School board to cut only one teaching position
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E u g en e, OR 9 / 4 J 3
The M orrow County
School Board, at a June 27
meeting, voted to cut only one
teaching position from the 2002-
03 budget. The board voted four-
to-three, basically
along
geographical lines, to go against
the recommendation of out-going
district Superintendent Bruce
A nderson.
A nderson
recommended that five teaching
positions be cut in order to cope
with dwindling state funding and
increasing costs he has projected
over the next several years.
Board members Larry
Mills, Heppner; Burke O’Brien,
Heppner; John Renfro, Lexington;
and John Rietmann, lone; all voted
in favor of the proposal to cut only
one teacher, saying that they
w anted to m aintain existing
programs and “put education over
finances” . Board Chair Julie
Weikel, Boardman, and members
Gary Frederickson, Boardman,
and Pat McNamee, Irrigon, voted
against the proposal to cut only
one teacher, favoring instead the
recom m endation to cut five
teaching positions. The dissenting
minority maintained that the five
cuts are necessary to prevent
financial ruin down the road. The
HEPPNER
Local women take
grant-writing class
By Sarah Coller
ímes
VOL. 121
NO. 27
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 3,2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Crews begin demolishing Heppner’s school
.......................................................... .
'1
Heppner Elementary School students form a “human chain” in this picture taken in the early 1980s. As part of a
“Say No to Drugs and Alcohol” campaign, the chain signified the schools' united stand against drug abuse.
Crews have begun demolition of the Heppner Elementary school building.
HARVEST HOURS
Storting Monday, July 8th:
M onday through Friday: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
orrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
equipment mit our web site at www mcgg net
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Kim Armato and Sally
Walker, both of Heppner, were
sent on a mission this past May
by the W illow Creek Valley
Economic Development Group.
Their assignment was to attend a
grant writing workshop sponsored
by W alla W alla C om m unity
College and to learn techniques
for effective grant writing.
“When the opportunity
came to take the class, I jumped
at it,” said Walker, “ I enjoy
working with words.”
The class, taught by
Terry Edvalson of La Grande,
was geared tow ard teaching
potential grant writers how to
organize information and be able
to present it concisely and
effectively. “The basic thought
of the class,” said Armato, “was
that if you get material organized,
it will apply to any grant.” Armato
w ent on to say that the
WCVEDC sponsored them to
take this class so that they could
gain know ledge of how to write
effective grants for obtaining
money for the community.
A rm ato has w ritten
grants in the past for local groups
such as Heppner Daycare and
Colt Sports. “There is lots of
money out there and the only way
to get it is to write a letter and
ask for it,” said Armato. She was
surprised to learn, after looking
over past grants received, that
over $85,000 had come from
grants to fund various Heppner
Daycare expenses. “It has made
a huge impact on the program,”
she said.
W alker,
a
retired
language arts teacher and board
member o f the assisted living
facility, took the class to gain the
know ledge needed to write grants
for the facility as well as other
community projects. “We learned
to look at some o f the bigger
grants out there and then part
them out as needed in the
community," said Walker. Walker
was surprised to learn that those
who w rite grants for our
community are competing with
professional grant writers. She
talked about some o f the
important steps to preparing a
grant: professional packaging,
keeping in contact with the
foundation advertising the grant,
and justifying the need for the
grant.
One thing that Walker
said she w ill do now that she has
learned a few tricks to effective
grant writing is to w rite a letter to
the Ford Foundation in effort to
obtain some funds for the assisted
living facility . “1 plan to share this
information with others," she
stated. “ I want to continue to
practice what I'm learning."
Fish and Wildlife mov ed
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife has moved their
office. The new office is located
in the old Kinzua office building
with the OSU Extension Service
at 54173 Highway 74.
Fhe community is invited
to stop by and see the new office
and anyone w ith questions can call
676-5230.
cut in a teaching position was by
attrition—retirement.
Several in the audience,
including Mike Armato, a member
o f the school district budget
com m ittee, m aintain that
Anderson's projections are just
that, projections. Armato says that
Anderson mislead the board and
the public by under-estimating
cash carry over, even alter audited
financial statem ents were
available. "In 2000-01 Anderson
predicted that the carry over would
be static, even after eliminating 17
teaching positions,” said Armato.
