FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 23, 2005
View from the hill
Superintendent proposes
district reorganization
continued from fwge one
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continued from page one
The lone High School choir also performed for residents. (L-R): Kasie Peterson, Barbara Holland,
Kim Morris, Ashly Grams and Kry stal Temple.
continued from page one
working there because of the
in teractio n w ith people
After they sold the store, her
interest in people continued
to draw her to retail work.
She w orked at M urrays’
D ru g sto re
and
later
managed the La Bushe Dress
Shop for Virginia Whittaker
“ I really enjoyed working
with people,” Quackenbush
remembers
Q u a c k e n b u s h ’s
apartment offers stunning
evidence o f another interest
and talent she continues to
enjoy: art This artist has
given away many paintings
and has painted at least 14
crosscut saws and several
c irc u lar saw s. She has
painted on glass, which is
especially difficult because
the painting is accomplished
on the back o f the glass;
therefore, painted in reverse
o f the final im age Tole
pain tin g , ceram ics and
q uilting
round
out
Q u a c k e n b u sh ’s
m u lti­
talented background and she
and Phyllis still occasionally
work on projects together
Q u a c k e n b u s h ’s
birthday celebration will
usher in the month o f March,
which is already beginning to
fill w ith a c tiv itie s The
T errace is planning a
pinochle
party
for
Wednesday, March 2, from
1:30-4:30 p m Readers of
this column are encouraged
to consider this an open
in v itatio n to jo in the
residents for an afternoon of
good com pany, cards,
snacks and prizes Interested
players are asked to contact
G eorge at 676-0004 to
RSVP
A lso in M arch,
residents will be treated to
Mary Kay facials offered by
a gro u p o f high school
youth, and the “Has Been
Wanna Be’s” will entertain
musically on St Patrick’s
Day. Some residents will be
taking in the Wee Bit O ’
Ireland C elebration from
Thursday, March 17 through
Sunday, March 20.
Residents Lowell Gribhle and Irene Swanson enjoy Valentines.
The 15 residents o f
Willow Creek Terrace are
looking
for
an o th er
neighbor, as one apartment
is available One resident
suggested that a w anted
poster for a new resident
m ight read , “ W anted: a
Letters to the Editor
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not publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone num­
ber on all letters for use by the G-T office. The G-T reserves the right to edit.
The G-T is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. (Any
letters expressing thanks w ill be placed in the classifieds under “Card of
Thanks"at a cost of $7.)
Heppner man regrets city’s decision
to remove trees
one council member told me
To the Editor:
A long tim e ago
there was this businessman,
one o f his sayings was- bad
day at black rock.
Well I had my bad
day last Wednesday, Feb 9.
When I returned home, here
was all this carnage on city
property, now there is no
more trees or lilacs.
Why you ask Well
there is this complainer who
would go to city council
m eetings and com plain
about not being able to see
The county would drive
through and look and at the
next meeting they would
report no problem
So
com e
next
month, low and behold, she
w ould com e back and
complain again and again.
Estate
By DAVID SYKES
REALTOR
SELL THE HOME YOURSELF?
I'm sure y o u 'v e heard it
said: “ Why should I sell my
home through a REALTOR'’ I
can sell it m yself and save a lot
o f money." Right'’ Wrong!
This kind o f thinking usually
turns out to be financially un­
w ise The prospects w ill usu­
ally start by mentally deduct­
ing the commission and then
start negotiating from there On
average, a homeowner saves
little or no money when he sells
his own home In fact, the op­
posite is often true A lot o f time
is wasted showing homes to
unqualified curiosity seekers
and many possible sales ^re
lost because the owner could
not financially structure a via-
blc sale in today's fast-chang­
ing money market
As a private seller, you're
at a great disadvantage in the
intricate areas o f financing,
n eg o tia tin g and protecting
yourself from all sorts o f do-
it-yourself pitfalls. You've got
a lot invested in your home It
makes sense to list it with a
REALTOR He or she will sell
it for y ou - without hitches - for
the best price in the shortest
amount o f time
they got tired o f her To bad
the city council members
didn’t have the back bone to
stand up to her, this is our
decision the tre e s w ere
brought to town from the
mountains Also there was a
weeping willow and a crab
apple planted in memory of
my dad and Bill Rawlins, a
d ev o ted
garden
club
member, so much for my
dad’s memory. So much for
beautifying Heppner
I im plore you to
contact your city manager,
council, city foreman, for the
overkill
My dead old mother
had a bad heart and if she
would have witnessed the
carnage on city property and
that would have done her in
One other thing, she
took away the flowers on the
corner and now the trees,
what is next9
(s) Tom Gonty
Heppner
We Print
Business Cards
Heppner G azette
Bank o f
We’re Turning 60!
