STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
A7
Schools learn lessons from COVID
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — More than two
years have passed since the begin-
ning of the COVID-19 pandemic in
Oregon, which saw businesses and
schools close down repeatedly.
Schools were forced to make
sweeping changes to continue opera-
tions. Some of those changes are here
to stay.
“One of the things that will be
sticking around for us here at Pend-
leton High School is that all of the
teachers have become familiar with
the Google platforms, especially
Google Classroom,” said Principal
Patrick Dutcher. “Now it’s been two
years of running their lesson plans
and assignments there. That helps
with retention if kids are absent. I
mean, obviously the state’s going
back to more of an accountability
when it comes to recording absences,
but that has allowed families to get
online to see what they’ve missed
because the teachers do a really
good job of updating the Google
classrooms, especially for the daily
assignments.”
Pendleton had already planned to
add an online teaching component to
their curriculum, but the pandemic
accelerated that need. State and fed-
eral grants also allowed the school to
enact a one-to-one plan, which gives
every student a Chromebook to be
used for school.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Uriah Gatliff , a student at La Grande
Middle School, works on an assign-
ment during class on Thursday, April
7, 2022.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
La Grande Middle School student Zackary Simonis works on a Chromebook
computer during class on Thursday, April 7, 2022.
“If you’re a student at Pendleton
High School, you have a Chrome-
book assigned to you at the start,”
Dutcher said. “A lot of teachers
were incorporating that technol-
ogy into their lesson plans as it is,
knowing each kid has access to a
Chromebook.”
But while schools now have the
ability to do remote learning in the
case of emergencies, snow days will
still be in place due to the chaos of
switching to a remote learning envi-
ronment on short notice.
“Snow days are what they are.
I think it’s hard to get people orga-
nized on the fl y,” Dutcher said. “You
know, there’s something about being
a kid and the Americana of having
a snow day. But, as of right now, I
don’t think there’s a plan in Pendle-
ton School District to get rid of snow
days. That’s not saying that it’s not
off the table, but there is no plan to
get rid of them on our end.”
The ability to integrate online
learning has created more fl exibility
for school districts, according to La
Grande School District Superinten-
dent George Mendoza.
“I defi nitely think that choices and
options, whether it’s home school
and homelink programs, or whether
it’s online schools and whether
it’s brick and mortar — it’s here to
stay,” he said. “And being fl exible
at home, online learning and hybrid
approaches are here to stay. So any-
thing that has to do with technol-
ogy that enhances online as well
as in-person learning is something
we’re going to keep having to do,
and we will. We’re happy to do that.”
Mendoza said that the school dis-
trict had been pivoting toward inte-
grating technology like Google
Classroom and Canvas into its cur-
riculum and toolkit, but the pandemic
had accelerated that eff ort.
“We were already working on
doing more with Google Classroom,
posting lessons and activities and
off ering feedback and information
and creating engagement through
that, but (the pandemic) defi nitely
made it something we had to get bet-
ter at and do better at,” he said. “Hav-
ing the ability for teachers to be able
to create a classroom in person as
well as a classroom online — to me,
that’s part of the future and part of
what has to remain for the future.”
Mendoza cautioned that online
learning should also emphasize
online citizenship and building
healthy relationships online with
classmates.
“We got good kids, but everybody
needs to be better about how they
interact on social media, and how
they interact in digital messaging,”
he said. “That’s part of the future, I
think, and not only just good char-
acter education, but I think we need
to make sure that we help kids have
good relationships electronically.”
Part of that education future could
include online classes taken at uni-
versities through partnerships with
the school district.
“Any time you can create more
options for kids or opportunities for
kids, that’s part of the future,” Men-
doza said. “Future kids and families
want options more than ever, and we
need to make sure we’re trying to
create that opportunity.”
Baker courts international students
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — The
Baker School District has
bought one historic home in
Baker City and plans to buy a
second soon as housing for stu-
dents from other countries who
will be attending Baker High
School starting this fall.
The Baker School District
started the Oregon Interna-
tional School about four years
ago.
But the pandemic, as well
as a delay in the district’s appli-
cation for a student visa pro-
gram under which the state will
pay the district the standard
per-student rate for visiting stu-
dents, put the project in limbo
over the past two years, Super-
intendent Mark Witty said.
The idea, Witty said, is to
bring up to 40 international stu-
dents to the district each school
year, and, with revenue from
the International School, to
forge relationships with other
countries and schools that
makes it easier, and less expen-
sive, for Baker students to visit
and study abroad.
He expects 22 to 25 foreign
students will attend BHS when
the 2022-23 school year starts
this fall.
Andrew Bryan, a member
of the Baker School Board,
said he believes the Interna-
tional School will benefi t dis-
trict students as well as the
community.
