School board hears protests
against Heppner staffing cuts
B a s s i e .V o ta e l 1
U of J N axapa^ar
Eu^ano, OR 974J5
V0L. 122
NO. 3
8 Pages
Wednesday, January 15,2003
,
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
E-board approves request for ATV funding
T he M o rro w C ou n ty
School Board m eeting M onday
night at H eppner Elem entary
School provided a forum for
p e o p le p r o te s tin g c u ts to
H eppner’s elem entary and high
school programs.
“ The budget cuts m ade
at the D ecem ber board m eeting
were based solely on income vs.
expenditures between schools,”
said Heppner Elementary teacher
C a ra O s m in , th e H E S S ite
Council chair. “We feel that they
w e re n o t b a s e d o n th e
e d u c a tio n a l in te re sts o f ou r
district’s children." In a prepared
statement, Osmin said that “class
sizes will be extrem ely large,
re p re se n tin g a c o n sid e ra b le
discrepancy between students to
te a c h e r r a tio s a c r o s s th e
elementary schools in our district.
With the sta ff cuts we m ay be
forced to have only one teacher
per grade level o f students.”
Osmin said that with the
s ta f f in g c u ts , n e x t y e a r 's
kindergarten class at HES would
have 17 students, first grade-20,
second grade-24, third grade-
35, fourth grade-33, fifth grade-
28 and sixth grade-38. She said
that no m ore than 18 students
per one teacher or 25 students
w ith tw o adults is “ optim um .”
“ We will suffer educationally
more than any other elementary
school in our district,” she said.
“The board goal is to have equity
in funding for each individual
school in the district, but where
is th e e q u ity in s tu d e n t s ’
educational needs? We do not
see any equity in what is and
should be important to the board:
our children.”
Molly Rill, also a teacher
at HES, said that a group o f
around 30 citizens got together
to brainstorm w ays to increase
revenue to the school and offset
the cuts. A nother m eeting is
planned for Jan. 25, after which
the recom m endations will be
presented to the HES principal.
“We need to look for equality in
curriculum,” said Rill.
T h e b o a rd to o k no
action concerning the issues o f
staffing or budget cuts.
In other business, the
board:
-ap p ro v e d retirem en t
for: S u sa n T o lar, from h er
p o s itio n as Sam B o ard m an
Elementary School principal as
o f June 30; M arlene Pointer,
from her elem entary teaching
position at lone Schools as o f
Dec. 19; Nancy Daw kins, from
her position as A.C. Houghton
E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l T itle 1
teacher; Joyce Hesla, from her
position as ACH special reading
teacher as o f Dec. 31.
-accepted resignations
for Ray Davis from his extra duty
c o n tra c t as R iv e rsid e H igh
School assistant girls' basketball
coach; and C huck M atteson
from his extra duty contract as
H e p p n e r H igh S chool head
boys’ basketball coach.
-approved promotion o f
Ken Eckman from HHS assistant
boys’ basketball coach to head
boys’ basketball coach, replacing
Chuck Matteson.
-a p p ro v e d
in te rim
agreements for: Marlene Pointer
to c o n tin u e in her te a c h in g
position at lone Schools from
Jan. 6 through June 13; Joyce
Hesla, to continue in her teaching
position at ACH from Jan. 6
through June 13.
-ap p ro v ed ex tra duty
contract for M egan Andreason,
RHS assistant g irls’ basketball
coach, replacing Ray Davis.
- r e c o g n iz e d
th e
following for their years o f service
at H eppner Elem entary: Lom a
B o te fu h r-fiv e y e a rs; K aren
Sm ith-G riffith-15 years; Nancy
McElhaney-25 years; and Linda
Padberg-25 years.
- h e a r d a r e p o r t on
construction progress from Nan
Hall w ith H eery International,
who said that raising the building
at the Irrigon school construction
site to prevent problem s with
Hooding is expected to be under
budget at aro u n d $225 ,0 0 0 ,
r a th e r th a n th e e s tim a te d
$400,000. Hall said that the
fo u n d a tio n w o rk h a s b e e n
com pleted at lone and w orkers
are m oving on to m asonry and
wall framing. She also said that
H eppner
E le m e n ta r y
construction has been m oving
“pretty m uch as per schedule”,
how ever, she added that the
speed bumps on the street where
children will walk betw een the
elem entary b u ilding and the
cafeteria-gym are not effective
and may have to be redone.
-h e a rd
fro m
Superintendent Dr. Jack Crippen
that with the directive to close the
c u r r e n t d is tr ic t o f f i c e in
Lexington, plans are to relocate
the special education directo r’s
and m aintenance su p e rv iso r’s
offices to the alternative school
in Irrigon and the administrative
office to H eppner E lem entary
School. Dr. Crippen said that he
plans to create a d ire c to r o f
programs position and eliminate
one assistant principal position so
that Riverside High School and
C o lu m b ia M id d le S c h o o l,
c u rre n tly w ith one assistan t
principal each, will share one
person in that capacity. The
principal’s position at lone, now
a fu ll-tim e p o sitio n , will be
divided betw een H eppner and
lone.
-instructed Dr. Crippen
to proceed with plans to put the
district office building up for sale.
-heard from Dr. Crippen
th a t th re e c o n tr a c ts , th e
a d m in istra to rs', co n fid en tial
e m p lo y e e s ’ a n d t e a c h e r s ’
contracts will all be up for renewal
this year. The recently settled
teachers’ contract w as only for
one year and was retroactive.