Come by, add up the math, and join us in the Celebration!
Great Customers plus Great Products plus Great Service
equals
Bank of Eastern Oregon
180 W Baltimore «5
Heppner, OR 97836
WuiageJfandCb.
REALTOR
IB
541 - 676-9228
Past Rea! Estate columns and property listings
are available at htw , heppner. net/heritage
\
mature adult looking for a
secure home, good food,
good care and o p tio n s.”
That view o f life at the
Terrace seems to be shared
by many o f the residents.
Interested persons should
visit the facility or call 676-
0004
district decided to terminate
the alternative education
contract with the troubled
U nion B aker ESD and
operate its own alternative
ed program
-learn ed th a t the
filing deadline for the next
election is March 17, with
th re e board p o sitio n s,
cu rren tly held by B erto
Hernandez, Barney Lindsay
and Bill K uhn, and all
C om m unity E d u c a tio n
Committee positions up for
election
-heard a report from
stu d en t John C ain and
teacher Dave Fow ler on
partnering technology with
math and science through a
GIS (global inform ation
system) and GPS (global
positioning system) project,
which was funded through a
4 -H /sch o o l p a rtn e rsh ip
grant.
-briefly discussed a
statewide salary schedule,
which some board members
say may benefit the district,
and statew id e health
coverage.
-discussed mandates
that may come down from
the state which would install
tougher nutrition policies to
reduce the “high fat, high
sugar” content o f school
lunches, re q u ire daily
physical education and ban
school vending machines to
reduce the trend tow ard
childhood obesity. Renfro
said th at th e p ro p o sed
requirements could result in
a “drastic change in food
service as well as the PE
program .” Board member
Bill K uhn,
h ow ever,
com m ented
th a t
the
currently proposed $5 billion
statewide budget would not
allow fo r funding o f
ad d itio n al
m andates.
However, changes could still
be required, whether schools
receive additional funding or
not.
-learn ed th at the
d istric t
o ffice
is
contemplating changing to
an
e lec tro n ic
board
information packet, which
would be e-mailed to board
members, rather than the
paper packet that is currently
sent through the mail Once
the board members receive
the electronic packet, they
could burn the information
to a CD At board meetings,
the electronic method would
require one laptop computer
which would project the
information onto a screen
Burrows said that there are
som e co n cern s about
confidentiality, that may be
reso lv ed after fu rth e r
ex am in atio n
B oard
secretary Julie Ashbeck said
that the electronic method
could save time as well as
around $4,800 a year in costs
for copying and mailing the
p ack ets The elec tro n ic
program would cost around
$2,000, she said.
-discussed the latest
estim ates o f state school
funding, ranging from the
governor’s proposal o f $5
billion to a senate proposal
o f $5.2 billion MCSD Board
m em bers u n an im o u sly
approved a recommendation
to state legislators that they
pass a $5.3 billion school
b u d g et. The g o v e rn o r’s
reco m m en d atio n o f $5
billion is an increase over the
p re v io u s y e a r’s school
budget, however statewide
sch o o l ex p en ses have
increased and would exceed
that amount unless cuts are
made.
-reappointed Renfro
to the U m atilla-M orrow
ESD budget co m m ittee
Renfro commented that a
MCSD connection to the
ESD is im p o rtan t since
M orrow County taxpayers
pay around $5 7 0 ,0 0 0 in
taxes to the ESD Renfro has
been on the committee for
three years
-a p p ro v e d
an
easement requested by the
city o f Heppner so that the
city could improve the city’s
w a ter system H ep p n er
E lem entary/H igh School
Principal Wade Smith told
the board that the easement
would involve minor work
on school property near the
elementary school and added
that the city agreed that they
‘w ould not w ork on the
improvement when school is
in session. H ow ever, he
added that if the project
indeed goes ahead, it would
involve the school’s loading
zone
- d i s c u s s e d
negotiations betw een the
city o f Irrigon and the district
concerning the old school
building which is currently
used as Irrigon City Hall.
