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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2000)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 16, 2000 Editor's note Letters to the Editor must be signed The Cazette-Times w ill not publish unsigned letters Please include your address and phone number on all letters for use by the C-Toffice. The C-T reserves the right to edit The C-T is not To the Editor: Thoughts from a school board responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters meeting It is 12:15 a.m on a Monday night just after the Morrow County School Board meeting where it was decided to cut 17 teaching positions from our history of quality education here, schools. Needless to say the board member John Rietmann feelings of disappointment and from lone made a motion to disgust are running high. Many accept the administrator’s times I have been warned by proposal. When the audience fellow merchants not to speak asked, "Why not give us more out publicly for fear of losing time?" his answer was that we business. Right now. my biggest need to give these displaced fear is the education my five kids teachers time to find new jobs will receive thanks to and housing. Superintendent Anderson's Board member Barney Lindsay proposals. Is it just a Morrow County made a motion to amend the proposal to reduce the cuts by School Board phenomenon, or $300,000 and changing the does it occur with other such wording of the proposal so that boards that the public who attend rather than cutting only teachers the meetings and are truly and programs it would include wanting to help the situation are district-wide spending so other treated with such arrogance and cuts could be considered. He contempt? The five board proposed a meeting of the budget members who voted for the cuts committee with two seemed quite pleased with representatives of the board from themselves that they were able to both the north and south and quickly see through the appeals members of the advisory and act so fiscally responsible in committee to look at other the face of such a large crowd. It options. He was supported by was quite upsetting to see one board member and the Keith Lewis. superintendent smiling at each The remaining board members, Gary Frederickson, Pat other for their "victory" while McNamee, John Rietmann, just five feet away students are Dwayne Carroll and Julie crying and thanking board Weikel. wanted the cuts made member Barney Lindsay for this effort to temper the one and only tonight. As a business owner and parent option set before the board. All we wanted at this meeting of five children, I have no confidence in this superintendent w a s‘a little ♦ time to explore and make-up of this board to options other than the single one ensure quality education for our presented by Anderson. Board children. In only seven months members who voted for the cuts, Frederickson, Pat on the job Supt. Anderson is Gary destroying the quality of schools McNamee, John Rietmann. we have insisted upon for years. Dwavne Carroll and Julie Weikel His style totally lacks foresight and is doing serious damage to this district. He can blame the legislature for lack of funding, but if this is all we have, we have To the Editor: I have heard recently that the to use our dollars wisely and proposed school budget cuts plan classroom teachers most directly to eliminate vocational affect the quality of education, agriculture in Morrow County. which is why so many of us This would be a drastic mistake. attended this meeting. Programs such as vocational The board really seems to encourage making it a North- agriculture and technology South issue even though all the classes are very important for parent^" vVere saying the same today's students. I would not be thing-consider other options where 1 am today without being in vocational before eliminating so many involved teachers and programs that took agriculture and FFA. I was very fortunate to start my agricultural years to build. experience from two great I assure you I will vote no on advisors, Bill Umbarger and any future school bond levies Barney Lindsay. The great under this administration. program, guided by these two (s) Ann Murray individuals, helped me to pursue Heppner a career in agriculture. The Shocked and disappointed in school board's action To the Editor: For those o f you who were unable to attend the Morrow County School Board meeting on Monday. Valentine's Day. at 7:30 p m. in Boardman. I would like to give you a feel of it as I write this at 12:15 a m. upon returning in complete shock and disappointment in five out of the seven board members. The gym at Sam Boardman Elementary was so full of people from the whole county, including a large representation of the Hispanic community, that the bleachers were pulled out to extend the seating. The superintendent remarked he had not expected so many people. People came to the meeting as it was the first meeting held after the announcement that the superintendent recommended cutting 17 teachers from Morrow County schools to meet a budget crisis of a short-fall of approximately $900,000. These cuts were most heavily weighed on the Heppner schools, but eliminating such long standing programs as Vo-Ag brought many from Boardman to testify including a team of FFA students dressed in uniform. The overall theme of all who spoke was, wait. There is no need to make these cuts tonight. The budget committee and public wants other options considered. Repeatedly mentioned were cuts to administration with classroom teachers being the last to be cut. Only one work session was held prior to this decision, and (it)was held on a week-day afternoon. One budget member addressed the board and stressed the need for more discussion by the budget committee. If