A4 The BulleTin • Friday, January 21, 2022
Graduation
Continued from A1
Crook County High School tops
Central Oregon graduation
rates
Central Oregon’s two larg-
est districts — Bend-La Pine
Schools and Redmond School
District — reported lower
graduation rates compared
to the 2020 class, but each re-
ported its second-highest grad-
uation rate ever. Culver School
District also reported a slight
drop of just over 2% to roughly
91.8% of seniors graduating.
But in the Jefferson County,
Crook County and Sisters
school districts, graduation
rates increased.
Crook County High School
reported the highest gradu-
ation rate in Central Oregon
with a 7% leap to roughly
98.2%, a new school record. In
all, 161 of the school’s 164-stu-
dent senior class earned their
diplomas on time.
“When I saw the outcome,
I was so happy for everyone
to see the payoff,” said Crook
County Superintendent Sara
E. Johnson. “It was really hard
work, like climbing a moun-
tain.”
Johnson said the school dis-
trict developed a strategy for
reaching students who were
struggling or dropping out of
school last year. After drawing
up databases to assess barriers
among at-risk students who
hadn’t been at school, educa-
tors traveled across towns to
help those students and entice
them back into the classroom,
sometimes using gift cards.
Johnson also attributed the
high graduation rate to the dis-
trict’s willingness to bring stu-
dents back into the classroom,
even while other schools stayed
remote in effort to curb the
spread of the coronavirus.
Gill pointed specifically
to rural schools in Jefferson
and Crook counties as having
shown resilience in the face of
the pandemic. Jon Wiens, Ore-
gon Department of Education’s
director of accountability and
reporting, also remarked on
how Jefferson County’s grad-
uation rate was especially im-
“It says to me that all our staff members are working
extremely hard to help students succeed in special
circumstances.”
School saw its graduation rate
among four-year students de-
cline by more than 17% to
59%.
Mountain View High
School’s decline was nearly 7%,
to 85% of seniors graduating.
Bend-La Pine school im-
provement director Dave
VanLoo said he was “really
pleased” that last year’s grad-
uation rate remained above
pre-pandemic levels, continu-
ing more than a decade of im-
proving rates.
And he noted that rates
among English language
learners and historically un-
derserved students improved
compared to 2019.
But VanLoo said there is
more to do to improve grad-
uation rates among economi-
cally disadvantaged students.
That includes La Pine High
students, many of whom are
on free or reduced lunches and
experience higher rates of pov-
erty and internet connectivity
issues.
Redmond schools also saw
slight declines, but the dis-
trict posted its second-highest
— Charan Cline, superintendent of Redmond School District
pressive given its high poverty
rates.
Madras High School Prin-
cipal Brian Crook described a
similar on-the-ground strategy
to Crook County’s. Liaisons
traveled to underserved fam-
ilies in Latino communities
across Jefferson County and
on the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation, helping them get
connected to online classes
by checking Wi-Fi hotspots,
Chromebooks and helping stu-
dents engage with classwork.
Madras High reported a slight
drop of 0.3%, but remained
above a 90% graduation rate.
“We have resilient kids who
deal with a lot of adversity,”
said Crook, pointing to gradu-
ation rates among the school’s
Latino and Native American
students, groups that reported
graduation rates upwards of
94%.
Central Oregon’s largest
districts report slight decline
After a year in which ev-
ery noncharter, nonalterna-
tive public high school in De-
schutes County saw a bump
in graduation rates in 2020,
all high schools in Bend-La
Pine Schools saw graduation
rates decline among students
who graduated on time. But
the district still posted its sec-
ond-highest graduation rate on
record.
“These rates are reflective of
the collective hard work of our
students and our staff,” Super-
intendent Steven Cook said in
a press release. “We know the
positive relationships staff built
with students make all the dif-
ference.”
Some schools, such as Bend
High School and Summit High
School, saw declines of less
than 2%. But La Pine High
Motel
Continued from A1
ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
A new development is being proposed for the existing parking lot east of Lava Road and the Box Factory, top
left, that includes Spoken Moto, bottom right, and the food cart pod.
Box Factory
Continued from A1
In a virtual meeting with
the Southern Crossing and
Old Bend neighborhood as-
sociations, some neighbors
expressed excitement for the
general idea of the develop-
ment, but some raised con-
cerns about traffic congestion
and parking.
