Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2006)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 18,2006 - SEVEN School board approves six-classroom addition to Windy River Elementary continued from page one -heard from district while it shows some growth, principals as to how they is not gro w in g at deal w ith h a ra ssm e n t Boardman’s rate. com plaints, bullying and Also at the meeting, retaliation at the schools. the board u n an im o u sly Heppner High/Junior High approved salary increases for School Principal Daye Stone c o n fid e n tia l em p lo y ees. said that he may receive one D istric t C onfidential com plaint a month while em ployees will receive a Irrigon H igh/Junior High three-percent increase for S ch o o l P rin cip al Ron the first year, two percent for Anthony said he may receive the second year and tw o one a week and perhaps a percent for the third year. serious one once a semester. The board also implemented The principals said that often five steps in the confidential a parent may complain of an salary sch e d u le . T h e ir incid en t, rath er than the sch ed u le had no step s stu d e n t. T hey said that previously. All confidential so m etim es stu d en ts, employees will be placed on especially younger ones, step one. The district also may not be always be aware shortened the confidential th at th e ir b e h a v io r is contract by 10 days to 250 offensive. They said that days per year. resolution of issues ranges For the first y ear,’ from talking to the students, 2 0 0 6 -0 7 , w ith a th re e - com m unicating with their percent increase, the district p a re n ts, re q u irin g an food service director will apology, suspension and, if earn $35,847 at step one, the issue is not able to be w hich w ill in c re ase to resolved, expulsion. $38,802 by step five; an -le a rn e d th at the administrative assistant will d is tr ic t’s c o m p la in t start out at $26,233 at step procedure will be available one, which will increase to in both English and Spanish $28,395 at step five; a fiscal at each school, a school services specialist will start employee will be trained in out at $34,343 at step one a ss is tin g p eo p le w ith to $37,174 at step five; and complaints, information will a student services technician be available via school and will start out at $30,300 at district newsletters and a link step one to $32,797 at step to the complaint policy will five. be placed on the district’s The next year, 2007- web page. OS, w ith a tw o -p e rc en t -h eard from increase, classified salaries Burrows that the district’s will be increased to; food complaint procedure will be service d irecto r-$ 3 6 ,5 6 4 available in both English and step one to $39,578 step Spanish at each school, a five; administrative assistant- school em ployee will be $26,747 step one to $28,963 trained in assisting people step five; fiscal services with complaints, information specialist $35,030 step one will be available via school to $37,917 step five; student and district newsletters and services technician $30,906 a link to the complaint policy step one to $33,453 step w ill be p laced on the five. district’s web page. In the 2 0 0 8 -0 9 -approved a revision schedule, with a two-percent on the district’s discipline, increase, confidential salaries suspension and expulsion are as follows: food services policy , “G ro u n d s for director-$37,295 step one to D is c ip lin e /S u s p e n s io n / $ 4 0 ,3 7 0 step five; Expulsion,” which would ad m in istrativ e assistan t- ex p an d the d is tr ic t’s $27,292 step one to $29,542 au th o rity w ith regard to step five; fiscal services s tu d e n ts ’ o ff-cam p u s specialist-$35,730 step one b eh av io r. S tudent to $38,675; student services prohibitions will now include technician-$31,524 step one “ O ff cam pus m isconduct to $34,122 step five. that disrupts educational Som e of the p ro cess or th re a ten s the confidential staff work under safety and welfare o f the two job classifications, so student body.” their increases will be based -h eard a req u est on the percentage of time from board m em ber Ken they spend working in each. M atlack, who is also the The confidential staff Morrow County Sheriff, to currently has no cap on their m eet w ith the d istric t in su ra n ce b e n e fits. The a tto rn e y and ju v e n ile district pays full medical, department to request that dental, vision, life and long ju v e n ile in fo rm atio n be term disability insurance for allowed to be discussed with confidential employees. The or forwarded to the principal district also picks up the six of the affected school when percent PERS contribution a student has been arrested for those employees. for a crime that may impact B u r r o w s school safety. recommended the increases -recognized