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lone School District plans $2 million budget Bea3iiì « e t a a 1 1 U o f J Newspaper L ib r a r y E u¿ana, VO L.122 NO. 35 8 Pages OR 97433 Wednesday, August 27,2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon New school buildings await students New Heppner Elementary School building New lone Elementary School building Two n e w ly b u ilt buildings aw ait students in both lone and H eppner. T he two new building are open and w ill be ready for stu d en ts return on Sept. 2. The new lone building w ill house the elem en tary stu d en ts as w ell as a new for the principal and office gym nasium . A long w ith the staff. new building, a new façade has T he new H eppner b een b u ilt for all o f lone building houses, a music room, sc h o o ls, lab elin g the new c a f e te r ia a n d k itc h e n , Elementary edition, as well as gymnasium and locker rooms. the high school gym. the library The new Heppner building sits and the lone High School, d ir e c tly a c ro s s fro m th e A ls o in c lu d e d in th e currently building which houses newbuilding are office spaces the classroom s and offices. HHS Booster Club to hold Tailgate BBQ T he H eppner H igh fro m 5 :3 0 -7 p .m ., at th e School B ooster C lub will be Fairgrounds. h o ld in g a T a ilg a te B B Q , T h e C lu b w ill b e Friday, Aug. 29, to kick o ff the serving hamburgers, hot dogs. first football g am e o f th e chili, brow nies and drinks, season. The BBQ will be held T h e lo n e S c h o o l District will begin its year with a $2,022,897 total budget, a $177,340 opening balance and a p ro je c te d $ 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 e n d in g fu n d b a la n c e , superintendent and budget officer G eorge M urdock o f the U m atilla-M orrow ESD told the ISD Board at its Aug. 19 m eeting. “T his is a good p o s itio n to be i n ,” s a id Murdock. He said that the ISD b u d g e t a ls o in c lu d e s an $89,107 contingency fund. M u rd o c k a lso to ld th e b o a rd th a t th e y m ay anticipate more funds from the state than previously budgeted because the ISD B oard had built its projected budget on a $4.78 b illio n state school budget and it looked as if the state w ould approve a larger am ount. State legislators did subsequently approve a $5.2 billion school funding budget with the possibility o f additional funding. M u rd o c k sa id th at IS D m a y be a b le to be reim bursed for 80 percent or m ore o f transportation costs, rath er than the 70 percent previously, because o f the district’s isolated rural school status. M u rd o c k sa id th at th e d i s t r i c t h a s a lr e a d y received the first state school funding check via the Morrow C ounty School D istrict and com m ended M C SD for its tim e lin e s s in tra n s fe rrin g m onies over. A ccording to M urdock, state m onies for IS D m u st c o m e th ro u g h M CSD until June 30. In other business, the board: -sc h e d u le d a w o rk session w ith staff, M urdock and ESD representatives to establish a class schedule. -am en d ed an in te r district transfer policy to read that students in the Lexington- Pine C ity area m u st get a fo rm a l r e le a s e fro m th e M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l District to attend school in the ISD. “ I think you need to be in c r e d ib ly c a r e f u l a b o u t policies that may be potentially d isc rim in a to ry ,” M u rd o c k cautioned the board. -authorized the district to accept the M orrow County U nified R ecreation D istrict agreem ent w ith ISD for the 2003-04 school year. -set pay to play fees as follows: $50 for high school and $30 for middle school with a $ 100 m aximum per year for an in d iv id u a l an d a $200 maximum per year for a family. A program to assist students in raising the lunds is available through the Cardinal Booster Club. -set gate receipts as follow s: $3 a d m issio n for adults and $ 1 for students. -established a four- day school c a le n d a r c o m p a rab le to the M C SD calendar w ith a m odification c o n c e r n in g c o n f e r e n c e schedules, as follows: district wide in-service day Aug. 25; in-service days, A ug. 26-27; sta ff w ork day, A ug. 28; no school for students o r staff, Aug. 29; school begins Sept. 2, end o f first nine weeks, Oct. 30; V eteran’s D ay holiday, Nov. 11; early dism issal Nov. 26; Thanksgiving holiday Nov. 27-28; w inter break Dec. 22- Jan.2; school resum es Jan. 5; C ost is $5 per person or $ 18 per family, The H eppner M ustangs football gam e will b e g in a t 7 p .m ., a g a in s t Enterprise. F rid a y 5 :0 0 P.M . T h is w eek Rietmann and Gregg Rietmann as th e IS D b u ild in g a n d grounds committee. -approved plans for developm ent o f a plaza at the s c h o o l d e s ig n e d to be sym bolic o f the re-form ation o f the lone School D istrict. P la n s in c lu d e s e llin g com m em orative bricks as a