Richard Ross, of the Old
Bend Neighborhood Associa-
tion, said while he was pleased
with the housing the devel-
opment would provide, he
wanted to know more about
the cumulative traffic impacts
that would come from this de-
velopment and another devel-
opment in the works at the 21-
acre Korpine site next door.
“Old Bend is already stressed
out from growing, unmanaged,
cut-through traffic through
our streets,” Ross said in the
meeting.
While there will definitely
be an increase in traffic in the
area from the project, one ele-
ment of the project is designed
to address some of that con-
cern.
If approved, NW Lava Road
— which is the road that sep-
arates the Box Factory from
the adjacent parking lot and
connects to Industrial Way
— would become something
called a “woonerf,” which in
Dutch loosely translates to “liv-
ing street.”
“It’s a street that values the
quality of life over the speed of
cars,” said Kurt Schultz, a prin-
cipal architect with Sera Ar-
chitects.
This kind of street, which is
popular in Europe, is designed
in a way to allow cars and peo-
ple to share the roadway to-
gether, but encourages cars to
move slower than they would
on a regular road, Schultz said.
Developers also plan to in-
corporate roughly 470 park-
ing spots on the property by
creating a two-level parking
structure, as well as some sur-
face parking spots to replace
the parking lot that currently
exists, Schultz said. Developers
also hope to create bike storage
that would accommodate one
bike per residential unit.
Other aspects of the project,
like whether any of the units
will be affordable, remain to be
seen, though it is the company’s
intent to include at least some
in the project, according to
Michi Slick, Killian Pacific’s di-
rector of development. The in-
tent is also to gear some of the
townhomes toward providing
child care services, Slick said.
She also said the company
will ensure the townhomes in
the project will not become va-
cation rentals by banning that
use in the lease they would of-
fer tenants.
Currently, the developers are
in a pre-application stage with
the city. The goal is to submit
official land use applications by
March, according to Schultz.
e
The City Council consid-
ered purchasing the Rainbow
Motel in the spring with state
funding from the Turnkey
Program, which allows cities
to buy hotels and turn them
into homeless shelters, but de-
cided to not buy it at the time
because another hotel — the
Bend Value Inn — was more
affordable.
The change since then is
that the homeless problem
has grown more acute, Broad-
man said.
“We have an increasing
need from a regulation of
right of way standpoint, from
a human rights standpoint
that we are providing shelter
for everyone in our commu-
nity,” Broadman said. “In-
creasing need has affected
how we look at shelter and
housing policy.”
The City Council has a
goal to create shelter for 500
homeless residents by mid
2023, as well as 1,000 rent-
and price-restricted housing
units. This project has the
potential to add between 40
and 60 beds for homeless resi-
dents, Broadman said.
The Bend Chamber of
Commerce in the past has
argued against this property
turning into a transitional
shelter.
The chamber has argued
that given its location at the
gateway to downtown, the site
has more potential as housing
and could generate tax rev-
enue in a district the city is
trying to revitalize.
Broadman said he sees the
city purchasing public space
like this as an important in-
vestment in the area.
“Investing to make sure
people are safe is an import-
ant step in revitalization,”
graduation rate ever reported.
Redmond High School re-
ported a 2.5% decline to 80%.
Ridgeview High School saw a
steeper drop from about 91%
in 2020 to 83% in 2021.
For Redmond School Dis-
trict Superintendent Charan
Cline, the data is promising.
Cline and VanLoo each said
graduation rates may have
been artificially high in 2020
due to the state-issued pass/fail
option, which allowed students
who were passing their classes
prior to the pandemic to auto-
matically receive class credit.
Gill said the two years were
comparable.
With the district’s five-year
graduation rate continuing an
upward trend, Cline said last
year’s data shows how staff
helped students who may have
lost touch with the value of
school.
“It says to me that all our
staff members are working ex-
tremely hard to help students
succeed in special circum-
stances,” Cline said.
e
Reporter: 541-660-9844,
bdole@bendbulletin.com
Broadman said. “Having the
city play this kind of develop-
ment role for potential hous-
ing or civic opportunity is an
important part of the revital-
ization.”
Broadman said his goal
would be for the transitional
shelter to open this spring,
and then work together with
Deschutes County and other
jurisdictions to come up with
more long term homelessness
solutions. He does not envi-
sion this property being used
as a shelter for more than two
to three years.
