541-523-4332 www.ChristianScience.com 3rd & Washington, Baker City 541-523-5911 www.bakercalvarybaptist.com St. Stephen’s Episcopal THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS ST. BRIGID’S IN THE PINES COMMUNITY CHURCH 11:30 a.m. Services 1st & 3rd Sunday Holy Eucharist East Auburn Street, Sumpter 541-523-4812 A Mission of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Baker City St. Francis De Sales Cathedral Daily Masses: M, T, Th, F 9 am Day Chapel in Cathedral Wed Daily Mass 9 am at St. Alphonsus Chapel Sat 8 am at Day Chapel Baker City Saturday Mass 6 pm Baker City Sunday Mass 9:30 am St. Therese in Halfway 2 pm Sat St. Anthony's in North Powder 11:30 Sun 541-523-4521 Corner of First & Church, Baker City Established 1904 FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH Service at 10 am Live Streaming on Facebook 1734 Third Street, Baker City 541-523-3922 firstlutheranbakercity@gmail.com AGAPE CHRISTIAN CENTER Sunday Services 10:00 am & 6:30 pm South Highway 7, Baker City 541-523-6586 The church directory is published the third Friday of every month. Information for this directory is provided by participating churches, please call 541-523-3673 for more information. Thank you to the participating churches and these sponsors: Cliff’s Saws & Cycles Whelan Electric, Inc. 523-5756 • CCB 103032 2619 Tenth • 523-2412 1950 Place • 523-4300 1500 Dewey • 523-3677
