School board votes against
consolidation
B ss3ie rfetaal1
U o f J fre« 3 p a a !' Li b r a r y
Eumene, üii 9 7 4 J 3
VOL. 121
NO. 50
8 Pages
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
MCGG takes first in light parade
Mekayla Kindle, 6, talks with Santa before the Light Parade
♦
r
Third place w inner: “Big Santa Float" presented by the Bank of Eastern Oregon
Santa C lause; T hird- Bank o f
T he events o f Dec. 5
began before the Light Parade,
Eastern Oregon's “ Big Santa”;
with the Christmas Tree lighting
and Fourth- Bucknum's
and pictures with Santa. Santa
Christmas Gift.
this year w as played by Jerry
Olson o f Heppner, w ho was also
H ep p n e r E lem en tary
seen on the C olum bia Basin
School will be holding their
Electric Co-O p float.
h o lid a y m u sic p ro g ra m ,
W inners for this y e a r's
Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. in
sixth annual Parade o f Lights
The Heppner Library will
the Heppner High School gym.
be holding at K id 's O rnam ent
were as follows: First- M orrow
T h e h o lid a y m u sic
W orkshop, F riday, D ec. 13,
County G rain Growers pulling
p
ro
g
ra
m
fo r H H S w ill be
from
9:30
a.m.
to
4:30
p.m.
All
th e 2 0 0 3 F a ir an d O T P R
Tuesday,
Dec.
17, at 7 p.m. in
children
interested
in
m
aking
Princesses; Second- Colum bia
o
rn
a
m
e
n
ts
a
re
w
e
lc
o
m
e
to
the
HHS
cafeteria.
Basin Electric Co-Op with live
attend.
Library to hold
Kid’s Ornament
Workshop
School holiday
concerts coming
soon
A m e a s u r e d lo n e
contingency that packed into the
school district board room in
L e x in g to n M o n d a y n ig h t
emerged with a small victory—
albeit a bittersw eet one. The
M orrow County School Board,
before a standing room only
c ro w d ,
v o te d
a g a in s t
consolidating lone and Heppner
schools “at least for now.” But,
the board, attem pting to cope
with severely dim inished state
f u n d in g , v o te d to p u rs u e
$660,585 in general cuts and
$ 8 1 6 ,4 8 0 in staffing cuts to
balance the budget, in effect
d e c im a tin g th e e d u c a tio n a l
p ro g ra m s in so u th M o rro w
County. Also at the meeting, the
board learned that the M orrow
County Education A ssociation
that afternoon had ratified a
contract with the district, which
w ould provide a three percent
raise for the d istrict’s teachers
(tw o percent retroactive to July
and one percent to begin in
M arch). Board m em ber Gary
Frederickson said that the raise
w ould help m ake the district
“more competitive” in retaining
a n d a ttr a c tin g te a c h e r s , a
p ro b le m in n o rth M o rro w
County schools, which are said
to lose teachers to nearby school
districts such as Hermiston and
Pendleton. The contract also calls
for an increase in district-paid
insurance costs from $490 to
$530 per m onth per teacher.
The general cuts call for
a $250,000 cut in the capital
im provem ent fund, a $75,000
reduction in the transportation
system fund and a change in the
early retirem en t system that
w ould result in a $70,000 cut
fro m th a t f u n d ’s $ 2 7 0 ,0 0 0
budget. A lso on the chopping
block are: elim ination o f the
s u m m e r s c h o o l p ro g ra m -
$28,000; elim ination o f head
teacher stipends or positions-
$ 3 0 ,4 2 3 ; e lim in a tio n o f
substitutes for aides except for
special education and one-on-
one aides-$35,295; dropping an
equipment fund-$40,100; closing
o f the Lexington district building-
$25,000; and other reductions in
funds. The $3,000 the district
allotted for operation o f the lone
pool was also included in the list
o f cuts. Also, a move o f athletic
director funding to a different fund
is expected to result in a savings
o f $30,332.
A s to $ 8 1 6 ,4 8 0 in
s ta f f in g c u ts , th e fo rm u la
presented at the M onday night
m eeting calls for a reduction o f
14.35 teachers in H eppner and
lo n e .
P r e lim in a ry
rec o m m e n d a tio n s call for a
$ 2 1 6 ,7 2 0 cut from H eppner
M iddle School (3.87 teaching
positions); a $211,680 cut from
H eppner E lem entary School
(3 .7 8 te a c h in g p o sitio n s); a
$200,480 cut from lone High
School (3.58 teaching positions);
a $100,240 cut from H eppner
H igh S chool (1 .7 9 teach in g
positions); a $67,760 cut from
lone Elem entary School (1.21
teaching positions); a $6,720 cut
from lone M iddle School (.12
teaching position); and also a
$ 12,880 cut from Riverside High
School (.23 teaching position).
B o a rd C h a ir J u lie W eik el
stressed that while the $816,480
am ount will be cut from the
district budget recommendations
as to where the cuts will be made
and the nature o f the cuts is still
preliminary. The cuts may not be
limited to teaching staff, but could
include other staffing and building
reductions. In explaining their
slashing o f south Morrow school
funding so severely, the board
reiterated its goal o f “equity”,
which correlates the amount o f
money a school brings in w ith the
amount o f money it spends. “We
want to balance the budget with
an eye to where limiting is coming
from ,” said Superintendent Dr.
J a c k C rip p e n . T he m o re
populous north Morrow County
schools not only have m ore
students (the state allots districts
a certain am ount o f m oney per
student) but also have m ore
English-as-a-second-language
students and other factors which
increase the amount o f funding
the state doles out. While small
rural schools do receive some
additional state funding, they have
proven to be m ore expensive to
operate. Dr. Crippen said that the
district could lose at least eight
to 10 te a c h e r s th ro u g h
retirem ent, which w ould help
mitigate the effect o f the board’s
decision.
