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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2020)
A8 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle EOC Continued from Page A1 According to the form, the total labor costs were $215,278.13. The county court’s labor came in at $35,268, and the EOC’s labor total came to $88,616.87. Hamsher, the court’s EOC liaison, said the $35,268 reim- bursed to the county was for actual wages. Both he and Commissioner Sam Palmer, who said they volunteered upwards of 1,000 hours each, were paid for their regular 13.5 hours a week at $40.07 per hour. Hamsher said in July that, from March to mid-May, they were paid for 168 hours, and the county was reimbursed for that amount. Hamsher told the Eagle Thursday he did not have time to look for the daily activity reports as he was focusing the efforts of the “Hay for John Day” volunteer group that will take hay to people with live- stock who have been affected by the recent fires. The EOC, which the county court established in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic, appointed Grant County Sheriff’s Office Dep- uty Dave Dobler as incident Wednesday, September 16, 2020 commander on the recommen- dation of Sheriff Glenn Palmer, despite former emergency management coordinator Ted Williams’ objection in an emer- gency meeting that the coun- ty’s health department needed to be involved. The EOC came under a bar- rage of criticism in June when it overspent its $125,000 bud- get by almost $75,000, spend- ing nearly $92,000 on supply School Continued from Page A1 She said that it’s easier for her to learn from a teacher in person and interact with other students instead of being in her own space on a computer. Declan Zweygardt, 17, a senior, said masks can be diffi- cult at times but it’s the rule, and he’s glad to be in school for his last year. “I’m really glad that I actu- ally get to be in school and around all my friends and staff this year,” Zweygardt said. “But the downside is that sports is on the edge right now, and that’s a big thing for both me and Betty.” Hallgarth said the highlight for the staff has been seeing kids back in the building and being able to teach in person. “The common theme is that we’re happy to have the kids back and trying to get some nor- malcy going again,” Hallgarth said. Hallgarth said this year has been a bigger year for out-of-dis- trict students coming in to start the year. So far, 183 students have enrolled this year with 20 students going online. New teachers or changed positions at Prairie this year include Jason Murray, social studies teacher; Nick Thompson, preschool teacher; Diane Wright, day custodian; Shanna Wright, head cook; Wendy Deiter, spe- cial education assistant; Amanda Rockhill, Farm-to-School coor- dinator; Daniel Tremblay, Title I assistant; Emily Bernard, Title I assistant. This is Prairie City School’s first year providing an all-day preschool program thanks to the $180,000 grant from Ore- gon Department of Education and the Preschool Promise Pro- gram. Ten students are currently enrolled with five spots open. The Prairie City School gym overhaul is nearing completion, implementing seismic-retrofitted walls, new paint and more. Grant Union Junior- Senior High School Principal Ryan Gerry said students have been great with the new protocols. “They have adjusted quickly, and by the second day of school, most everyone had the routine down,” Gerry said. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Cheryl Hoefler, an education assistant, and Paytin Girvin from the sixth grade enjoy the opportuni- ty to gather together in a classroom setting at Prairie City School. Gerry said, with the number of students in the building, the school has had to adjust to sev- eral components of what would be a “normal” day. Some of the adjustments included creating classes that met social distancing requirements and maintaining the required cohort size of 50. Gerry said that by starting school on Sept. 8, giving five additional days of in-service, gave teachers the time needed to prepare for changes from the state guidelines. “Teachers have worked hard to implement systems within their own classrooms to adhere to our back to school reentry plan,” Gerry said. “This has been from how we do activities in the classroom to how students are entering the locker rooms.” There are 210 students attending in building with an additional 38 students online. Some of the new staff at Grant Union this year are: Rick Callahan, who is teaching advanced math; Sharon Fritsch, who is teaching all levels of Spanish as well as middle school English; and Shanna Northway, who has been added to the GU Special Education Department. This year, GU also added an assistant principal position filled by Karen Shelton. GU’s automotive shop is now open and running with Jason Miller leading classes. GU’s gym project is near com- pletion, which includes the installation of brand new floor- ing and bleachers. “Simply put, kids are back in the building,” Gerry said. “This is definitely the biggest high- light as we have worked hard to create a plan and develop pro- tocols that will enable Grant Union to provide in-person instruction. It’s great to have students in the building.” Humbolt Elementary School Humbolt Elementary Prin- cipal Darbie Dennison said stu- dents are responding well to having to wear masks and main- taining their physical distancing. “I think they’re very happy to be back in school,” Dennison said. “I think for most of them it’s been six months since they were last here, and they’re happy to be here.” Dennison said it is definitely an adjustment for students to wear masks for a majority of the day and they need reminders, but the kids have been willing to wear their mask and face shields. “I just want to say thank you to all of the parents for under- standing that we do have restric- tions in place,” Dennison said. “For example, we can’t have vis- itors or volunteers in the building at this time, but as soon as those restrictions are lifted, we look forward to having them again.” There are 240 students enrolled with at least 36 of them enrolled online with the Baker Web Academy. Some of the new staff at Humbolt this year are: Mikayla Luttrell, second-grade teacher; Mykal Weissenfluh, sec- ond-grade teacher; Shawna Oates, kindergarten teacher; Bobbee Hickman, instructional assistant; Melissa VanLoo, cook; Mandie Mcquown, cook; Ty Baker, custodian; Colleen Lind- ley, behavior interventionist. This year, Humbolt will soon have high-speed broadband internet, which will improve the online teaching experience. Humbolt also purchased 150 Chromebooks so they could pro- vide more access to technology for kids. S165199-1 “The fact that we have them back in person is the best thing,” Dennison