Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2006)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 16,2006 - THREE School board passes tough, but compassionate drug, alcohol policies, testing procedures % C hange From 2004-05 to to 2005-06 m s i j ’CAV m s v * * î 3% J Wm » mmm 3rd Watti jm s e w jn s L . i ■ 5e*Mrt» ---------- 6*.R*»iW>8 Gr»4* M ar T»»t Benchmark changes from 2004-05 to 2005-06 in Morrow County and Oregon state. is voluntary participation in a state certified drug and alcohol assistance program at the student’s expense. The student will continue to practice, but will not play/ participate in any contests or events during the suspension period. For athletic purposes only, follo w in g any suspension the student will be re in stated to full participation in the activity. The studen t w ill be reinstated to the same team (varsity, JV, etcetera) and will have full opportunity to play on that team by earning his way back through "hard w ork and a p o sitiv e attitude.” The student is not expected to be reinstated to a starting position, but he must have the opportunity to earn it back. *If the student does not choose option A, he will be suspended for the rem ainder of the activity season, will lose his letter and will lose any privileges of the activity. *For the second offense, the student will be suspended for all athletic or non-athletic programs for nine weeks of contests or e v en ts. He w ill not p a rtic ip a te in a ctiv ity p rogram s until he has successfully com pleted a treatment program. ♦For the third offense the student will face im m ediate and full suspension from all athletic and non-athletic programs for one calendar year. He will not participate in activity programs or events until he has successfully completed a treatment program. ♦For the fourth offense he will be suspended from participation for the rem ainder o f his ju n io r/ senior high school career. Tobacco: If a student is determined to be in violation of the tobacco policy, for the first offense, he w ill be im m ediately suspended for at least two w eeks or tw o contest or Don’t Miss event days, w hichever is greater. The suspension will begin as soon as the school becom es aw are o f the violation. The student shall su ccessfu lly co m p lete a tobacco assessment prior to being re in sta te d to the program. *For the second or subsequent offenses, the student will face immediate and full suspension from the a th le tic or n o n -a th le tic program for the reminder of the activity season or for a period of not fewer than nine weeks, whichever is greater, and mandatory follow-up sessions with a qualified a ssessm en t counselor. Reinstatement of the student into other activity programs is co n tin g e n t upon the student complying with the recom m en d atio n s o f the assessment professional. For activities such as school plays, which have less than four events per year, administration may consider the date of adm ission or v io latio n and determ ine su sp en sio n perio d is adequate sanction, provided the studen t m eets oth er requirements of the policy. D rug testin g procedures: Rules related to the testing procedures will be made available in writing as part of the registration process and will be reviewed w ith stu d en ts at the beginning of each school year. An authorization to test for drugs agreement will be signed by each student and his parent or guardian before the student will be allowed to participate in any athletic or non-athletic activity. The policy will be in effect the e n tire school year the stu d en t is e n ro lle d at a M orrow C ounty School District junior/senior high school and will govern the conduct of the athletic or n o n -ath letic p articip an t. Consequences for violations d u ring the spring w ill continue into the next year. ♦C onsent: Each Our... 10th ANNUAL MICROBREW BEER & WINE TASTING! THURSDAY, AUG. 17th 6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. MORROW COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS JET TEA FOR THE KIDS! Barbecue Dinner by John Oochnauer: Serving Krazy Kabobs & Oysters Galore! ^ M umuj ' j D*iuj« 217 North Main • Heppner • 676 9158 student involved in any ath letic or n o n -ath letic programs will be required to provide a signed consent form prior to joining the program. Both student and parent or guardian signatures are required. ♦Non-punitive nature of policy: Students w ill not be p en alized academ ically for testing positive for illegal drugs under this policy, nor will athletic or non-athletic drug tests be documented in any student’s academic records. The information gathered under this policy will only be d isclosed to crim inal or ju v e n ile a