Dr. Crippen also told the
board that the newly constructed
elementary schools in Boardman
and Irrigon wall not open for some
time because the district cannot
afford to staff the new buildings,
adding that the expected growth
in th a t a re a h a s n o t y e t
m a te ria liz e d . W eikel la te r
e m p h a s iz e d th at n o rth end
schools are already crow ded,
e v e n w ith o u t the e x p e c te d
g ro w th . “ S am B o a rd m a n
(elementary) doesn’t even have
an extra closet,” said Weikel.
T h e c o h e s iv e lo n e
community, appearing en masse
at the meeting, has galvanized in
its goal o f av o id in g school
consolidation o f H eppner and
lone schools. As a result o f a
m eeting D ecem ber 2, the lone
com m unity subm itted a list o f
concerns and recommendations
to the board M onday night.
“Consolidation is not an option,”
said a letter handed out to the
b o a rd and m e m b e rs o f the
audience. “ We realize that cuts
are necessary and we will bear
our fair share, but the lone School
m ust not be closed. G ive the
com m unity a chance to offer
solutions within the boundaries of
the State Funding Form ula."
lo n e resid e n t Joe R ietm ann
reiterated that sentiment, saying
that lone w ants to take its cuts
and w ork w ithin the budgetary
restrictions, but wants to have
input as to how those reductions
are m ade and avoid closure o f
its school. “We are walling to take
a bite o f the pill," said Rietmann,
“but we d o n 't want to choke on
it. Our school is everything to our
community.” Rietmann said that
th e lo n e co m m u n ity w o u ld
consider establishing a charter
school or forming its own district
b e fo r e it w o u ld c o n s id e r
consolidation. “ 1 have not seen
any proposal w hich would close
the lone Schools,” said board
member John Renfro.
Irrig o n
r e s id e n t
Meredith DeHaven offered lone
s u p p o rt fro m th e Irrig o n
Community and said that w hen
Irrigon lost its school it, in effect,
lost its community. DeHaven
drew laughter from the audience
with her comm ent, "Irrigon is a
dead community. You'd hold the
second coming o f Christ and you
still probably w ouldn't have more
than five people show up. If you
take the school out o f lone it
w ould erase lone right o f f the
m a p .” The lo n e c o n tin g e n t
em phasized that they do not
blame the board for the cuts and
realize that the cuts are the result
o f state budgetary problems and
also said they have "no quarrel
with Heppner.” Crippen told the
board, however, that he did not
want the com m unities to have
“carte blanche” in decisions about
their schools. The board said that
th e y w o u ld ta k e th e lo n e
com m unity recom m endations
into consideration, but stressed
that the final decision as to funding
cuts lies w ith the board and
superintendent.
B e sid es the issue o f
consolidation, the lone letter
made the following points:
-“ lone has tw ice been
named an “Exceptional School”
and the high school has been
nam ed the O SA A O regonian
C up each year it has been in
e x is te n c e . D o n 't k ill an
exceptional school.”
-"T h e
e f f e c ts
of
consolidation on our children
w ould be both physical and
em otional. Not only would the
a lre a d y len g th y school day
becom e longer, but children
could be as far away as 45 miles
from hom e should they forget
lunch money or get sick at school.
Some o f the bus rides would be
unm anageable, especially for
y o u n g e r c h il d r e n .” lo n e
c o m m u n ity m e m b e r S a ra h
Carlson said that if lone area
students are bused to Heppner,
her children could face a four-
hour daily bus ride and she would
c o n sid e r hom e sch o o lin g if
consolidation was realized.
- “ In th e e v e n t o f
consolidation, the high level o f
parental involvement o f the lone
school c h ild ren w ould drop
dramatically. The cost in time and
money would discourage parents
and
to w n s p e o p le
from
volunteering. We believe that
parental and community support
is one o f the biggest factors in
student success.”
-“Consolidation would
not occur w ithout a significant
number o f students seeking other
educational alternatives, whether
that is neighboring school districts
or home schooling.”
-“A new school is being
c o n s tr u c te d in lo n e . T h e
taxpayers, o f this area who are
paying for this facility and w ill
continue to pay lor the next 20
years, expect it to be used to
school the children o f lone and
the surrounding area.”
-“lone is a town w ith an
abundance o f com m unity spirit
and pride. The school is the
center o f this comm unity. Most
anything that happens at school
(gam es, co n certs, program s,
g r a d u a tio n s , e tc .) is w e ll
attended. Support for school
activities is very strong. The town
and its economy are tied closely
to the school. Should the school
go, the businesses are likely to
follow.” Along these same lines,
lone resident Beth Heagy also
s a id at th e m e e tin g , “ We
p a r tic ip a te in H e p p n e r 's
economy. If we do go down,
Heppner will probably go down
with it.”
-“ lone voters hav e been
long-tim e school and school
district supporters. The citizens
in lone have been known to pass
levies and Kind issues. In the last
election, the “yes" votes from the
lone area put the Kind issue over
foe top. While our population may
n o t be th e b ig g e s t, a high
percentage o f the citizens in lone
vote "
A n o th e r c o m m u n ity
m eeting has been scheduled at
the lone School cafeteria on
Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 6:30 p.m.
In other business, the
board:-approved resignations
continued page two
CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE
Friday, December 13 from 8 a.m. • 5 p.m.
COME JO IN THE FUN !
Refreshments, cookies and hot apple cider
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 h, tarn (wan nut «ft un at at*, meg ntt
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