A4 Th e Bu l l eTin • Su n day, a pr il 25, 2021
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Making up the
learning lost
T
hink the pandemic was bad for K-12 education?
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 set a standard for education
devastation that is hard to match.
Some schools were completely
closed in New Orleans for months.
Many families could not return to
their old schools. Some families
moved schools and homes multiple
times. The pandemic has hurt al-
most every K-12 student. But in ed-
ucation, compared to Katrina, we’re
pretty lucky.
Katrina research does offer local
educators lessons about getting stu-
dents back where they should be.
One lesson: It will take time to make
up any learning loss. Bend’s Interim
Superintendent Lora Nordquist said
it might take years to get some stu-
dents caught up. And the Redmond
officials we spoke with agreed. Seat
time before a screen doesn’t equal
seat time in school — for most
students.
Bend schools estimate about 40%
of students experienced some sort
of quantifiable learning loss. At-
tendance was one measure. Failing
grades was another. About 45 to 50
percent of middle and high school
students performed extremely
poorly in at least one class. The third
measure the district saw a drop in
was in performance in online tools,
such as Lexia for reading.
Linda Seeberg, executive director
of academic programs for Redmond
schools, says she believes all Red-
mond students experienced some
“unfinished learning.” Similar to
Bend, there were attendance issues.
Students didn’t perform as expected
on assessments. Among high school
students there was a credit defi-
ciency rate — such as a failed class
— of about 35%.
How do schools catch students
back up?
There’s no secret sauce. It’s about
teachers and staff who have already
been stretched by distance learning,
stretching more now to ensure gaps
are closed.
Stephanie Wilcox, an elementary
instructional coach in Redmond,
gave us a good concrete example.
It’s about prioritizing educational
goals and using proven teaching
techniques.
For instance, in fourth grade in
Oregon, students are supposed to
get an understanding of the concept
of fractions. What does it mean to be
one-third of something and so on.
That is the primary educational goal.
Secondarily, it’s great if students can
learn about things like multiplying
fractions. That, though, would be
a bonus. Wilcox can help teachers
with ways to teach the concepts that
can be more effective.
Of course, it is not ideal that there
will be less progress on secondary
goals. This can be a way, though, to
focus in and ensure students hit the
set targets.
In Bend, Nordquist ticked off sev-
eral ways the district hopes to help
students. They will be able to keep
their iPads over the summer. The
iPads will be loaded with academic
tools. If elementary students dip in
four times a week or so and work
on their reading and math skills,
it can make a big difference. High
school students can make up credits
through an online program. Some
teachers will be available at schools.
In both Bend and Redmond, staff
know distance learning exacerbated
problems that some students were
already having. They do have a sense
of who they are. They are making ef-
forts to reach out and help.
The learning lost is one more
reason than usual to pay attention
to the school board elections this
May, if you have one in your com-
munity. Some candidates may be
running out of more — let’s say — a
single-minded frustration because
of the way their district handled the
pandemic. That is an important is-
sue. We’d argue the better target to
look for in candidates is to find those
which you believe are aiming for
policies that will truly help students
learn. Follow the articles in The Bul-
letin and check out the forums put
on by the League of Women Voters
at cityclubco.org/past-forums.
Bend is bringing the eraser
to parking requirements
M
inimum parking require-
ments for buildings in
Bend seem almost certain
to be on their way out. At least, that
was the impression we got from last
week’s Bend City Council meeting.
Businesses and developers can’t
start erasing parking lots, yet. Coun-
cilors did direct staff to bring for-
ward plans for changing regulations.
Is it what Bend residents want? If
it is what you want, you should tell
councilors. If it is not, you should
tell them that, too. Email councilors
at council@bendoregon.gov. Watch
what happens at the city’s commu-
nity building subcommittee for de-
velopments and details. That’s where
this discussion seems to be headed
next.
Less parking without other good
options for people to get around
town is asking for trouble. How easy
is it right now for people to walk,
bike or take the bus where they need
to go? It’s not. That’s much more
complicated and expensive for coun-
cilors to solve than changing city
parking regulations.
The commitment from council-
ors to change parking regulations is
clear. Where is the action to ensure
it will be easy for everyone to get
around?
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor
Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
Zavier Borja for Bend parks and rec
BY ROGER A. SABBADINI
P
lease vote for Zavier Borja in the
upcoming May election. Here
is my reasoning in favoring Mr.
Borja for the Bend Park & Recreation
District board of directors:
In making hiring decisions, the life
experiences are not often valued or
accepted as sources of knowledge be-
cause they do not fit into conventional
authoritative frameworks or tradi-
tional academic disciplines.
Many of us in business or academia
have experienced conflicts when
choosing between one applicant who
had impeccable academic creden-
tials and another candidate who was
highly qualified in that regard but
brings to the table their life’s experi-
ences as a person of color (POC) or
represents another underrepresented
group.
When running the numbers, life
experiences are difficult to quantify
but should be considered highly valu-
able for the constituents (e.g., the pub-
lic) served by that person. What they
know, others can never learn. Special
knowledge can come from a world
view shaped by one’s life history.
