School district receives nearly $500 thousand
more than anticipated from state school fund
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper
University o f Oregon
F.ugene. OR 97403
V an
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 124
NO. 27
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 6,2005
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
The Morrow County
School Board learned, at a
m eetin g that had been
rescheduled to June 28 due
to lack of quorum, that the
school district has received
$ 4 5 7 ,5 3 0
m ore
than
anticipated from the state
school fund. The amount
was based on the number of
students attending Morrow
County Schools. According
to business manager/deputy
clerk, Rhonda Lorenz, the
district has already caught up
in student numbers following
the secession of lone.
Lorenz also reported
that the district will save
$814,000 by refinancing the
district’s 2001 construction
bond over the life of the bond
(2028). Savings during the
first year amount to around
$36,000-$37,000, she said.
Also at the meeting,
C raig M iles was elected
board c h air and B arney
Lindsay, board vice chair.
N ew ly -elec te d
board
member Nancy Vander Does
was sworn in, as were board
members Lindsay, Bill Kuhn
and Berto Hernandez.
S u p e rin te n d e n t
Mark Burrows reported that
adding four new classrooms
at Windy River Elementary
School
w ould
cost
approxim ately $449,000.
The district is not planning
to have the classrooms open
until 2006-07
lo n e Celebrates the Red, W hite and Blue
Fourth of July weekend
Burrows also said
that the W est E xtension
Irrigation has laid pipe to
Irrigon Elementary School
and that the Port of Morrow
has ag reed to pro v id e
manpower to dig a 1,600-
foot trench for the Irrigon
E lem en tary
sew er
connection. Burrows said
that thanks to the Port, the
cost of the project has “gone
down substantially.” He said
the Port has offered to put
in a septic tank if the sewer
is not yet connected.
In other business, the
board:
-learn ed th at the
Boardman urban renewal
plan was not approved. The
plan would have cost the
district and other taxing
entities a loss of tax revenue.
-will split fees with
the city o f Irrigon for a
report on recommendations
as to what to do with the old
Irrigon City Hall.
-heard a junior high
school
acc o u n ta b ility
p resen ta tio n
from
administrator Dirk Dirksen
w hich w ould require
sum m er
school
and
rem ediation for students
who have not passed one to
three core classes and would
require those students to
repeat a grade if they do not
pass the sum m er school
class. It would also require
students to repeat a grade if
they do not pass four core
classes.
-approved the first
reading for an honors
diploma policy which would
req u ire 26 c red its w ith
honors courses and a 3.25
m inim um grade point
average until June, 2007; and
a 3.5 minimum grade point
average or a 3.25 gpa with
an 1100 SAT or 23 ACT
score after June 2007.
-ap p ro v ed
a
resolution which supports a
change in the w ay the
O regon School B oards
A sso ciatio n
co n d u cts
elections to a mail-in ballot.
-accep ted
the
following resignations: John
Renfro, board chairm an,
position #2; Stacy Schaefer,
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School second grade
teacher; Lacey DeLange,
ACH first grade teacher;
Crista Beaty, ACH special
e d u catio n
o n e-o n -o n e
a ssistan t; M aria Aguiar,
Irrigon Elementary School
half-time English as a second
language teacher and half
tim e special ed ucation
teacher, Nomie Stout, IES
food service clerical
a ssistan t; Tom Shear,
Heppner High School art
teacher; Brooke Spencer,
Sam Boardman Elementary
fourth grade teacher; Debbie
R oyer,
W indy
R iver
E lem entary T itle One
teacher; Brandi Orem, SBE
elementary school teacher;
K rissy W aite, SBE ESL
teach er; Lori M onaco,
Irrigon Junior/Senior High
School health teacher; Jack
W alty, R iv ersid e High
School assistant custodian.
- a p p r o v e d
p ro m o tio n s for: C onnie
Rodriguez from two-hour
assistant cook to three-hour
food serv ice clerical
assistant/four-hour assistant
cook; Ellen H endergart,
from Irrigon Elem entary
School fu ll-tim e Title 1
assistant to halt-time Title I
assistan t and half-tim e
library tech.
- a p p r o v e d
employment for: Michelle
Kinley, ACH second grade
teacher; Tara Thomas, ACH
special ed teacher; Tonya
Pomeroy, ACH third grade
teacher; Jim Keyes, IES sixth
grade teacher; Lara Rowe,
IES half-tim e special ed
teacher and half-time ESL
teacher; David Westenskow,
IJSHS language arts teacher;
D anica H arjo, SBE first
grade teach er; E lizab et
Flores, SBE kindergarten
teacher: Brian Jones, WRE
Fifth grade teacher; Brandi
LaLande, SBE kindergarten
teacher; Jennifer Barthoude,
SBE fourth grade teacher;
N icole Fox, SBE ESL
teacher; Eric Keller, IJSH
continued page three
Sagers visit family in Africa
Chuck Nelson of the lone Fourth of July “Blues Cruise” Classic Car Show, drives his Mercedes in the parade Monday.
The car was part of a new category called “work in progress”. For more pictures of the lone Fourth of July celebration
please turn to page 5.
Mediterranean Sage found in Morrow County
For the second time
in as many weeks a new
noxious w eed has been
reported and documented in
Morrow County. Last week
leafy spurge was reported
for the First time in Morrow
County. This week the new
invader is M editerranean
Sage. It is also on the “A”
list of noxious w eeds in
Morrow County and should
be controlled wherever it is
found.
Mediterranean Sage
is an aggressive ornamental
plant n ative
to
the
Mediterranean or northern
A frica. It is an arom atic
biennial, growing 2 to 3 feet
tall. In the first season it
develops a rosette of large
grayish wooly leaves. In the
second season the plant will
pro d u ce m u lti-b ra n ch e d
stems of white or blue-green
wooly leaves. Flowers are
yellowish-white and are 7z”
to 1" long. One plant may
produce thousands of seeds
and spread as the mature
plant forms a tumbleweed.
P a stu re s,
m eadow s,
rangeland and other open
areas are all good targets for
M ed iterran e a n Sage to
invade.
Several methods of
control may be considered
when dealing with this weed.
After the plant flowers but
before it produces seed it can
be cut down and bagged.
M ow ing
is
not
recommended because the
plant will continue to grow
over subsequent years until
it can successfully produce
Harley and Bertha Sager display African art and dress they
brought back from their trip to Rwanda. Their son Kelly
and his wife Laura and children are on a church mission there.
Harley gave a program at the Heppner Chamber of Com
merce last Fiesday about the trip. “People in the United States
don't know how good they have it.” Harley said on the hard
ships the pair witnessed. Harley showed pictures and told
about their travels around Rwanda
seed.
p lease rep o rt them to
Chem ical controls M orrow C ounty Weed
will also take care of this Control at 989-9502.
plant and some biological
controls have been used on
larger infestations in other
areas. Should you find any
S tarting T u e sd a y , J u ly 5th:
M ed iterran ean Sage or
M o n d a y th ro u g h Friday, 7 a.m .-6 p.m .
suspicious looking plants
- MCGG HARVEST HOURS -
a n d S atu rd a y, 7 a.m .-5 p.m .
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
r
v
Morrow County Grain Growers
L e x in g t o n 9 8 9 - 8 2 2 1 * 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 For farm equipment, vied our web site at ww w.m cgg.net
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