Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2003)
School board says no to Heppner, lone school consolidation Bessie .¿e t a e l I U of 0 We*3pa er -!■- Eugeae, OR VOL. 122 NO. 7 10 Pages 9/103 Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lone community to meet to decide secession issue I t ’s n o t j u s t a b o u t co n so lid a tio n -it’s about self- determination. Although Monday night the Morrow County School Board, by lack o f a m otion, let stand an earlier decision against consolidation o f H eppner and lo n e S c h o o ls , th e lo n e community is still going forward with plans to w ithdraw from the district. A m eeting to discuss secession w as set for T uesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the lone School with organizers planning to collect signatures on petitions advocating withdrawal from the district. O r g a n iz e r J e rr y R ietm ann, lone, m aintains that decisions about the lone School should be m ade w ithin the lone community and feels certain that lone families will be better off with their own school district. “We will lose our town, if we don’t have a school,” said R ietm ann, who adds that a good school is crucial to draw ing new’ business to the area, especially a proposed new w indmill project and retaining the businesses already in existence. “ W e h a d a c e r ta in amount o f security— lone passes levies,” said R ietm ann. They always needed lone to pass their City of Heppner receives new water fountain Craig Canham (left) and Roger Ehrmantraut work on installing a new water fountain at the corner of Main and Willow in Heppner. The fountain was donated to the city by the St. Patrick's Committee in memory of the Irish settlers in Morrow County. The fountain will be dedicated St. Pat’s weekend, Friday, March 14. levy.” “We’re wanting to leave on the basis that it doesn’t work any m ore. M aybe we d o n ’t need a county school district any more, he added.” Prior to M easure 5, voters in school districts passed levies to provide operating funds for schools and lone, with its high voter turnout, consistently passed school levies. Since the passage o f M easu re 5 and o th e r tax measures, schools are funded by th e s ta te a n d fu n d in g is determ ined through a com plex formula factoring in the number o f students attending the schools, w ith a d d itio n a l m o n ie s fo r E nglish-as-a-second language s tu d e n ts , sp e c ia l e d u c a tio n students, pregnant and parenting students, small rural schools and other factors. Rietmann stresses that if lone, w ith approxim ately 7.2 p e rc e n t o f M o rro w C o u n ty s tu d e n ts , s e c e d e s fro m th e district, only a proportionate am ount o f funding will follow them-approximately 7.3 percent o f the M orrow County tax base. As a part o f the M orrow County S c h o o l D is tr ic t, lo n e a n d H eppner schools have o f late e n d u re d b a re - to - th e b o n e s staffing and curriculum cuts, following the district’s policy o f “equity” in which schools operate on approximately the amount o f state funding they receive The issue o f consolidation o f Heppner and lone schools arose a s a r e s u lt o f a H e p p n e r com m unity m eeting to arrive at solutions to the equity cuts, but the H eppner com m unity now says it does not recom m end consolidation o f the two schools. Rietm ann says that if the lone community decides to w ithdraw, lone schools would end up with basically the same curriculum as they have now. Rietmann says that if lone secedes from the district, the school buildings will revert to the new district, as will buildings currently under construction. School bonds will also continue as previously, he says. R ietm ann says that a law yer has been retained and consultants have been hired to continued page 2 ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. % T h e re w ill be no consolidation for H eppner and lone schools for the 2003-2004 year. M orrow County School Board Chair Julie Weikel told a crow d o f around 100 people, mostly from lone, at the M CSD Board meeting Monday night in Boardm an. The board did not entertain any m otions on the consolidation issue for Heppner and lone schools, thereby letting stand an earlier resolution that s a id th e b o a rd w o u ld n o t consider consolidation, "at least fo r n o w ” . A d e c is io n to co n so lid a te had to be m ade M o n d a y n ig h t in o r d e r to im p le m e n t c h a n g e s fo r the upcom ing year, so the issue is m oot at least for a year. A t th e m e e tin g , Jo