said. “It’s the best thing to see their smiling faces and have an opportunity to inter- act with them.” Seneca School Office Manager Laura Stin- nett said both staff and students are adjusting pretty well to the state guidelines with 22 students in a spacious school building. “We’ve come through this week with flying colors,” Stin- nett said. “I think everybody is happy to be back in school.” Stinnett said their enroll- ment is 22 with two online stu- dents. The school hired a new custodian, Skip Ryder, coming up from Humbolt. Stinnett said activities like the Christmas pro- gram this year will be taped and then be made available digitally. COVID-19 guidelines have modified life in class, but fourth- to sixth-grade students at Sen- eca continue the tradition of tak- ing turns in pairs in the morning to hook the flag, raise it and then take it down and fold the flag at night. The activity began a cou- ple years ago, thanks to sugges- tions from teachers, and contin- ues every school day. “They have a schedule of whose turn it is in pairs and do it whether it’s warm like today or 20 below,” Stinnett said. “It’s pretty impressive, and it’s a great respectful tradition that teaches them patriotism, and even that small job is not as easy as it looks.” The school has also been keeping up to date the electronic reader board that the Portland Trailblazers grant provided. Dayville School District Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick said students have been cooperative and are adapting to the changes presented by the guidelines. “They know we are all in this together so they can have in-per- son school,” Heidrick said. “It is procurements. Without pre-ap- proval from the court, the EOC purchased a variety of items, including at least 11 laptops and six speakerphones for $900, plus $90 for two-day shipping. Dobler resigned amid the fallout. Upon Gray’s hiring, the remaining employees were Klingbeil and interim inci- dent commander Chris Rush- ing, who worked remotely from Portland since March. Gray said he would be the only paid employee at the EOC, and the county will be enter- ing into a “unified command” with the health department in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gray said the pan- demic is a public health crisis, and the health department needs to be in a leadership role. Gray said he will bring on volun- teers if he needs the help at the EOC. different, but when we talk about teaching resilience, we realize this is the time we need to be most resilient … putting the the- ory into action, so to speak.” Hedrick said teachers are working to customize students’ learning to make sure all stu- dents and families have equita- ble access. “The positive is the energy, the focus, getting to be a part of a young person’s life and educa- tion,” Hedrick said. “We teach- ers thrive when our students achieve, succeed, overcome obstacles, just like their parents.” Hedrick said she could not definitively say but esti- mates there are about 54 stu- dents enrolled in person and five through distance learning. Stephanie Breazile is the new science and agricultural sci- ence teacher and FFA advisor. Lonnie Dickens obtained a spe- cial career and technical educa- tion teaching license to teach ag mechanics and will remain as the maintenance coordinator. The school is hopeful that the repairs and renovation project funded by the May 2019 bond measure and the state matching grant will be finished in Octo- ber. This project includes a new roof on the main building, ADA access to the main building and across the campus, a new elec- trical system in the elementary school and more. The school board also named CB Construction as the gen- eral manager/construction man- ager of the seismic upgrades to the gym scheduled to be com- pleted in spring 2021, according to Hedrick. The school received a $2 million grant from Business Oregon for the project. Thomas said they have shifted some schedules and classes and are offering response to instruction and English lan- guage learner services from the certified staff this year. In the spring of 2020 Mon- ument received a grant for just under $2.5 million to do seismic revitalization work to their ele- mentary building and gymna- sium, according to Thomas. “We will spend the school year designing and planning for the work that will be completed in the summer of 2021,” Thomas said. Monument School District Superintendent Laura Thomas said students and staff have done wonderful coming back and adjusting to the new guidelines related to COVID-19. “Everyone is so happy to be back in school with each other, and no one minds the masks, extra distance and extra clean- ing,” Thomas said. “The high- light for us is being back together as our Monument School fam- ily. Despite the changes due to COVID, we are excited to be here learning together.” Monument currently has 49 students enrolled K-12 and 12 preschoolers with 4% of their students being online. Thomas said all of Monument’s teach- ing staff is back this year, and the district recently filled an open bus driving position with Ally Muhleman. Long Creek School District Long Creek School Dis- trict decided to go with distance learning to start the school year, and Office Manager Jennifer Garinger said the transition has been going well. Long Creek decided to do a soft start and give kids easy tasks the first week to help familiar- ize them with online work. The high school and middle school teachers also have a day where they go down to the park and kids can come and ask for help on assignments in an outdoor environment. She said masks are required. The elementary teachers will go over to a student’s house and help them outside of their home as well. Garinger said the school dis- trict ordered iPads and hope to give them to students by the end of September. One of the chal- lenges with distance learning in Long Creek has been the poor internet connectivity hindering access to online resources. “We are supposed to get internet from Oregon Telephone Corporation hopefully by the spring so there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long ways off,” Garinger said. “That’s why we decided to go with Ver- izon data packages because it will give our kids a slightly bet- ter internet connection, and the school is providing that to our students.” Long Creek has 38 students enrolled with eight of them being foreign exchange students. A new staff member this year is Joan Walczyk, teaching middle school and high school electives along with social studies. This year, Long Creek, through the Preschool Prom- ise Program, is expanding their preschool program to four days per week and discussions are ongoing about full-day sessions, according to Garinger. The pro- gram will start once school is in person again. S165194-1