THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
LOCAL & STATE
Bentz honors Vietnam veterans, talks about COVID bill
to be addressed, he said. At this
event, a handful of veterans made
BEND — In his fi rst trip back to
one issue clear: Too many veterans
Oregon since being sworn in early
are not getting the benefi ts — or
this year, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-
have trouble getting the benefi ts —
Ontario, came to speak at the Central
they deserve from Veterans Affairs.
Oregon Veterans Ranch north of
“When people are expressing dis-
Bend in honor of Vietnam War Veter-
satisfaction then that means some-
ans Day on Monday, March 29.
thing’s not working quite right, and
Dozens of veterans, their friends
we need to get in there and get to
and families gathered Monday at the
work,” Bentz said in response to
ranch, which supports veterans by
a question about what he learned
offering peer support and agriculture-
from the day.
related therapy.
Other issues Bentz said he has
“We’re here to honor you for your
heard about from constituents
Dean Guernsey/The (Bend) Bulletin include the impacts from wildfi re,
sacrifi ce and your suffering,” Alison
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, center, talks with veterans during a Vietnam
Perry, Founder of Central Oregon
COVID-19 and consistent droughts.
War Veterans Day event near Bend on Monday, March 29.
Veterans Ranch, said at the event.
The struggle business owners have
When addressing the crowd,
to fi nd enough workers to run their
Bentz recounted his own experience
In his statement, Bentz briefl y
Bentz said in general, however,
operations has also consistently
huddling by a radio, waiting to hear
mentioned to the crowd he co-spon-
the world of veterans issues is new
come up, he said.
whether his draft number was going sored H.R. 1448, which directs the
to him, and said he is thankful he
When asked why he didn’t vote
to be called.
Secretary of Veteran Affairs to carry
still has people who worked for his
in favor of the federal government’s
He committed to learning more
out a pilot program on dog training
predecessor, Greg Walden, to help
most recent stimulus package,
about and advocating for veterans’
therapies to provide service dogs to
him.
which allocated $1,400 checks to
issues.
veterans who do not have mobility
His goal this week back home in
individuals making $75,000 a year
“We’ll do our best to fi ght for you
impairments. He is one of 308 to co-
Oregon is to listen and learn from
or less, Bentz said the bill wasn’t
just like you fought for us,” Bentz said. sponsor the bill.
constituents about what issues need targeted enough to those who real-
By Brenna Visser
The (Bend) Bulletin
GRADES
Continued from Page 1A
According to Mitchell’s
report, nearly 24% of all
freshmen grades failed to
earn credit. At the sophomore
level, the failing marks were
at nearly 22%, the report
states.
For the same period last
year, the freshmen failure
rate was 5.9% and the sopho-
more failure rate was 6.8%.
The overall passing rate
at the high school was 80.8%
of all grades assigned for the
fi rst semester this year. Last
year at this time, the passing
rate was at 94.52%.
“As one can see, the impact
of this pandemic crisis has
been signifi cant,” Mitchell
stated in his report.
Mitchell said improve-
ments have been made since
the second semester started
Jan. 25 and students began
attending in-person classes
two days a week.
Kati Stuchlik, BHS gradua-
tion coach, stated in an email
to the Herald on
Tuesday, March
30, that at this
point in tallying
grades 25%
“is a fair ap-
Stuchlik
proximation of
those students
receiving a minimum of one F
grade at the most recent data
collection.”
She said the percentage
is an approximation “be-
cause this fi gure fl uctuates
signifi cantly because we are
nearing the middle of the
semester and grades have not
been fi nalized. It is amazing
what students can accom-
plish when they feel their feet
to the fi re.”
Mitchell said in a phone
interview Tuesday that he
believes failure rates can be
tied to students struggling
with online classes. High
school and middle school
students had remote classes
from the start of the school
year on Sept. 8, 2020, until
Nov. 9, when they returned to
— Chelsea Hurliman, assistant principal, Baker High School
in-person classes one day per
week.