e M cElligott from lone and Mark Rietm ann and Jay G ibbs from Heppner presented reports from their respective com m unities, saying Heppner and lone accept the "equity” cuts proposed by the board and presented ways their respective communities hope to have the cuts implemented. The b o ard ’s idea o f “equity” is that each school’s expenditures be restricted to the am ount o f state funds it receives. Schools are funded by the state in a complex form ula, w hich includes the num ber o f students who attend, w ith a d d itio n a l m o n ie s for English-as-a-second-language s tu d e n ts , sp e c ia l e d u c a tio n students, pregnant and parenting students, small rural schools and other factors. During deliberations on the consolidation issue, board m e m b e r J o h n R e n fro w as interrupted by an angry M ark Rietm ann, m em ber and former c h a ir o f H ep p n er-L ex in g to n A d v iso ry C o m m itte e , w hen R enfro said that the H eppner com m unity had indicated they w ere in favor o f consolidation. Rietmann yelled, “The Heppner community does not recommend consolidation,” before being told by W eikel that he was out o f order. B oard m em b er Larry M ills, Heppner, reiterated for R ie tm a n n th a t th e H ep p n e r com m unity was not in favor o f consolidation and told the board and audience that the b oard’s earlier decision should stand. “As far as I’m concerned, the issue is settled. I personally d o n 't want to revisit it,” said Mills. B o ard m em b er G ary Frederickson indicated that he favored consolidation at least temporarily because o f the more varied curriculum offered by the larger schools, even if it came to s e n d in g lo n e s tu d e n ts to H eppner or even to Riverside High School. “ It’s very easy to see the educational benefit for students. As a board we have a c h a rg e to lo o k at th e b e s t educational opportunities for students,” said Frederickson. “ I think it's a tragedy that we can’t haul those students to H eppner. . .and if we need to, bus those students to R iv erside.” That s ta te m e n t p ro m p te d b o a rd member John Rietmann to jum p in the fray, saying that the lone parents should be the ju d g e o f what is best for their children and sought self-determ ination for communities facing the prospect o f consolidation. “ The idea o f w hat is best for the students is th e is s u e ,” c o u n te re d Jo h n Rietm ann, w ho added that now the equity cuts have been made in south county schools, “one a re a is not d e tra c tin g from another.” He said he felt that the lo n e S c h o o l a f te r c u ts is "operational” and suggested that the schools “ operate w ith the cuts, do the best you can and wait for parents in the community to m ake the decision.” Board m em ber Burke O 'B rien, Heppner, concurred in letting the earlier decision stand. b u t a d d e d th a t th e lo n e community may “do just as well” if they withdrew from the district. “ 1 believe parents in lone are intelligent enough to see if their kids are suffering,” said O ’Brien, to applause. W eikel and board m em ber Pat M cN am ee did not offer comments on the issue. The lone co m m u n ity planned a m eeting for Tuesday night to determ ine w hether to initiate procedures for the lone S c h o o ls to seced e from the Morrow County School District. In other business, the board: -heard a report about the I rr ig o n s c h o o l b u ild in g groundw ater issue from Nan Hall o f Heary International. Hall said that $ 172,00 has been spent to s o lv e th e p ro b le m of groundw ater at the Irrigon site and she expects around another $ 100,000 to be spent, out o f a $404,000 budget. -discussed coordinating the bell schedule for lone High School, H eppner High School and Riverside High School so that it would be easier to implement V-tel classes among the schools. Heppner and lone high schools begin at 8 a.m., but R iverside begins at 7:30 a.m. to coordinate busing at RHS, Columbia Middle S c h o o l a n d th e n o rth e n d elementary schools. The issue will be investigated further, along with p o lic ie s a n d p r o c e d u r e s c o n c e r n in g V -tel, d is ta n c e learning, “cyberschools” (internet classes) and who, the student or the district, w ill pay for the classes. -discussed sale o f the d i s t r i c t ’s L e a rn in g C e n te r B uilding in Irrigon to Union- B aker ESD , w hich provides alternative school in that building. The building has an assessed valuation o f $320,000, but an appraisal will be required before a sale can take place. -h eard