u th o ritie s to comply with court orders or subpoenas. In the event the district is legally compelled to provide this information, the district will notify parents or guardians at least 72 hours prior to releasing the information. Testing rules: All athletic and non-athletic participants may be tested at any time during the school year at the discretion of the superintendent. Additionally, random testin g w ill be conducted throughout the school year at the superintendent’s discretion. A minimum of five percent, up to 100 percent of co- curricular participants will be tested at each test period as d eterm in ed by the superintendent. Once the au th o rizatio n to test for drugs agreement is signed, the student is eligible for random testing whether or not he is participating in an ath le tic or n o n -ath letic activity at the time. P ro ced u res for testing: Selection fortesting w ill be by random procedures from a pool of all students who have signed the authorization to test for drugs ag reem en t. The superintendent will take precautions to “ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the selection process.” No individual involved in the selection process will be able to identify students or to determine the selection of a particular student for testing. ♦The junior/senior high school principal will be notified on the day students are selected for testing and will arrange for samples to be taken the same day. If a student is absent on a testing day and alternate will be tested. The absent student will be required to provide a sam ple at the n earest approved collections site within 24 hours upon return to school. Any stu d en t unable to provide a sample will be expected to remain at the collection area until a specimen is obtained. Those selected for testing will be given the option of doing so in private. Students who refuse a sam ple w ill be considered to have tested positive and will be subject to the p rocedures listed under the alcohol and drug violations section. According to Daye Stone, Heppner High School Principal, each student who has signed the authorization is given a num ber. The stu d en ts chosen to participate in a particular test are randomly selected by n u m b er by the testin g company via computer to ensure that the selection process is fair and random. ♦Prescription m edications: students on prescription m edications may provide a copy of the prescription or a physician's written verification to the testing facility within 24 hours of the time a sample is collected. If a positive result is obtained, a lab review will be conducted to ensure that prescription medications are not interfering with positive results. The legal guardian will be contacted by the lab o rato ry to co n firm p o ssib le p re scrip tio n m ed icatio n s. Such in fo rm atio n w ill not be provided to the MCSD. ♦Scope of tests and confidentiality of results: All specimens will be collected and tested by a state-certified laboratory. Specimens may be co lle cte d at a local certified collection site for m ake-up or fo llo w -u p testin g needs. C hain of cu sto d y p ro ced u res, as recom m ended by the laboratory, will be followed. Screening tests will test for “common illegal drugs of abuse.” The superintendent will decide prior to selection of students which illegal drugs w ill be screened. Samples will not be screened for the p resen ce o f any substance other than an illeg al drug or for the existence of any physical condition other than drug intoxication. Test results will be communicated only to the su p erin ten d en t or the superintendent's designee and principal. Individual test information will be treated confidentially. ♦P ositive results: W henever a participant's results indicate the presence of drugs, a meeting will be scheduled with the student, the parents or guardian and the building principal The board discussed with Superintendent Mark ESTATE / YARD SALE 235 1/2 Linden Way, Heppner Follow signs! August 18-20 (Friday through Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Furniture, China Hutch, Dressers, Jewelry, Sleeping Bags, Bedding, Bed, Tables, C ra ft Items, Puzzles, Pictures. Frames. Kitchen Items, Knickknacks, Avon Bottles, Baby Items, Brand-Name Girls’ Clothes (from infant to size 6) Burrows about increasing the number of students to be randomly tested for drugs and increasing the number of tests during the school year. They also asked Burrows to investigate the legality of testin g stu d en ts w hose parents ask the district to test them. Board member and Morrow County Sheriff Ken Matlack commented on the drug investigations, "This was a wake-up call for the stu d en ts and the community.” “We’re starting