M CSB begins search for new
superintendent
The M orrow County
School Board, at its regular
meeting M onday night, hired
the Northwest Leadership firm
to begin the search for a new
superintendent following the
r e s ig n a tio n o f fo rm e r
s u p e r in te n d e n t Dr. J a c k
C rip p e n last W ednesday.
Northwest Leadership, a job-
search com pany o f w hich
Umatilla-Morrow Educational
Service District administrator
George M urdock is a partner,
will begin the search by posting
the position on the Internet.
The Umatilla-Morrow ESD is
p ro v id in g a d m in is tra tiv e
services and Murdock is acting
MCSD superintendent until an
interim superintendent can be
appointed.
M urdock assured the
board that while the search for
a perm anent superintendent
may take some time, locating
an interim should be a fairly
q u ic k p r o c e s s . H e a ls o
stressed the im portance o f
hiring an interim, because, he
said, M C SD is “a large and
com plex school district” and
r e q u ir e s
a
f u ll- tim e
s u p e r in te n d e n t.
B o a rd
m e m b e r K e n M a tla c k
suggested that he and another
board member fill that interim
spot, but Murdock questioned
the legality o f that move. In the
m eantim e, the board agreed
that the building principals
VOL 122
NO. 50
10 Pages Wednesday, December 10,2003
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
would be responsible for their
buildings and the district office
staff for their regular business.
M e a n w h ile ,
at
M atlack’s request, the MCSD
B o a rd s c h e d u le d a w o rk
session for 4 p.m. Wednesday,
D e c . 10, p r io r to th e
scheduled budget meeting, to
w ork on a profile o f qualities
desired in a superintendent.
T he board agreed to a more
h an d s-o n a p p ro ach to the
superintendent search, rather
than relying on a firm or a
comm ittee to select or narrow'
the candidates.
M urdock estim ated
that it w o u ld take several
months to receive applications
back from those interested in
the position.
T he bo ard , a lso at
M atlack’s recom m endation,
discussed expanding the role
Nicky Fritz, of Heppner, dressed as an angel on the Oregon Trail Pathfinders float, which took “Best o f J o e l C h a v e z , w h o is
em ployed with the district as
Community Float.”
The Heppner Light Parade was held on Thursday, Dec. 4. Four winners were chosen a teacher in the English-as-a-
in the following categories: Best Youth Float- G rieb kids; Best C om m unity Float- Oregon second-language program, to
Trail Pathfinders; Best Com m ercial Float- M orrow C ounty G rain G row ers; and People’s coordinator or director o f the
program . C havez also has an
Choice- Reload Ridge Riders (m otorcycle club).
a
d m i n i s t r a t o r ’s lic e n s e .
Each winner received a $ 100 prize.
R iv e r s id e H ig h S c h o o l
Principal Dirk Dirksen told the
board that if Chavez’ role is to
be expanded, another person
w ould have to be hired to fill
his position. The district is in
the process o f hiring additional
te a c h e r s a n d a id e s to
implement a stepped-up ESL
program . The board plans to
schedule a special meeting to
discuss the issue.
T h e b o a rd a ls o
clarified an issue o f stipends
offered to Spanish speaking
educators. The board agreed
that the stipends, a hiring bonus
am ounting to $2,000, would
be paid only to new hires, not
those currently em ployed by
the district.
The board approved
changing the south boundary
o f the Irrigon attendance area
so m ew h at
n o rth
to
H o m e s te a d
R oad
to
acco m m o d ate the L indsay
fam ily w hose children have
Bessie Wetze il ,
U o f 0 Newspaper Library
E u á o a e , OR 9 ( 4 1 3
Light Parade w inners nam ed
traditionally attended Heppner
High School. Marci Buschke
fro m M id C o lu m b ia B us
C om pany told the board that
the current attendance area,
w hich set the no rth -so u th
boundary at the old N elson
Road, provides for alm ost
equal mileage for the buses to
travel— approximately 19-20
miles in either direction. Board
member Bam ey Lindsay said
that his family has traditionally
a tte n d e d s o u th M o rro w
County Schools and added
that Homestead Road is more
logical since it is an actual road
and w ould be a straight east-
w est lin e. C u rre n tly tw o
Lindsay families are the only
o n e s a ff e c te d . M u rd o c k
suggested that the board revisit
the issue because o f a possible
conflict o f interest on Lindsay's
behalf. A second vote was 6-
O to change the attendance
a re a ,
w ith
L in d s a y ’s
abstention.
The board heard from
Riverside High School Study
Body President Esm eralda
L eone, w ho criticized the
board's decision to establish
a high school in Irrigon, saying
that both schools, Riverside
H igh S chool and the new
Irrigon High School, will be
shortchanged in athletics as
well as academ ics. She said
th a t “ d e e p d o w n in s id e
everyone knows” it would be
better if Riverside was not split
and expressed anger that there
w ere not enough gym s to
accom m odate all the school
athletic team s that will result
from the creation o f the new
Irrigon school. W hen she
asked how the b oard w as
going to deal with the problem,
Lindsay responded, “ W e’re
going to do the best we can.”
