T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly www.thecolumbiapress.com July 10, 2020 Vol. 4, Issue 28 District reveals plan for reopening schools B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Nothing about the new school year will be simple. “What will our schools look like for the ’20-’21 school year? The answer to that is, unfortunately, very complicat- ed,” Superintendent Tom Rogozins- ki told parents in a virtual town hall meeting Wednesday night. The Warrenton-Hammond district, like others around the state, received a small booklet of instructions from Oregon Department of Education designed to get the district ready for students in the fall. The first day of school is Sept. 14. “What this is not, tonight, is an un- veiling of precisely what we’re doing next year,” Rogozinski said. “ODE’s guidances are evolving and continue to evolve.” The most difficult requirement is to establish a minimum of 35 square feet per person in determining room capacity. The district also must support phys- ical distancing in all activities and in- struction, striving to maintain at least 6 feet between individuals. There could be marked spaces on the floor, one-way traffic flow in halls Problematic intersection will soon get a fix B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press Tom Rogozinski, superintendent of the Warrenton-Hammond School District, speaks in a virtual town hall meeting to discuss plans for reopening local schools. and constrained spaces, and require- ments to wash hands before entering the school, before meals and in each classroom. There’s also a plan for “cohorting” in which smaller groups of students operate together, such as a particular group always uses the same entrance door to campus and rides the same bus, associating less with other co- horting groups. Rogozinski presented results of a survey that asked parents how they felt about sending children to school during a pandemic. When asked how much their chil- dren learned during distance learn- ing in the spring, 76 percent said less or a lot less. Seventy percent of parents said they felt comfortable or very com- fortable with 100 percent in-person, in-school learning. Sixty-four percent were uncom- fortable or very uncomfortable with students being required to wear masks. See ‘Schools’ on Page 5 One of the main entries into War- renton will be reconfigured in the next two years. The change will affect how traffic flows on Highway 101 and how drivers enter town from the south. “This is a safety project,” said Lou Torres, public information officer for Oregon Department of Transporta- tion. “The intersection of U.S. 101 and Perkins Lane has a fairly long crash history. A number of the crashes have been severe crashes involving injuries or fatalities.” The intersection is in the top 10 percent of the region’s worst crashes, hence the high priority, Torres added. A raised median will give pedestri- ans a safe space if they’re attempting to cross all four lanes of traffic. The median also will limit how drivers pull onto Highway 101 as there will be no more left turns onto the highway. The project’s total cost is $2.14 mil- lion, which includes engineering, right-of-way acquisition, and con- struction. See ‘Entry’ on Page 6 WE’VE GOT Your financial partner Y OUR for today, tomorrow, . K and the future. C A B We’re not going anywhere and fibrefamily ILikeTLC Federally Insured By NCUA 503.842.7523 www.tlcfcu.org Zaheen and Zain: Fibre Family Members Since 2019 85 W Marine Dr. • Astoria 2315 N Roosevelt Dr • Seaside 1771 Ensign Ln • Warrenton your money is safe with us. A DIVISION OF CREDIT UNION