CORONAVIRUS IMPACT
MyEagleNews.com
Local schools ensuring kids have access
to food and chances to keep learning
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Schools figuring out how to
feed students during closure
By Les Zaitz
Oregon Capital Bureau
Most districts
preparing meals to
go during mandatory
school closure
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
As Grant County classrooms
sit empty in the coming weeks,
school officials and staff are ensur-
ing that students have access to
food and opportunities to learn as
the coronavirus spreads and state
officials say indefinite closures are
a real possibility.
“I know this is a difficult time
for our families and staff,” Grant
School District 3 Superinten-
dent Bret Uptmor said. “This is a
time that is unprecedented in our
schools.”
Uptmor said he wants students
and parents to know the district
is diligently working on finding
alternative solutions to give stu-
dents equal access to education
during the closure.
“In the coming days, ODE will
be providing a compilation of pos-
sible resources for school districts
that may be helpful to support stu-
dent learning and family and com-
munity engagement while schools
are closed,” Uptmor said. “Many
of the answers people are search-
ing for have not been determined
or guidance is getting refined and
distributed as accurate answers are
available.”
Uptmor said the district is sifting
through the ever-changing guidance
on social distancing and crowd lim-
itations. For that reason, the school
board canceled the meeting sched-
uled for Wednesday, March 18.
Also, he said, the school district
is suspending all related travel for
conferences and meetings.
He said the state should have
additional guidelines that that will
direct future board meetings.
Uptmor said the facilities at
Grant Union, the gym and the
field, are closed for use during the
school closure.
Eagle file photo
Grant School District 3 Superintendent Bret Uptmor.
Grant School District students
can pick up breakfast and lunch
Monday through Thursday, March
30 and March 31 at the designated
locations and times:
• Seneca, lunch at 11:30 a.m.
• Humbolt, breakfast at
7:30 a.m. and lunch at noon.
• The Seventh Street Complex,
breakfast at 7:45 a.m and lunch at
12:20 p.m.
• The bowling alley parking lot,
breakfast at 7:50 a.m. and lunch at
12:25 p.m.
• Mt. Vernon Park, breakfast at
8:20 p.m. and lunch at 12:20 p.m.
Prairie City School District stu-
dents can pick up boxed meals
from 9-10 a.m Monday through
Thursday, March 30 and March
31 at the school.
Monument School District
Administrative Assistant Shawna
Schafer said the district will pro-
vide hot lunches to go for students
at 11:30 a.m. Monday through
Thursday, March 30 and March
31 at the school. She said they are
also giving breakfast to take home
for the following day.
Long Creek Superintendent
Carl Coghill said there always
challenges when there is a school
closure.
“It comes down to how do we
educate these kids when they’re
not in the building,” said Coghill.
He said roughly 15-20% of the
students have an internet connec-
tion, and if they do it is question-
able. He said that some of the staff
might not have access to the inter-
net as well.
“It is a matter of solving things
one at a time and passing along
information as it comes along,”
Coghill said.
Coghill said he has reached
out to students and their families
to see if the school can drop off
breakfast or lunch to students and
families during the school closure.
Dayville Superintendent Kath-
ryn Hedrick said her staff sent
students home with food baskets
on Friday after the governor’s
announcement.
Hedrick said the timing of the
closure will make it to where stu-
dents will miss just four days of
school.
“We are hoping to just miss
four days,” Hedrick said.
Hedrick said the teachers sent
students home with things to do in
the meantime.
A7
In a matter of hours, the need to
close Oregon schools came into sharp
focus for Gov. Kate Brown.
Schools, she was told, expected to
quickly run short of staff as concerns
deepened over the new coronavirus.
In the night hours of Thursday,
March 12, Brown pushed out the word
— every public school in Oregon
would close on Monday, March 16.
Across Oregon, school districts
are scrambling to put together entirely
new systems for packaging and deliv-
ering meals to all students. State offi-
cials are considering adding flexibil-
ity for licensed child care facilities,
aware that parents are faced with
choices about what to do with their
children.
None of that was because children
were becoming infected, Brown told
reporters Friday. Public health offi-
cials say that so far children gener-
ally seem to suffer mild symptoms
that can be cared for at home if they
do contract COVID-19.
Colt Gill, state deputy superin-
tendent of public instruction, said
state and federal health officials
made clear to Oregon authorities that
“sending children home will not stop
the spread of coronavirus.”
Instead, school employees consid-
ered vulnerable to the disease, partic-
ularly those 60 and over, were rapidly
deciding to stay away from schools.
That ranged from substitute teach-
ers to bus drivers to cafeteria workers
who tend to about 580,000 children
in Oregon’s public schools.
Through much of last week,
Brown resisted any move to shutter
schools.
On Sunday, March 8, Brown
declared a state of emergency when
the number of people testing positive
for the disease doubled overnight to
14. State agencies issued guidance
that then recommended against clos-
ing schools but urged increased hand
washing and cleaning of schools and
“social distancing” by staggering
recesses and lunch periods.
Three days later, Brown issued new
orders aimed at containing the virus.
This time, schools were directed to can-
cel field trips, parent conferences and
competitions.
That day, Brown said, she held a
conference call with school superin-
tendents. She said she heard a “uni-
versal commitment” to keep schools
open, in part because of the deep effect
closing them would have on vulnera-
ble families.
“A lot of these kids don’t neces-
sarily have direct access” to meals,
health care and other services they get
at school, Brown said.
She went before reporters the fol-
lowing morning, restating that stand
and assuring Oregonians that every-
thing was being done to safeguard
schools.