“That’s exactly what I thought
the answer would be,” Leone
retorted.
Leone also im plied
that a m em ber o f the district
budget committee made a slur
a g a in st H isp a n ic s. L eo n e
alleged that the person said
that L eone’s opinion d id n ’t
m atter because she (Leone)
was “young and confused and
w ill be pregnant in two years”
because “th a t’s w hat those
people (Hispanics) do” .
In other business, the
board:
-h e a rd an e n d -o f-
project report from Nan Hall
o f Heery International. Hall,
w ho has been transferred to
a n o th e r p ro je c t sin c e the
M o rro w C o u n ty b o n d
construction project is w inding
d o w n , laid fau lt o f som e
c o n tin u in g c o n s tr u c tio n
problems to the district and to
contractors or landscapers,
r a th e r
th a n
H e e ry
International, and said that she
h a d r e c e iv e d n u m e ro u s
com plaints, but had not once
b een to ld w h a t b e a u tifu l
buildings the district had.
Lisa M ittle sd o rf o f
B o a rd m a n e x p re s s e d th e
com m unity’s dissatisfaction
concerning the “pond” that
re m a in s at W in d y R iv e r
Elem entary in Boardm an. A
significant amount o f water has
accumulated at the site, which
was designed to serve as a
c a tc h b a s in . H e e ry h a s
repeatedly told the district that
lan d scap ers have said the
pond will not be an issue once
the new grass is established
and excessive w atering is
discontinued, but the problem
still remains.
continued page two
DA moves forward in investigation
M o rro w
C o u n ty
D istrict A ttorney D avid C.
Allen says that his office has
sent re q u e sts for and has
received financial documents
from the H eppner Rural Fire
P r o te c tio n D is tr ic t, th e
H eppner C em etery District,
W illow C reek Country Club
and the Heppner Junior/Senior
High School Booster Club in
c o n n e c tio n
w ith
th e
in v e s tig a tio n o f p o ssib le
d is c r e p a n c ie s
in
th e
bookkeeping for those entities.
A llen said th at he
p la n n e d to m e e t w ith a
forensics investigator with the
white-collar crimes unit o f the
S ta te A tto rn e y G e n e r a l’s
D epartm ent o f Justice and is
m o v in g fo rw ard w ith the
investigation. Allen says he will
c o n tin u e to p ro ceed w ith
prosecution in this matter.
A H eppner w om an,
S o n ja M cC ab e, has been
linked to the case.
Superintendent resigns
4
HJHS students test hot air balloons
Dr. Jack C rippen,
s u p e r in te n d e n t o f th e
M o rro w C o u n ty S ch o o l
D istrict since July 1,2002,
h a s r e s ig n e d fro m th a t
position effective Dec. 3,
2003. The action took place
at a special m eeting o f the
M orrow C o u n ty S ch o o l
Board held in Lexington. The
resignation w as form ally
accepted by the Board.
Dr. Crippen came to
th e p o s itio n fro m th e
Tillam ook School District
w h e re he s e rv e d as the
a ssista n t su p e rin te n d e n t.
Prior to that tim e, he also
served as superintendent in
M onroe and Jordan Valley.
Dr. C rippen has indicated
that he intends to pursue
other opportunities in the
field o f education.
In the m ean tim e,
G e o rg e
M u rd o c k ,
s u p e r in te n d e n t o f th e
Umatilla-Morrow Education
Service District will become
the interim superintendent o f
th e M o rro w C o u n ty
s c h o o ls . M u rd o c k a ls o
serves as superintendent in
lone.
M urdock has been
the superintendent o f the
ESD since July o f 1999.
Prior to that tim e, he spent
six years as superintendent
o f the Pasco School District
in Washington.
At a m eeting held
M onday, the B oard w as
e x p e c te d to c o n s id e r a
variety o f options at that time
including options for short
term le a d e rs h ip fo r th e
district as well as a process
for seeking a perm an en t
replacement.
HJHS students watch as their hot air balloons rise.
Heppner Junior High School students constructed hot air balloons as part o f a unit on
Transportation. Students o f Mr. F o w ler’s period 2 A pplying Technology class have been
waiting several weeks for calm weather to launch their balloons; last Monday morning it finally
happened. While the flight was brief, all four balloons managed to float for several minutes and
land safely on the roof o f the Technology building.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
M O N D A Y S AT 5:00 P.M.
3 0 % O FF A IS L E !
EVERYTHING IN THIS AISLE MUST GO!
S elected M u c \ B m U , U C r a iM O w r ifiM i, C c u U tin f, F e in t ,
a n d M UCH , M UCH MORE! S h op R a tty Far Beat S election !
Morrow County Crain Growers
L e x in g to n 98 9-82 2 1 • 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6
For Hrm equipment. »i»it our web »tte i t w w w .m ca.net
.