B oard m em b e r L arry M ills
b ro u g h t up th e g o v e r n o r ’s
rec o m m e n d a tio n o f a w age
freeze.
- r e s c in d e d
th e
regulations establishing advisory
c o m m itte e s a n d in s te a d
established standing education
committees: the Morrow County
Computer Education Committee.
th e
B o a r d m a n - lr r ig o n
C o m m u n ity E d u c a tio n , the
Heppner Community Education
Committee, the lone Community
Education C om m ittee and the
M o rro w
T r a n s p o r ta tio n
Committee.
-h ea rd the fo llo w in g
announcem ents: M artin Luther
King Jr. holiday-Jan. 20; board
work session via V-Tel-Jan. 23,
8 a.m. at Riverside High School,
the district office and the ( )regon
D epartm ent o f Education; next
board m eeting-Sam Boardman
Elem entary School. 7:30 p.m.,
M onday, Feb. 10.
HHS offers last chance to donate coats
(L-R): Terry Tallman, Michael Carrier, director of the Oregon Parks Dept., Burke O'Brien, Karen Wolff and
Martin Davis, in Salem at the Capitol.
T h e O re g o n S ta te
Legislature’s Emergency Board
(E -b o a rd ) has a p p ro v e d the
r e q u e s t m a d e by M o rro w
C o u n ty fo r fu n d in g for the
proposed ATV Park.
Terry Tallm an, Burke
O ’Brien, Tom and Karen W olff
and M artin Davis all w ent to
S alem , T hursday, Jan. 9, to
submit the funding proposal to the
E - b o a rd . M ic h a e l C a r rie r,
director o f the Oregon Parks and
R ecreation D epartm ent, with
Tallm an by his side m ade the
presentation to the E-board.
The E-board “ increased
the o th er funds e x p e n d itu re
lim itation for the P arks and
R e c re a tio n D e p a rtm e n t, by
$1,718,657, for an All-Terrain
V e h ic le p a rk in M o rro w
County,” according to a summary
report o f the Emeigency Board's
actions.
The final funding will
have to be a p p ro v ed by the
Parks C om m ission before any
further plans can be m ade. The
Parks Commission is believed to
make a decision within the next
tw o w eeks, according to the
Public Works office.
Annual Town and County banquet is this Thursday
The annual Town and
C ounty banquet will be held
Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m ., at
the Elk’s Hall in Heppner. A no-
host social hour will be held at 6
p m
Ballot Measure 28 out for the vote
V o te rs th r o u g h o u t
O re g o n h av e re c e iv e d th e ir
ballots for Measure 28. Measure
28 p r o p o s e s a te m p o r a r y
increase o f income tax rates for
three years. The increased rates
w ould apply to taxable incom e
earned in the 2002, 2003 and
2004 tax years, with the existing
tax rates restored in 2005 and
later tax years.
Ballots must be received
by Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. Postm arks
will not be included. Ballots may
be m ailed or dropped o ff at any
o n e o f s e v e r a l b a llo t box
locations. If mailing your ballot,
you need to allow ample time for
the post office to deliver if as any
ballots received after 8 p.m. on
Jan. 28 will be ineligible for
counting.
M orrow County ballot
boxes w ill be located at the
following sites: in Heppner, at the
M orrow C ounty C ourt H ouse
C le rk ’s O ffice; in lone, at the
B ank o f E astern O reg o n ; in
Lexington, at the Public Works
Building; in Irrigon, at the Justice
Court lobby; and in Boardman,
at the Behavioral Health Building.
All box locations will be
open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on
election day, except for Bank o f
Eastern O regon, w hich will be
open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and
M orrow C ounty C ourthouse
C lerk 's O ffice, w hich will be
open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
G u e s t s p e a k e r , B ill
Evans will give a talk entitled
“ D on’t Panic Today, Wait Until
Tomorrow.”
A w ards w ill a lso be
given out, during the evening, in
various categories.
T h o s e in te r e s te d in
attending can purchase tickets at:
B a n k o f E a s te r n O r e g o n ,
H eppner and lone branches;
M urray Drugs; K lam ath First;
and the Cham ber o f Commerce.
OSU Extension
Service to be
closed for holiday
T h e O S U E x te n sio n
Service office will be closed
Monday, Jan. 20, for the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Holiday.
Students that helped with the HHS coat drive: (hack l-r): Ashley Ward, Lacey Davis. Blake Allstott. Marcy Miller
and Madison Bailey, (front l-r): Luke Murray, Chuy Elguezahal. Brad Adams, Josh Lankford, Brian llagiiewood.
Tyler Henderson and Matt Kenny. Not pictured are Lacey Matteson, C'hantea Macaulay, Nicole Wilson, Courtney
Nelson, Donald Adams, Tony Haguewood and Billy Cates (an IHS student)
H eppner High School
students held their original coat
d riv e for the N e ig h b o rh o o d
C e n te r on Ja n . 5, b u t th ey
w anted to offer the com m unity
o n e m o re c h a n c e to h e lp
contribute.
If you w o u ld like to
d o n ate any ja c k e ts or o th er
w inter clothes, call the HHS at
676-9138 and leave your street
address. Students will be sent out
Ja n . 2 1 -2 4 to p ic k up an y
donations called in.
So far the students have
brought in over 275 coats along
with num erous other clothing
items. They have also gathered
$ 195 in donation m oney for the
C e n te r to p u r c h a s e o th e r
miscellaneous items that might be
needed for th o se the C en ter
helps.
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