“Considerations of school clo-
sures would be a last resort,” she told
Oregon.
A series of subsequent calls with
school superintendents and others
culminated in a conference call just
hours later — at 4 p.m. Thursday,
March 12 — that convinced her she
could no longer leave schools open.
Other states already were beginning to
order statewide closures, and Oregon
school districts were considering act-
ing on their own to turn off the class-
room lights.
School superintendents, union offi-
cials and state education authorities
were on the call with the governor,
who was working from Portland. Her
chief of staff, Nik Blosser, and her pol-
icy advisers on education and health
joined in.
One message came through,
Brown said: “They are struggling to
even staff their schools at this point”
in a circumstance pushing school sys-
tems to “the breaking point.”
She said 40% of Oregon’s substi-
tute teachers are 60 or older — a pop-
ulation that shouldn’t be in contact
with kids. She said school districts
also rely heavily on that demographic
for bus drivers and the “lunchroom
ladies.”
The Oregon Education Associa-
tion, representing many of the state’s
teachers, added its voice to push for
the closure as it learned that more and
more school employees were voicing
reluctance to work at school.
State puts a stop to visits to nursing homes to prevent spread of coronavirus
By Les Zaitz
Oregon Capital Bureau
State officials on March
10 mandated a stop to vis-
its to the 30,000 Oregonians
in long-term care facilities
to prevent the spread of the
new coronavirus that has
proven especially deadly for
the elderly.
That means, for now,
no more time with parents,
grandparents and others in
licensed facilities except in
special circumstances.
“Our number one priority
is to stop the spread of this
virus,” said Fariborz Pak-
seresht, director of the Ore-
gon Department of Human
Services.
Pakseresht
and
Pat
Allen, director of the Ore-
gon
Health Authority,
announced the new restric-
tions last week that affect
670 nursing homes, assisted
care facilities and residential
care facilities.
“Oregonians in our nurs-
ing homes are particularly
vulnerable to this disease,”
Allen said.
They said those who
operate 1,700 adult foster
care homes and anyone car-
ing for an elderly Oregonian
at home should also follow
the state’s guidance.
Under the new restric-
tions, visits to the care facil-
ities will be limited to what
the state called “essential
individuals.”
That includes facil-
ity staff and vendors, state
ombudsman and staff, fam-
ily and friends attending to
an end-of-life circumstance
and those “essential” to the
“emotional well-being and
care” of residents.
The extraordinary step
comes as data from around
the world shows that the
elderly are most vulnera-
ble to the coronavirus that
causes the respiratory dis-
ease COVID-19.
State health authori-
ties also directed the facil-
ity operators to limit com-
munity outings and work to
arrange “virtual visits” for
their residents.
Pakseresht said it would
be up to individual facili-
ties to determine who was
“essential” to visit.
“It’s not something we
can define centrally,” he
said.
He also said that it would
be up to facilities to decide
how to tell residents about
the new restrictions, which
will be in place indefinitely.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
state epidemiologist, said
none of the state’s presumed
cases of infected Orego-
nians includes anyone from
a long-term care facility.
He said, however, that resi-
dents of such facilities have
been among those tested,
although he didn’t provide
any details.
Tests
to
determine
whether someone is infected
are conducted through med-
ical swabs sent to the state’s
central health laboratory.
Pakseresht said Oregon
officials are taking every
step they can to avoid “the
tragic situation develop-
ing in Washington,” where
deaths have mounted among
those in a Kirkland, Wash-
ington, long-term care
facility.
State officials said they
urged those caring for
elderly relatives or friends
follow similar guidance.
They also recommend
that the elderly should stay
home as much as possible
and when in public avoid
people who are sick or close
S175346-1
60561 HWY 26,
John Day, Oregon 97845
541-575-0023
541-963-6577
541-573-6377
541-576-2160
need to take the situation
“incredibly seriously,” abid-
ing by the state’s restrictions
and guidance.
“We’re asking people to
do some really hard stuff,”
Allen said.
Hello Grant County!
PIONEER FEED &
FARM SUPPLY
541-523-6377
contact with others. The
elderly should stock up on
food, medications and other
supplies to minimize their
risk of infection from going
out.
Allen said Oregonians
Today I woke up to about 5 inches
of snow! Although it was beautiful, I
was really looking forward to more of
the sunny 50- and 60-degree days we
were having earlier this month!
I know Spring isn’t too far away, and
I’m looking forward to it. Springtime
is Grant County is so beautiful!
The March meeting of Chamber
Board of Directors has been canceled
for this month. There will also be no
luncheon on Thursday, March 19th.
As you have probably heard, Cycle
Oregon is coming to town September
12-19, 2020 for their Painted Hills
Classic Bicycle Ride. This is exciting
news! The event will begin and end
in John Day.
There are several opportunities for local
organizations to volunteer for various
jobs to be done during the event.
Cycle Oregon will make a
contribution to the group either in
the form of a check or grant from the
Cycle Oregon Fund.
The Grant County Chamber
of Commerce is the Community
Manager for John Day.
We are responsible for assigning
groups for the various jobs and
distributing and collecting the
agreements between the groups and
Cycle Oregon. Contributions for the
work done will be mailed directly to
each group. If you are interested in
obtaining a job list, please contact us
via email: gcadmin@gcoregonlive.
com or call us at 541-575-0547. The
list is also posted on our website:
www.gcoregonlive.com.
Take care and stay well!
Tammy Bremner
Manager, Grant County Chamber
of Commerce
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