But students failing to
participate in classes has also
contributed to the rising rate
of failing grades, Mitchell
said.
“The kids started fading
away, struggling with work
completion and lack of en-
gagement,” Mitchell said.
Without the guidance of
a certifi ed in-person expert
to advise students and lead
them through the curriculum,
many have found it diffi cult
to complete their assign-
ments, he said.
Still other students were
hired for full-time jobs last
spring when the COVID-19
shutdown started, and some
families have become depen-
dant on that income to cover
their household expenses,
Mitchell said.
least 50% — and possibly
75% — more citations to
parents for violations of the
Oregon law that requires
them to ensure their children
ages 6 to 18, who have not
graduated, attend school
regularly.
Just prior to spring break,
which started March 22,
Woodward issued four cita-
tions to parents accused of
violating the state law requir-
ing children to attend school.
A fi fth citation was issued
for the same violation on
Thursday, March 26, during
spring break.
Trying to avoid issuing
citations to parents
Hurliman said that before
citations are issued, the
school process begins with
daily “ParentSquare” mes-
sages that go out in cases
of students who are absent
Team works to ensure
without an approved excuse.
students are in class
Those absences include
From her position as as-
students who don’t show up
sistant principal, Hurliman
for in-person classes or who
works to ensure that stu-
fail to log in for online classes
dents are attending classes,
from home.
whether online or in person.
Weekly letters are mailed
In addition to Mitchell
to parents of students who
and Stuchlik, Hurliman has have had four unexcused
others who help her keep as absences. After the eighth
many students in class as
unexcused absence, the
possible each day.
district sends a certifi ed letter
Lance Woodward, who
scheduling a meeting with
spends part of his job with
the parent and student. A
the Baker City Police Depart- copy of that letter also goes to
ment serving as the school
Superintendent Mark Witty
resource offi cer, is one of the
and to the District Attorney’s
team members who helps
Offi ce, according to the Baker
keep families focused on at-
5J attendance process.
tendance. Judge Brent Kerns
During the parent/student
of the Baker Justice Court is meeting with school offi cials,
another part of the system
an attendance plan is put in
that impresses upon students place.
and parents that the law
“We want to get to the root
requires children to attend
of the problem,” Hurliman
school regularly. And the
said.
District Attorney’s offi ce gets
Students set attendance
involved as needed.
goals, their grades are
Woodward says that this
checked, and other advisers,
school year he’s issued at
such as a counselor or Stuch-
lik, the graduation coach,
are invited to help solve the
problem.
“We then create a contract
with the kids and the par-
ents,” Hurliman said. “If there
are improvements — great.
“If not — or if they don’t
show up — Lance will go out
and issue citations,” she said.
That’s where Judge Kerns
comes in.
Hurliman said that in ad-
dition to making home visits
with Woodward, she accom-
panies the families to court
where Kerns counsels the
parents and their children
about their responsibilities
regarding regular school at-
tendance. Kerns next orders
them to return in 30 days to
check on their progress. In
some cases, he might order
the parents to pay the $165
fi ne that comes with the cita-
tion for violating state law,
Woodward said.
Woodward said parents
usually aren’t surprised when
he knocks on their doors with
a citation claiming their chil-
dren have not been attending
classes as required.
“By and large parents
know overwhelmingly,” he
said. “Parents know their kids
are not attending school or
logging on.
Woodward said that one
parent told him, “I think this
is probably good that we get
a citation. Maybe me and
my child appearing before
a judge is good. Maybe the
judge can talk some sense
into them.”
For her part, Hurliman
says she also is looking
forward to working with the
court system to help families.
“I’m excited to see what
having Judge Kerns and
the DA in the mix does for
kids’ attendance,” she said.
“There’s not a lot of meat in
me just sending letters.”