fro m Superintendent Dr. Jack Crippen on the state funding estimates for 2 0 0 3 - 0 4 , w h ic h a re n o t encouraging. - le a r n e d fro m Dr. C rip p en that RHS Principal D uane Yecha will becom e the directo r o f program s, a new p o sitio n . D irk D irk sen w ill becom e the new RHS principal and Bill DeBoard will continue serv ing as vice-principal, dividing his time between RHS and CMS. The upcoming retirement o f Sam Boardman Elementary Principal S u san T o lar w ill leave one administrative position open. -heard a request from the City o f Lexington to acquire the MCSD Lexington District Office Building to use as Lexington City Hall, for office space, a park, storage space and other uses and declared the building as surplus property. -learned o f upcom ing cuts and possible m ergers o f ESDs due to budget restraints. -d iscu ssed upcom ing negotiations for certified and administrativ e employees, w hose contracts expire June 30 o f this year, and classified employees, whose contract expires J une 30, 2004. -received tw o options for the 2003-04 school calendar, both o f w hich begin after Labor Day. Option A calls for a Sept. 2 student start date, a tw o week Christmas break from December 22-January 4, a M arch 22-26 sp rin g break and a June 10 student end date, w ith the lone graduation on June 4, Heppner g r a d u a tio n on Ju n e 5 a n d Riverside graduation on June 6. O ption B calls for a Sept. 2 student start date, a one-w eek- plus C h ristm a s b reak from D e c e m b e r 2 4 -Ja n u a ry 4, a M arch 22-26 spring break and a June 8 student end date, with graduation dates the same. -accepted resignations from: Fred M onaco, from his adv anced math teaching position at HHS (the math position will be tau g h t by Jean n ie C o llin s); M a riz a F o n s e c a , from her p o sitio n as Sam B oardm an Elementary School English as a second language ed assistant; Alice Flanagan, from her position as A.C. Houghton Elementary School one-on-one special ed assistant; Pedro Torres, RHS head boys’ soccer coach. -accepted retirem ents from: Les Payne, HHS teacher; Jo h n n a S h im p -Jo n e s, ACH te a c h in g p o s itio n ; J o y c e Gordanier, ACH head cook. -approved employment for Kelly McDaniel, SBE ESL ed a s sis ta n t, re p la c in g M ariza Fonseca. -a p p r o v e d in te rim agreem ents from: Les Payne to finish the 2002-03 school year from M arch 1-June 13; from Johnna Shimp-Jones to finish the 2002-03 year from January 6- June 13; from Joyce Gordanier to finish the 2002-03 school year. -learned from Heppner Schools Principal Wade Smith that the H eppner Elem entary Knowledge Master team finished second out o f elementary schools in the state and 69,h out o f more than 300 schools com peting nation-wide. - a c c e p te d a $ 2 5 0 d o n a tio n from the B ank o f E astern O regon to the Sam Boardm an Elem entary School Accelerated Reader program. -h eard the fo llow ing announcem ents: policy rewrite and re v is io n w o rk sh o p s at Riverside High School at 1 p.m., Feb. 12, 8 a.m ., Feb. 13 and, if necessary, through V-tel at 8:30 a.m ., on Feb. 19; next board m eeting, M onday, M arch 10, lone School, 7:30 p.m.; deadline for filing for elected positions, M arch 20. Les Schwab has new manager K e ith H e rb is o n h a s ta k e n o v e r th e p o s itio n o f m anager at the Les Schw ab in H eppner, as form er m anager Glenn Bridgmon and family was transferred to the Tri-Cities. Herbison, 39, com es to Heppner from Springfield where he has lived for the last six years, w ith w ife Rica and children Brittney, 15 and Brock, 11. Rica, Brittney and Brock will move to H eppner after the school year has finished. Herbison has also w orked w ith Les S chw ab in LaGrande. Before getting involved w ith the Les Schw ab business, Herbison worked for 11 years in the logging industry helping to run a tw o -m a n , o w n e r/o p e ra to r business. Rica w orks with t h e Springfield School D is tric t in t h e i r insurance department. Brittney is a high school freshman Keith Herbison a c t i v e in cheerleading and volleyball. Brock is a sixth grader and enjoys baseball and BMX tiding. H e r b i s o n , w h o wa s raised in Baker, enjoys hunting and fishing and loves being able to come back closer to the area. “ It's like c omi ng hom e,” he commented. You Are Invited To Attend Our CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PAY Saturday, February 1 Sth Polaris Factory Reps will be there! Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 f * m* ******* n men