the board is responsible to voters, and all the people from both ends of the county wanted other options discussed, why didn't the board listen? It appears they will rubber stamp any proposal the superintendent makes and this one has a total disregard for long-term planning and leaves us with a district below neighboring Eastern Oregon towns. After all the public testimony in tavor of looking for more creative ways of preserving a would have none of it I suggest that these board members have bêen on the board too long and have lost their ability to think independently and creatively or have come to rely far too much on administration for their guidance. Who is in charge anyway? Time and time again on controversial and gut-wrenching decisions the public has come to meetings only to discover that the issue has apparently already been decided in private or executive session meetings prior to the public discussion. Was that the case at the 6:45 p.m. meeting prior to the public meeting? Does the administration and this board not understand the need to address parents' concerns about their children's education? Even if, after public input, these same cuts had to be made, we would have handled them better than having them shoved down our throats. I appreciate Barney Lindsay and Keith Lewis trying to bring some understanding and compassion to this debate. The other five spoke of having a great desire to help education in this county, but could do nothing more creative than rubber-stamp administration's one and only proposal. Board members acted like, "Don't worry, this will blow over and people will forget." Sorry to say, I will not. The handling of this funding crisis was at best short-sighted and careless and at worst crippling to our children’s future. It did not have to go this way. (s) John Murray Heppner Cutting vo-ag would be drastic mistake 3A sports program not a reason to hold up Irrigon high school To the Editor: Morrow County School District is going to build two new grade schools, one in Irrigon and one in Boardman. This should open the door to convert Columbia Middle School and Riverside High School into seventh through 12th grade facilities, which in turn should guarantee the return of a high school to Irrigon. So what is the holdup? Perhaps, Riverside's 3A sports program? What price is the rest of the community supposed to pay so that a small percentage of students can participate in a sports program that has reduced Riverside from state champions to seventh place in the league. When Umatilla High School returns to the 2A program they stand to save $5.000 per year on transportation alone. In a 20-year bond issue that translates into $100,000. That would buy a lot of books. How much does it cost the parents of these athletes so their children can compete against much larger schools? What is the out-of-pocket expense these parents absorb so their children can travel halfway across the state, compete, get home at 3 a.m. and be at school at 7 a m. or be punished for being tardy? How many parents have the time and money to go to their children's away games? Who among you get time off work to travel 300 miles to a state tournament? And, how many can afford such a trip? Once Irrigon and Boardman both have a high school neither will qualify for 3A status. I believe this deve'opment will benefit all the schools in our School board didn't listen Board's decision crippling to children's future Letters to the Editor district. (s) Meredith DeHaven Irrigon SCRATCH PADS $1.00 lb. Gazette-Times ■ 676-9228 leadership skills learned through FFA continue to help me excel in my college career. Agriculture is very important. It is not only a way of life, but is vital in this world. The world has just reached an astounding population of six billion people. We need today's generation of students to help feed the world's people. By cutting vocational agriculture you are taking away vital education that cannot be replaced by math, science or any other core class. Vocational agriculture and FFA prepare students for a promising career in agriculture. These classes not only prepare r > students for farming, but for a variety of other agncultural-basqd careers. There are so many opportunities available in agriculture today. Do not hold back these opportunities from the students of Morrow County. As stated in the FFA creed by E.M. Tiffany, "I believe in the future of agriculture." The question that remains is if you do. (s) Toni Kemp Junior, University of Idaho, College of Agriculture HHS Class of 1997 Elguezabal fund set up A fund for the Elguezabal family of Heppner has been set up at the Bank of Eastern Oregon for anyone wishing to donate. ONE GIANT LEAP FOR YOUR SAVINGS. In Honor of Leap Year Special CD Offer Annual Percentage Yield 29-Month Term INLAND EMPIRE BANK (St MEMBER FDIC Hermiston • Umatilla • Stanfield • Boardman • Pendleton Downtown • Pendleton Albertson's 6 39% annual percentage yield (APY) 6 25% interest rate $1,000 minimum deposit Advertised rate offered February 14-29. 2000 CD offer is non-renewable Penalty for early withdrawal To the Editor: After attending the school board meeting Monday night in Boardman, I feel compelled to write this letter. First and probably most important of all, I would like to thank Barney Lindsey and Keith Lewis. For those of you who did not attend this meeting, these men put their heart and soul into their jobs as board members and tried desperately to protect our schools. These men listened with open hearts and minds. They did not come to this meeting with a decision already made. Not only did they hear the public, but they tried in vain to persuade the rest of the board to hear also. Your words did not fall on deaf ears. Even though the other five board members did not hear you, we did. Since I've lived in Morrow County, I have seen many cuts. School days went from five to four days a week. Did it work? We also changed kindergarten from a half day, every day, to every other day. This left five- year-olds with four-day weekends. Did it work? The very next year in Heppner, the first grade class of 25 boys and eight girls was denied a second teacher because of no money. Instead. 