Concerns about dipping
graduation rates
Hurliman hopes the pro-
cess will instill in students
the importance of school
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“I’m excited to see what having Judge Kerns and the
DA in the mix does for kids’ attendance. There’s not a
lot of meat in me just sending letters.”
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541.523.3673
ly needed it and he was concerned
about the debt future generations
would have to pay back. He said
some businesses actually did better
fi nancially in the pandemic, and
don’t need the assistance.
“Many of the businesses that are
now getting money don’t need it,”
Bentz said in a separate interview
Monday. “People are saying our
schools are awash and yet they are
going to be getting more.”
When asked for specifi c exam-
ples of businesses that were getting
money but didn’t need it, Bentz
referred The Bulletin to a press
release. No specifi c businesses or
industries were listed, but “bailouts
for mismanaged public union pen-
sions” and “policies that give fed-
eral bureaucrats better paid leave
than those which are available to
essential workers” were mentioned.
Bentz acknowledged that he has
not reopened the Bend offi ce for-
merly maintained by Walden, but
said he will open a Central Oregon
offi ce in the future.
attendance and completing
credits toward earning a
high school diploma.
“Attendance is directly
related to graduation rates,”
she notes. “It has a negative
impact on our community
when kids don’t graduate.”
Plans were in the works,
even before spring break and
Superintendant Mark Wit-
ty’s March 23 announcement
of the plan to return high
school and middle school
students to full-time classes
four days a week on April 12,
to offer a “revamped sum-
mer school” for high school
students, Hurliman said.
Helping seniors complete
any outstanding work
needed to graduate will be
the top priority, she said. The
state Department of Educa-
tion’s document “Graduation
Pathways 2021,” for students
who fi rst enrolled in ninth
grade in the 2017-18 school
year or earlier, states that
seniors will be given until
Aug. 31, 2021, to complete
graduation requirements.
“With a strong commit-
ment to high standards,
quality learning and
achievement, ‘Graduation
Pathways 2021’ maintains
the statutory 24 credit and
subject area requirements,”
the document states.
It notes the record high
graduation rate of 82.6%
reported for all students in
Oregon in 2020 (and 92% by
BHS students) and sets a
goal for a continuation of the
trend in the coming year.
Those will be the goals
for BHS staff as they work
to prepare this year’s senior
class to graduate and help
the younger students make
up for lost time this year.
Whether students have
failed to earn required
credits because of truancy,
mental health concerns
and other issues related
to changes brought about
during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, the BHS staff hopes
to make the most of return-
ing to full-time classes to
improve student standings.
“If everybody comes back
in and we return to a little
bit of normalcy, it will help a
ton,” Hurliman said.
She urges parents with
concerns to call her or Mitch-
ell to schedule a meeting.
“We want their students to
be here and we want them to
graduate from high school,”
she said. “It’s very impor-
tant.”
Period set to help
students catch up
Even before the full-time
return to classes takes place,
a second round of what is
titled “Credit Completion
Week” has been scheduled
for seniors, juniors and
sophomores. The sessions
will meet from 3:30 p.m. to
5 p.m. April 5-8 in the BHS
library.
When students return to
in-person studies four days
a week, Mitchell said those
students who are down to
single digits in terms of
their percentile performance
in specifi c subjects will be
removed from those classes.
Instead, they will focus on
recovering lost credits in
a separate classroom to
be managed by a certifi ed
teacher who will lead them
through the lessons.
Once the school year ends,
the plan being developed
calls for a “more robust” sum-
mer school, Mitchell said.
The instruction, to be
taught by specifi c content
teachers, will be paid for
with grant money specifi -
cally made available by the
state (up to $72 million to
be distributed throughout
Oregon) for summer school,
Mitchell said.
And rather than the
past offering of two half
days a week for four weeks,
this year’s summer school
program will be expanded
to three to four half days a
week over six to eight weeks,
Mitchell said.
“We’ll start to chip away at
the mountain top,” he said.