N eith er the city n o r the
district wants the building,
which is considered to be a
liability. If the building is not
used for three years, it will
revert back to the school
district. Kuhn and Matlack
w ere ap p o in ted to the
committee to negotiate with
the city, however, Kuhn,
w ho is an atto rn ey ,
represents the city o f Irrigon
and Matlack is on the Irrigon
City Council. Board member
P a f M cN am ee w as also
appointed to the committee
and Lindsay was selected as
an alternate
-agreed to approve
the request for a leave o f
absence without a loss o f
seniority for a Heppner math
teacher who may receive
orders to report for active
duty. The board, with the
ex ce p tio n o f K uhn and
R enfro, ap p ro v ed the
request if the teacher does
receive orders
- a p p r o v e d
attendance variances for
students whose parents plan
to move out o f the MCSD
- a p p r o v e d
em ploym ent for: Rachel
Reyes, ACH English as a
second
lan g u ag e
ed
assistan t; M att C om be,
M orrow Education Center
Join us in our anniversary celebration by stopping by during branch hours in
February and register to win one of three great prizes!
M em ber FDIC
a lte rn a tiv e
ed u ca tio n
c o o rd in a to r;
F o rrest
McKinnis, MEC alternative
ed teacher; Donna Maben,
MEC ed assistant; Susie
Lemmon, MEC ed assistant;
Tiffanie Greenup, MEC ed
assistant; Debbie Royer, Sam
Boardman Elementary Title
I teacher; Darrin Skaggs,
HHS special education one-
on-one assistant; Christina
H eiple, SBE T itle I ed
assistant, replacing Kelly
M cD an iel;
Jen n ifer
L eig h to n , W indy R iver
E lem en tary
ESL
ed
assistant, replacing Shannon
Muir.
- a p p r o v e d
retirement for: Jerry Bair,
Riverside High School head
custodian, retiring March 31;
Pat F u rg erso n , Irrigon
Elem entary School sixth
grade teacher, as o f June 10.
-approved extra duty
resignations for: Maryanne
A nthony, from Irrig o n
Junior/Senior High School
cheerleading coach; Molly
Rhea, from Heppner High
School assistant volleyball
coach.
- a p p r o v e d
resignations from: Susan
M o relli,
B oardm an
C om m unity E d u c a tio n
Committee position #2 and
R ichard
R ockw ell,
Boardman CEC position #3.
- a p p r o v e d
appointm ent for: Jocelyn
Jones, to Boardman CEC
position #2, replacing Susan
Morelli; Alissa Daltoso to
vacant position #5.
-approved Umatilla-
M o rro w ESD 2 005-06
resolution services
-approved the 2003-
04 district audit.
-receiv ed
th e
following enrollment report
as o f Feb 1: ACH (grades
K -4)-341 stu d en ts; IHS
(g rad es 7 -1 0 )- 2 16; HES
(g rad e s K -6 )-1 9 7 ; HHS
(g rad e s 7 -1 2 )- 2 2 1; IES
(g rad e s 5 -6 )-1 1 0 ; RHS
(g rad es 7 -12)-500; SBE
(g rad es K -4)-425; W RE
(grades 5-6)-151; for a total
o f 2228 students district­
wide
-receiv ed
.the
following 2005-06 calendar
options:
-Option A: pre-
L ab o r Day sta rt w ith
teachers beginning Aug. 22,
students beginning Aug. 29,
one-plus weeks at Christmas
with students ending June 2
and teachers ending June 6;
-Option B; p o st-
L ab o r Day sta rt w ith
teachers beginning Aug. 29,
students beginning Sept 6,
one-plus weeks at Christmas
with students ending June 8
and teachers ending June 12;
-Option C: pre-
L ab o r Day sta rt w ith
teachers beginning Aug. 22,
students beginning Aug. 29,
two-plus weeks at Christmas
with students ending June 7
and teachers ending June 9;
-Option D: post-
L ab o r Day start w ith
teachers beginning Aug. 29,
students beginning Sept. 6,
two-plus weeks at Christmas
with students ending June 14
and teachers ending June 16.
-heard the following
announcements President’s
Day holiday, Feb. 21;
Boardman CEC meeting and
Heppner CEC meeting Feb
22; Irrigon CEC meeting
Feb 23; board work session
via Polycom, IHS and HHS,
Feb 24; next regular board
meeting, SBE, March 14, 7
p m ; deadline to file for
open d istric t p o sitio n s,
March 17; Oregon School
Boards Association spring
regional meeting. May 2;
spring election. May 17
-held an executive
sessio n d ealin g w ith an
expulsion report, a personnel
issue
and
a tto rn e y
communication