10 boys were pulled from the room and placed with second grade teachers in hopes of alleviating the problem. Did it work? In the next three years, our school added multi-age classrooms in an effort to evenly distribute the numbers. Did it work? Now the state is grading our school. Look and see how our fifth graders are scoring on the tests. Are they below the state average? I ask you. Did it work? At the meeting Monday night we asked you to consider different options. We also asked that you not to vote to adopt the first budget. The communities brought up many excellent points. You voted anyway. 1 heard you say that our problems are statewide and that we need to be talking to our legislators in Salem. We talked to you and you didn't listen. Hopefully they will listen better than you did. (s) Keith and Angie Hanson Heppner Why stop motor cross races? To the Editor. I am writing in regards to the cancellation of St. Patrick’s Day Motorcross Races. I don’t under stand why anyone would be com plaining about it. For one, it brings people and business to our small town, which we all know we need, especially since the mill closed. It also gives everyone of all ages something to do. It keeps younger kids out of trouble and gets the elderly out of their houses. If people don’t like it because it takes too long, then break it down between Saturday and Sun day. I hear people say, well, there’s team roping Sunday, have them do it in the new arena. Do you people who decided to not have them anymore know how much these races mean to some people? My five year old son who : 1 has raced in them since he was three was so mad and disap pointed because he couldn’t race and win (he says). Granted, he doesn’t do exactly what he is sup posed to when he races, but he still feels like he’s accomplishing something big. People say that everyone goes to the motorcross instead of the traditional St. Paddy’s festivities, but most of the town people have already been to them. Someone had a really good idea to start the motorcross, so why stop having it when it has become such a big success? Every year it’s getting bigger and bigger and the people seem to be coming from further away. Obviously the word has gotten out what a great place Heppner can be on St. Patrick’s Day. Not to offend anybody, but some of you need to think about how many people really look for ward to and enjoy these races. Not only will Justin be disap pointed, so will other children and their parents and grandparents who enjoy watching them. (s) Tami Howey Heppner Editor's note-this letter included a petition to continue the races with 58 names on it. Hurting over poisoning of dog To the Editor: Somebody poisoned my dog last night. I went outside to a terrible sight. Somebody poisoned my dog last night. I wonder the action that could cause such a fuss, she wasn't a mean or ornery of cuss b u t------ somebody poisoned my dog last night. A faithful friend-we'd been near and far we—came from Alaska she rode in my car but-somebody poisoned my dog last night. What will I tell my grandson of six? She won't be there to look at his sticks. You could throw all day to coax her to play, to all your sticks she'd just say ’nix' but —somebody poisoned my dog last night. What kind of person would poison a dog? Have they no feeling? Are they a log? Those soft eyes that said, "I'm so glad you're home." The soft gentle "woof' to the cat that would roam The soft warm pillow for my grandson's head. I guess they're all gone 'cause now she is dead. Somebody poisoned my dog last night. Body convulsing and spitting up blood. She dropped to her belly in a pool of mud. Somebody murdered my friend!!!!! To the responsible party: How grateful I would have been for a call or a chance to make a change but you gave me none. I can’t imagine what kind of disturbance would warrant the death you inflicted upon my friend and I understand that this is not the first incident like this. What is your reasoning? I don t understand. Still hurting and not knowing why. ( s) Richard Drake Heppner Voices were not heard To the Editor: Do all members of the public in Morrow County wish our county school board to make such drastic decisions as eliminating numerous teachers and electives without a vote of the people? Their previous actions jammed through a damaging and unnec essary four-day school week upon us. Is disregarding a vote of the people the sensible way to handle school decisions? What would be more disruptive to our school system? A vote or two failed levies? Corrective measures do need to be taken but the public needs to have input into how this is done. Do we need so much administra tion? Do we need to furnish their transportation to and from their place of employment? No other taxpayer is allowed this deduction. Do we want two substandard schools in south Morrow? Do we want to make all cuts only in teaching staff and electives? Over 400 people came to the school board meeting Feb. 14. Their voices were not heard. (s) Meg Murray lone MCCACC meeting slated Morrow County Creative Arts and Crafts Club will meet Thursday, February 24. at 1 p.m. at Cal’s for lunch and a meeting Workshops for the year 2000 and the subject of the mural will be discussed. Anyone interested in art or the museum is invited to attend. Artists and crafters are reminded to start preparing things for their exhibit and sale on St. Patrick's Day at Les Schwab.