A nonprofit would be cho-
sen through a competitive
process to run the shelter, like
the city has done with other
shelter projects, but a plan for
continual operations funding
is something the city “needs
to work on,” according to
Broadman.
e
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
OBITUARY
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
Stewart Weitzman
Donald Scott Berry
of Sisters
April 11, 1953 - January
13, 2022
Arrangements: Sweet
Home Funeral Chapel is
handling arrangements.
www.sweethomefuneral.
com
OBITUARY DEADLINE
Call to ask about our deadlines
541-385-5809
Monday - Friday 10am - 3pm
Email: obits@bendbulletin.com
OBITUARY
Martha Christenson
August 20, 1933 - January 13, 2022
Born in Shawnee Oklahoma, at three years old, her family
migrated across the country, picking crops and living in
farm camps along the way. The family sett led in Tulare
California, picked cott on and lived in a farm camp unti l
she was in 4th grade when they could aff ord their
own home. Martha grew up in Tulare, sang on the
radio, earning the nickname,
“The Nighti ngale of Tulare.”
She raised her family
in Beaverton Oregon,
att ended
the
First
Congregati onal
Church,
and worked for the school
district. Living in Bend since 1981, she was known for
her Luau parti es and was very involved in The Ladies
of the Elks.
Martha was preceded by her husband of 58 years,
Norman Chester Christenson in 2013. She is survived by
her 4 children, Jocelyn Simmons (Randy), Stacey Simons
(Robb), Shelley Dunagan (Jim), Russell Christenson, 7
grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. Martha
was well loved by all her friends and family.
Arrangements by Baird Funeral Home, Bend.
April 25, 1935 - December 29, 2021
Stewart was born April 25, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, and
aft er a life well lived, passed away December 29, 2021
in Bend at the age of 86. Stewart was raised in Southern
California by his parents Louis and Fanny Weitzman.
This is where his lifelong love of educati on, hard work,
and cars started. In 1953 he was accepted to Stanford
University and graduated with a degree in Politi cal
Science in 1957. At Stanford, he was a member of the Phi
Gamma Delta fraternity. Aft er college, he served in the
Marine Corps for two years being honorably discharged
as a First Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain in the
reserves).
He met Verle Pilling through mutual friends in San
Francisco in 1959 and their 62 year romance began at
that ti me. They were married on January 23, 1960, in
Palo Alto, California. They later moved to Portland,
where they raised their two sons, Marcus, and Todd. Stewart worked in several sales-
related jobs in the early 1960’s, primarily in the pharmaceuti cal industry, before starti ng to
pursue his MBA at Portland State in 1967. While in the MBA program, his entrepreneurial
spirit was born as he started his fi rst company, Pacemaker Corporati on, a manufacturer
of preventi ve dental products including fl uoride gels. Pacemaker grew rapidly and aft er
developing several products that earned US patents, the company was sold in 1978.
Aft er consulti ng and working for several startups, he founded Weitech in Sisters in 1989.
Weitech was a manufacturer of electronic pest control products. At this ti me, he and
Verle moved full ti me to Black Butt e Ranch. Stewart served as the Chairman of the BBR
homeowner’s board and as the President of the Sisters Chamber of Commerce. Weitech
experienced rapid growth and his son Todd soon joined the company. Weitech was sold
in 2002 and Stewart reti red. Stewart and Verle enjoyed soaking up the sunshine in Indian
Wells, California during the winters.
Stewart also enjoyed reading, classical music, travel, politi cs, car magazines, golfi ng,
tennis, playing Shanghai, and was always scanning the classifi eds for a new business
opportunity. He was a decisive leader, a very generous man, and those who knew him
appreciated his witt y sense of humor. Aft er 24 years living at Black Butt e Ranch, he and
Verle moved to Touchmark in Bend, where they have happily lived for the past 9 years.
Stewart had struggled with Parkinson’s Disease for the past several years, but ulti mately
succumbed to colon cancer.
Preceded in death by his parents Louis Weitzman and Fanny Weitzman, and his brother
Morrel Weitzman. Survived by his wife of 61 years, Verle; brother Ronald (Morley) of
Carmel, California; son Marcus (Chelley) of Mesa, Arizona; son Todd (Diane) of Sisters;
and fi ve grandchildren, Joshua, Christopher, Sarah (Matt ), Abigail (Jared) and Becky
(James). A celebrati on of life will be held in late spring. Memorial contributi ons can be
made to Partners In Care Hospice House at 2075 NE Wyatt Court, Bend, Oregon 97701 or
Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon at 8880 SW Nimbus Avenue, Suite B, Beaverton, Oregon
97008.