fu ndraiser and placin g the bricks in the plaza, along with a 100-year old school bell and concrete benches. -learned that M C SD continued page two Utilities Commission gives Little League water for fields The Heppner Utilities a b o u t th e p ro p o s e d n e w Commission agreed last week water system for Heppner. T h e w a te r u p d a te to give the H eppner Little project as originally proposed League 400,000 gallons o f have cost w ater each year to irrigate w o u ld approximately $6 million. Last three fields in Heppner. The Little League has m onth the city council voted two meters to water the fields to put the project on hold and w as concerned the city while it studied a less expensive w ould begin charging them option. It w as proposed that three w ells and a 750,000- under the new pricing plan. U tility com m ission gallon storage tank be cut members said that little league fro m th e p r o je c t a n d could have 200,000 gallons o f concentration turn to putting water for each meter per year. new pipe in the ground. A t last T h u rsd a y ’s A ny w ater usage over the 200,000 gallons w ould be U tilities m eeting a scaled d o w n p ro je c t th a t w o u ld billed to the Little League. In other business the replace all the c ity ’s w ater Utilities C om m ission talked continued page two Health district receives some bad financial news, some good It’s a case o f good n e w s , b a d n e w s fo r th e M o rro w C o u n ty H e a lth District. The district will not receive $200,000 that had been included in the 2003-04 M C H D b u d g e t fro m th e state-adm inistered Pro Share program , due to a state error as to how the state calculated th e f u n d s , M C H D C E O V ictor Vander D oes told the board at their M onday night meeting in Heppner. Through th e p r o g r a m , th e s ta te adm inistered federal funds and distributed a portion o f th o s e f u n d s to h o s p ita l districts. The state, however, had used some o f the fluids for program s other than health c a re a n d th e f e d e r a l g o v e rn m e n t d isp u te d the sta te ’s calculations. Vander D oes said th at he d o e sn ’t anticipate receiving any more m onies from the program w hich could have had two or th r e e y e a rs o f fu n d in g remaining. In b e tte r n e w s , Vander D oes told the board that a state surtax will Increase M edicaid reim bursem ent for n u r s in g h o m e p a tie n ts . Pioneer M em orial N ursing Home currently is reimbursed for M edicaid patients at a rate o f $111 per day. A n $8 per day, per resident surtax that the state w ill use to lev e rag e federal monies will increase the r e im b u r s e m e n t r a te fo r PM N H to $136 per day. The increase will be effective as o f July 1 o f this year. The district is also in the process o f renegotiating the interest rate on their bonds from 6.3 to 5 percent, w hich could save the district $ 13,000 per year. The renegotiation could cost the district $ 10,000 initially, however. In other business, the board: -heard a report from Vander D oes on a C ritical A ccess H ospital conference he attended in W ashington, D.C., at no cost to the district. continued page two News deadline this Friday The H eppner Gazette-Tim es will be closed M onday, Sept. 1, for Labor Day. T he dead lin e for the Wednesday, Sept. 3 paper will be Friday, Aug. 29, at 5 p.m. The office will re-open at its regular tim e, Tuesday, Sept. 2. Fair m ay change 2004 dates, com m ents w anted The M orrow County F a ir is in te re ste d in y o u r opinion. They are considering starting the Fair on M onday n e x t y e a r, in s te a d o f W ednesday. T he reason is traffic problem s that develop over the w eekend due to the fair and rodeo both happening at the same time. D uring the w eek o f fair, a q u e s tio n n a ire w as available for people to fill out a n d o f f e r s u g g e s tio n s , h o w e v e r, v e ry few w e re turned in. O n S ep t. 8, 2 0 0 3 , there will be a public meeting at 8:30 p.m., following the Fair Board meeting, if you want to speak your mind, please attend the m eeting. T here will be people from the Fair, O T PR and 4-H available to talk to. B IG S A L E on HIC 8KV OVERHEAD GUN RACKS M odel BSR-2: Reg. $59.95 SALE $49.95 M odel SBR-2G: Reg $77.00 SALE $65.95 ovvrnvMHionzotuii Miouni j ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: en d o f se m e ste r, Jan. 15; M artin L uther King holiday Ja n . 19; P r e s id e n t’s D ay holiday Feb. 16; spring break M arch 22-26; end o f third nine weeks, April 1 ; Memorial D ay holiday M ay 31; lone High School graduation June 4, 7 p.m .; end o f fourth nine w eeks, last day o f school for students June 9. -approved application with Oregon School Athletics Association for a cooperative sponsorship for the softball program. -ap p ro v e d John Sale good through Saturday, Sept. 6 Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 f»nti w»tt w ,*• « wwwmcamt