"The audited financial statements
show that rather than remaining
static, the carry over increased by
$1.2 million to $2-1/2 million."
The carryover for 2001-02 is
estimated at over $2.6 million,
according to district figures.
A nderson
earlier
predicted that the district would
lose money, even if the board had
approved five cuts, because of
reductions in state funding and
increased
expenses.
He
estimated that during 2002-03,
even if the board had cut five
teaching positions, the district
would have revenues o f
$15,187,000, (not including
beginning cash) compared to
expenses of $ 16,151,751 —a loss
of $964,751. If the district had
retained all five teaching
positions, Anderson estimated that
the district would have revenues
(w ithout beginning cash) o f
$15,187,000 and expenses o f
$16,476,751—a $1,289,751 loss.
The board’s action to cut
only one teacher reduces the
district’s 2002-03 ending fund
balance by $374,655 to $635,345.
The district may end the year with
more than a $635,345 carry over,
but is required by law to have at
least that much in carryover.
Cutting one teaching position,
probably
from
Heppner
Elementary School, subtracts
$64,808 from the budget. Also
included in the amendment to the
budget is a $230,000 cut—a four-
percent reduction in teacher costs
resulting from the district offering
the teachers a two-percent raise,
rather than a six-percent raise
offered earlier.
The board also approved
a resolution adopting a
$446,222.419 budget for the 2002-
03 year.
Anderson's last day was
Friday,
June
28.
New
superintendent Jack Crippen was
on board at the district office
starting Monday, July 1.
The catch of the day
Scott Maker, 14, of Heppner caught this bass at Willow Creek
Lake earlier this week. The fish weighed six pounds.
Economic group appoints new
board members
At its June 19 meeting The
Willow Creek Valley Economic
D evelopm ent
Group
(WC'VEDG) appointed David
Sykes and Howard Mullins to the
board of directors. Mullins, w ho
lives in lone, will replace Cindy
Doherty, and David Sykes o f
Heppner w ill replace Tom Wolff,
both o f whom have resigned.
Mullins has a background in
m anufacturing and business
ownership and Sykes is publisher
of the Heppner Gazette-Times
new spaper as well as a real
estate agent with Heritage Land
Co. in Heppner.
In other business at the
meeting the board heard a report
from Jerry Breazeale who said
that a "spec” building at the South
Morrow Industrial Park would
cost approximately $80.000 or
about $20 per square foot.
W CVEDG is investigating
building a shop type structure at
the park in an effort to attract
some type of business there. The
group has a $ 100.000 grant from
the Baker Morrow Partnership for
improvements at the industrial
park.
Breazeale also reported that he
had been in contact with
Americlnn. a Minnesota based
motel chain that builds motels in
“underdeveloped" areas. The
business offers franchises and
also has plans for investors.
WCVEDG has been working
on ways to bring more visitor
accommodations to Heppner. A
recently a study done by the group
Community Oregon suggested a
new motel facility w ould need 2.5
acres of land to locate in Heppner
and would be best located on
Main Street. Discussion focused
on possible locations, including
near the golf course. The state of
Oregon does not like that location
and B reazeale said he had
contacted the Departm ent o f
Land
C onservation
and
Development to inform them of
A m ericln n ’s interest in the
Heppner area and DLCD's help.
Sykes passed out a letter
which was to be sent to business
brokers in several western states
inquiring
about
possible
businesses for sale. WCVEDG is
conducting a "buy a business"
plan for the industrial park and
investigating the feasibility of
purchasing a business and moving
it to the H eppner area. The
business would stimulate the local
economy and prov ide needed
employ ment in the area.
Sykes also reported on talks
WCVEDG has been hav ing with
an emu farmer from the Gaston
area. The fanner has been in the
area twice looking at possible sites
for the farm and meeting with
WCVEDG members.
Water park closed
July 4lh
The W illow Creek Water
Park w ill be closed on July 4lh to
observe Independence Day. The
pool w ill reopen at the regularly
scheduled time on Friday .