and c o m p lem en ted the R iv e rsid e H igh School confidential staff, saying they language arts teacher Lea w ere “ loyal and hard M ath ieu on ach ie v in g working” and were generally national board certification, u n d er c o m p en sa ted in a very d istin g u ish e d c o m p ariso n to th o se in achievement. Mathieu will sim ila r jo b s in nearby take a year's sabbatical to districts. teach in Mexico but will then In other business, the re tu rn to h er teach in g board: position at RHS. -le a rn e d from -re c o g n iz e d the Burrows that the district’s sch o o l board w ith g ift English Language Learner certificates and cake for their program has been audited work and dedication to a and has re c eiv e d d iffic u lt jo b w ith o u t commendations. “ It was a compensation. really good rep o rt,” said - e x p r e s s e d Burrows, who added that appreciation to the Morrow data was com piled from County Health District for p arent in te rv ie w s. He paying for defibrillators for credited ELL director Joel each of the district’s high Chavez for his “hard work schools. and d e d ic a tio n ” in the -h e a rd from success of the program. One Burrows about an Oregon suggested correction to the School Boards Association program was to develop a project, which would entail program for advanced ELL a series of public meetings students as well as for those planned in all communities with more rudimentary skills throughout the district in late WINDY RIVER ELEMENTARY 500 TATONE STREET BOA ROMAN OR 97818 C u rre n t floor plan at W indy R iver Elem entary, which February or early March. fo r L isa K onecny from Burrows asked the board to special ed assistant to ESL develop questions for the a ssistan t, rep lacin g Noe meetings. Melendez. -le a rn e d that the - a p p r o v e d Irrigon Booster Club and e m p lo y m en t fo r D arron community raised over $800 T ro w b rid g e , B oardm an for the Umatilla coach who sch o o ls fa c ilitie s had a heart attack at an coordinator, replacing Jack Irrigon basketball game. The Donovan; Joel Chavez, Jr., co ach had grow n up in sp ecial ed a ss is ta n t, Irrigon and graduated from replacing Lisa Konecny. Riverside High School. -h e a rd from - a p p r o v e d Burrows that the district is re sig n a tio n s for: H o llie compliant with the standard M cG ill, RHS T itle 3 of assurance. e d u c a tio n a l a ssista n t; -approved extra duty Kresimir Waite, HHS math contracts for: Ron Prindle, teacher, effective the end of R iv ersid e Ju n io r High the school year. School a ssista n t g ir ls ’ -approved a transfer b a sk e tb a ll co ach ; E rich would be expanded to include six m ore classrooms. Harjo, Irrigon High School attendance variance for two head baseball coach; Robert students in a family from Marshall, IHS assistant track Umatilla School District to coach; and Heather Miller, attend Irrigon Elementary drama advisor. School and A.C. Houghton - a p p r o v e d Elementary School. appointing board members -heard the following to atten d C om m unity a n n o u n ce m e n ts: the E d u catio n C o m m ittee H ep p n er and B oardm an m eetings. Board mem ber CEC m eetings were both Barney Lindsay cast the lone scheduled for Jan. 17; the d isse n tin g vote. He Irrigon CEC meeting was m a in tain ed that board scheduled for Jan. 18; a members should attend the board work session was set various CEC meetings on a for Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. via ro ta tin g , ra th e r than Polycom ; the next board permanent basis. meeting will be Feb. 13 at 7 -a c ce p te d Beth p.m . at Sam B oardm an W heeler's resignation from Elementary. the Irrigon CEC. -ap p ro v ed an Community members and business honored at Town and Country continued from page one and a strong work ethic. In sch o o l, she is ranked #6 in her class and holds and overall GPA of 3.6. She has been a member o f the N atio n al H onor Society for the past three years and currently serves as president. She is also active in sports as a member of the HHS varsity volleyball team. She has also been active in 4-H since fourth grade. She has also been a 4-H Junior Leader and currently serves as the president of her 4-H club. To help better the community, she has been activ e in v o lu n te e rin g , helping to serve lunches at St. Patrick’s Senior Center and Willow Creek Terrace Assisted Living Center. She is also a m em ber o f the Wellness Committee Task Force. To round out her time, she shows a strong work ethic in working as a teacher’s aide at Heppner Elementary, working for the Youth Conservation Corp, as well as working at the Shell Station in Heppner. In school she also works as publicity director for the student council and as an aide in the office. A fter high school. Rill plans on attending dental hygienist school at Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. Two L ifetim e Achievement awards were p re sen te d , one going to Gwen Healy and the other to Don McElligott. Healy, who was bom in M innesota and headed west with her family during the Great Depression, landed in Morrow County in the early 1940s, graduating from lone High and serving as M orrow C ounty F air P rin ce ss in 1946. A fter m eetin g the man o f her I dreams, Healy moved away from the area for a year, but returned to Heppner and has been a dedicated community member ever since. She is activ e in h elp in g the sch o o ls by donating time and items to events such as the Booster C lub A u ctio n and the SMART program. She also m akes alteratio n s to the school sports uniforms. After her husband passed away, she also made a donation the Heppner High School for the purchase of chairs for senior c itiz e n s’ use during ball games. In the community, she has been active with 4- H, the M orrow C ounty Election Board and the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. She is also an active member o f St. P a trick ’s C atholic Church. She devotes much of her time to helping senior citizens in everything from meal delivery to helping fill out any paperwork someone needs help with. She also has made hundreds of quilts for C h ild re n ’s S erv ices and disabled veterans. She is also activ e in h elp in g raise aw areness and funds for juvenile diabetes research. McElligott’s life has encompassed many areas. He was bom in the Eight- m ile area and a fte r g ra d u a tin g from the U niversity of Portland in 1941, he returned to the area, married in 1948, raised 11 children and dedicated num erous hours to many community projects. He has been an activ e m em ber o f St. William's Catholic Church and the Holy Name Society. He was also an active high school catechism teacher for 10-plus years. B eing an activ e farmer, he was involved with many farming boards and committees, including the Oregon Wheat Growers and Oregon Farm Bureau. He also served as the Eastern Oregon grain representative to the National F arm ers’ Organization. During World War II he served in the US Army Air Force and d e v elo p e d a loyalty to the military and the US. He is a member of the lone American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Mostly likely due to his many children, he also became active in the school systems serving on the lone School B oard, lo n e Advisory Board, M orrow County School Board and the lone E d u catio n Foundation. He has also be active w ith m any o th e r organizations including the H ep p n er E lks, W illow s Grange, lone Fire District, M orrow C o u n ty Commissioners and he was a Morrow County Judge for seven years. P rep arin g to celebrate its 76,h year in business. Morrow County Grain Growers was honored as this year’s Business of the Year. M CGG began in M arch 1930 w ith 100 farmers pledging 183,000 b u sh els o f w heat to co o p erativ e sellin g . The company now operates eight grain elevators, one of which is leased, and has a total license capacity of 3,934,000 bushels. Over its many years of operation. M CGG has expanded its business to c o v er m any a sp e c ts including oil sales, fertilizer and chem ical sales, farm eq u ip m en t sales and purchased the Lexington Convenience Store. MCGG also had a market in tires, but in 2002 exited that business. MCGG has also expanded to reach way beyond Morrow I C ounty, serv icin g seven counties in north central Oregon, as well as Klickitat County in Washington. Ju st recen tly , M CG G also pu rch ased Green Feed and Seed and Heppner Auto Parts. With these purchases, MCGG will move part of its business to Heppner and will bring the au to p arts b u sin ess to Lexington. T h ro u g h o u t the years, MCGG shown that it is a b u sin ess able to consolidate many businesses into one, giving it the ability to expand and diversify. owe to hold annual research review The Oregon Wheat Com m ission will hold its Annual Research Review on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. at the C o lu m b ia G orge D iscovery C enter in The Dalles. A regular meeting will be held the following day, Jan. 25, at 8:30 a.m.. to d iscu ss co m m issio n business. This meeting will be held at C o u s in ’s Restaurant in The Dalles. The meeting location is accessible to persons with d is a b ilitie s. The ADA p ro h ib its d iscrim in a tio n ag ain st p erso n s w ith disabilities. A request for an interpreter for the hearing im p aired or for o th e r accommodations for person w ith d is a b ilitie s, please contact the OWC office 48 hours in advance at (503) 229-6665 or TTY (5 0 3 ) 986-4762. Commission m eetings are open to the public and anyone wishing to attend is encouraged and welcome to do so. Dress is business casual *
