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
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