Students will have a chance
to sit side by side in BHS class-
rooms with teenagers from
around the world, Bryan said.
Moreover, he believes that
the program will bolster the
district’s budget and allow the
district to off er scholarships
to Baker students that makes
it possible for those who are
Witty
Bryan
interested to travel abroad and
expand their perspectives both
academically and socially.
“It’s a fully global
endeavor,” Bryan said.
Although Witty said the
district hopes to place some
visiting students with host
families, the traditional sys-
tem through foreign exchange
student programs such as
Rotary and AFS, he said it’s
clear to district offi cials that
there won’t be enough host
families to accommodate all
the visiting students.
“That’s why we’re mak-
ing the investment” in the two
homes, he said.
Each home will have space
for at least six students, as
well as local families who will
live in each home, Witty said.
He said several cur-
rent district employees have
expressed interested in living
in the homes and helping to
oversee the international stu-
dents. Those employees will
likely work under a personal
services contract with the
district.
Bryan said it’s possible that
some visiting students will
live part of the school year
with a local host family, and
the rest of the time in one of
the homes.
District projects
fi nancial surplus
The district’s fi nancial pro-
jections for the Oregon Inter-
national School, which is a
charter school, show the pro-
gram generating a surplus for
each of its fi rst three years.
Witty said some of that
money would be used to repay
the district, with interest, for
the money used to buy the two
homes.
The revenue also would be
used for scholarships to help
defray tuition for Baker stu-
dents who attend school out-
side the U.S., he said.
The school district paid
$295,000 last month for the
home at 1706 Washington
Ave. Known as the Moomaw
house, it’s a Queen Anne/East-
lake-style cottage build around
1900. It’s named for original
owner David L. Moomaw.
Witty said the Baker
School Board will meet on
April 12 to discuss buying a
second home. That’s the Kolb-
White House, also known as
the Langrell House, at 1503
Second St. The asking price is
$490,000.
The money for the home
purchases is from the district’s
regular budget, Witty said.
The money is not part of the
$4 million the district will col-
lect from the levy that voters
approved in May 2021. That
money can only be spent on
earmarked projects, including
the construction of a cafeteria
and multipurpose building at
Baker Middle School, and new
heating/cooling/ventilation
systems at all district schools.
Witty said he understands
that the district could have
used the money that will go
to the two homes for other
projects.
“It always comes down to a
choice,” he said.
But he believes the invest-
ment in the two homes will
benefi t local students and,
ultimately, the district’s bot-
tom line.
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Bryan agreed.
He contends the Baker
School District is in better
fi nancial shape than any other
district in the state.
Bryan believes that the
International School will ben-
efi t both the district’s students
and the district’s fi nancial
situation.
Witty cited the district’s
projections that the Interna-
tional School program will
repay the district for the homes
in less than 15 years, and that
the program’s overall revenue
will exceed its expenses.
That’s possible in part
because the district has qual-
ifi ed to host international stu-
dents under the J-1 visa pro-
gram, Witty said.
Under that designation, the
state would pay the district
the same annual rate — about
$8,700 — that the district
receives for local students.
“This generates revenue
for sure,” Witty said.
He said only about six
school districts across the
country have qualifi ed for that
J-1 visa.
The International School
also has a contract in Taiwan
to off er online classes, with
dual high school and college
credits, for students there. The
projected budget forecasts net
revenue of $46,000 from that
contract the fi rst year.
International
School staffi ng
Lindsey McDowell, pub-
lic information and commu-
nications coordinator for the
Baker School District, said
the International School will
have four employees, three of
whom will work half-time or
less for the program.
All are current district
employees.
Witty, who is retiring as
superintendent, will serve as
executive director, at 0.3 full-
time equivalent.
Thomas Joseph, the current
principal for the Eagle Cap
Innovative High School, an
alternative program in the dis-
trict, will be the sole full-time
employee, serving as principal
and instructor. The district is
recruiting his replacement at
Eagle Cap.
Jamie Barton, the vice
principal at Brooklyn and
South Baker schools, will
work half-time as vice princi-
pal and marketing director for
the International School.
McDowell and Jason Todd
will serve as support staff , a
total of 0.15 FTE.
Witty said the Baker
School District has talked with
offi cials from multiple Euro-
pean countries, including Ger-
many, Austria, France, Spain
and the United Kingdom, as
well as Thailand, Cambodia
and China.
The goal is to expand the
program to South America
and other parts of the world,
he said.
In the shorter term, Witty
said three offi cials from a
school on the Isle of Jersey,
part of the United Kingdom
and the largest island in the
English Channel between
England and France, are
scheduled to visit Baker City
from April 25-28 and to sign
an agreement for student and
staff exchanges later this
year.
He said the plan is to have
10 Baker students spent four
weeks on the island in Sep-
tember, while 10 Jersey stu-
dents visit Baker City.