While it is possible for a person
to learn on the job and add to their
library of facts about a subject, it is
impossible for a person to learn the
cultural influences that have taken a
lifetime of another to experience.
With this argument in mind, I
would like you to consider voting for
Zavier Borja, who is running for posi-
tion 4 on the board of directors. Zavi
GUEST COLUMN
is a first-generation
Mexican American
who was born and
raised here in Bend.
This energetic
young man has
worked on many
Sabbadini
community orga-
nizing projects that
have focused on advancing recreation
youth programs for persons of color,
including his role as founder of the
Central Oregon chapter of Latino
Outdoors.
I would like to argue that Zavi has
the experiential knowledge that the
board is lacking, and this makes him
uniquely qualified to address a crit-
ical unmet need in our community
— POC do not use parks, trails and
other amenities even though they
pay taxes to support those facilities. I
would argue that it is the fiduciary re-
sponsibility of the district to address
this as an unmet need.
It is clear to many of us that POCs
do not take advantage of the recre-
ational facilities enjoyed by most of
Bend’s other residents. This is a prob-
lem recognized by the district board
and may be the most important issue
addressed in the coming year. It is a
problem not unique to Bend and has
been recognized by regional parks
and the National Park System nation-
wide.
In some communities, the reasons
It is clear to many of us that POCs
do not take advantage of the
recreational facilities enjoyed by
most of Bend’s other residents.
This is a problem recognized by
the district board and may be the
most important issue addressed
in the coming year. It is a problem
not unique to Bend and has been
recognized by regional parks
and the National Park System
nationwide.
for lack of participation have been
identified as issues of transportation,
fear of discrimination, cultural differ-
ences and economic concerns, not in
any order.
It will be important for the park
district to apply the metrics used by
other communities to determine
which factors are at play in our city
that cause the 20,000 Latinx folks of
Bend not to use our facilities. Here in
Bend, the solution to this issue will
best be found if Zavier Borja is elected
to the park board. His special knowl-
edge as an underserved minority and
his access to the Latinx community
will best serve that unmet need.
e e
Roger A. Sabbadini lives in Bend and is an
emeritus distinguished professor of biology at
San Diego State University.
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Development will overload the area on Century Drive
T
BY DOUG MEYER
wo thousand three hundred
and twenty-nine. 2,329.
That is the number of daily
“trips” predicted by the official traffic
study that will be added to the current
traffic in and out of the Pine Ridge
Renovation complex slated to be built
in place of the quaint Pine Ridge Inn
on Colorado.
That traffic will arrive and depart
the property on four streets — Reed
Market, Century, Colorado, the two
traffic circles at Century and Col-
orado, and the other circle at Mt.
Washington and Century.
I’m sure the developers noticed that
currently, during ski season, Century
can be backed up for a mile or so,
and Reed Market can be brought to
a standstill in both directions. When
the Mt. Washington middle school
traffic is added in, gridlock ensues.
Century stops. Reed stops. Mt. Wash-
ington stops. And, the college isn’t
even close to full capacity yet. Well,
stopped is stopped after all, and you’ll
just be stopped for a while longer.
“The city” thinks this as all OK and
that the additional 2,329 automo-
bile trips per day won’t be a problem.
Now, to be fair, they did ask us (per
the regulations) if we objected.
They put up the two little signs on
the bank at the Pine Ridge for all of us
to read (if we looked up on the bank
and were looking the “right” way on
the one way, at least for a while, until
they got ripped up by the weather.)
Then, they put up new ones for a
while. The fact that you would have
to park and walk up the bank to read
GUEST COLUMN
them didn’t seem to be a problem.
Nor did the fact that the expected
“comments” were clearly not being
generated.
Could it be that all the folks who
lived “within” 250 feet didn’t care? Oh
wait, just about nobody lives within
even 500 feet. They got seven objec-
tions. Seven people sent email com-
ments objecting to a proposed com-
mercial development second only to
the university in its magnitude. Does
that make sense? No matter, I guess
the planners figured everybody else
must love it. This all occurred during
COVID shutdown, mind you, when
there were not the usual public hear-
ings, discussions, presentations and
Could it be that all the folks who lived “within” 250 feet didn’t care?
Oh wait, just about nobody lives within even 500 feet. They got seven
objections. Seven people sent email comments objecting to a proposed
commercial development second only to the university in its magnitude.
Does that make sense?
press coverage. Guess that didn’t seem
odd to them.
This development, if completed,
will tower about 150 feet above the
river below, looking down on the
Healy Bridge.
It will dominate the skyline against
the mountains when viewed from the
parkway and Bond Street.
It will add approximately 50
pounds of automotive particulate
matter, according to my calculations,
(which is a lot because it is gases and
dust) to the atmosphere and nearby
streets per year.
I really don’t think this project is
something we should be doing, do
you? It is wrong on so many levels.
Please let the city know that.
They’re trying to put one over on
us. Don’t let ’em get away with it.
For photos, search KOHD “Pine
Ridge.”
e e
Doug Meyer lives in Bend.