the p ro cess o f h o ld in g people accountable.. .There has to be some type of tough sanction,” he added. Also at the meeting, the board ap p ro v ed the second reading and adopted new technology policies restricting, monitoring and, in some cases, denying the use o f te le p h o n e s, cell phones, computers, Internet, e-m ail, fax m achines, broadcast media and any o th er m an n er of c o m m u n icatio n using electronic transmission for students and staff. The policy was designed to protect children from obscene or pornographic material or anything else that may be deemed harmful to minors. The policy lim its the sy ste m s’ p u rposes to advancement and promotion o f research, learning and teaching. Failure to abide by the d istric t policy and administrative regulations g o v ern in g use o f the d is tric t's e lectro n ic technology system could resu lt in su sp en sio n or revocation of access to the system. Student violations w ill result in discipline, up to and including expulsion. Staff violations will also result in discipline, up to and in clu d in g d ism issal. Violations of law will be reported to law enforcement officials and fees, fines or o th e r ch arg es may be imposed. F ollow ing an executive session, the board gave Burrows a show of support by approving an extension of his contract to three years. They also gave him an ad d itio n al one p ercen t raise, over and above the two-percent raise he was already slated to receive with his contract renewal. Board members indicated that they were p leased w ith his performance, especially his communication skills and com m unity outreach and dedication to board goals and increasing students’ test scores. The board plans to discuss im plem enting an in cen tiv e program for adm inistrators, including p rin c ip a ls and the su p erin ten d e n t, at an upcoming work session. In other business, the board: -heard a report by Anna Browne, a teacher at Windy River Elementary, who applied for and received a grant to im plem ent a w riting program at her school. -heard a report by Dirk D irksen. R iverside High School Principal, on the school credit recovery program im plem ented during the summer. Dirksen “ ¡¡¡¡¡^ the program, only four didn’t com plete the process. "It wasn’t designed to be a lot of fun,” said Dirksen. -ap p ro v ed the contract with the Morrow County Unified Recreation D istric t to fund extracurricular activities in the district. Burrows said this year’s contract is exactly the same as last year’s. -h eard from Burrows that the staffing has been co m p leted for this upcoming fall. -learned that budget committee vacancies include Position #1-Lisanne Currin; Position #3-K eith Lewis; Position # 6-Mike Armato; and P o sitio n # 7 -D ean M ason. C u rrin was nominated to fill her current position for the upcoming term. -heard the Average Yearly Progress report by Burrows on MCSD results for the No Child Left Behind Act, a federally mandated program. Burrows said that Heppner Elementary School, Sam Boardman Elementary School, W indy R iv er Elementary, Heppner Junior/ Senior High School and Irrigon Elementary all met the standards, however. A.C. H oughton E lem entary, R iv ersid e Ju n io r/S e n io r High School and Irrigon Junior/Senior High School did not meet the standards, which resulted in the district also not m eetin g the standards. Burrows said that Riverside had "tremendous growth” but did not meet the standards because of special e d u catio n and E n g lish Language Learner results. Burrows added that ELL stu d en ts should not be co n fu sed w ith H isp an ic stu d en ts w ho passed standards in reading and m ath. He said that A.C. H oughton ju st narrow ly m issed the m eeting the standards. -heard a report from Burrows on state benchmark data fo r M CSD , w hich indicate that students in the MCSD exceeded state levels through the fourth grade, have “respectable" scores in the fifth and sixth grades, but scores fall off in grades seven through 10, although those sco res have im p ro v ed greatly. Burrows said that M CSD s tu d e n ts ’ re su lts surpass other districts with similar demographics, such as U m atilla, H erm isto n , Gervais and Woodbum. -a c ce p te d the fo llo w in g re sig n a tio n s: M aryanne Anthony, ACH second grade te a c h e r; Melanie Hall. RHS special ed assistant. -ap p ro v ed the fo llo w in g em p lo y m en t: Colleen Grigg. IJSH special ed teacher; Clara Beas, SBE E n g lish as a S eco n d Language teacher; Andrew Johnson, IHS technology/ b u sin ess te ac h e r; K elly Phillips, ACH elem entary teacher. -heard the following announcements: Aug. 21- first staff school day; Aug. 23-inservice; Aug. 24-board work session; Aug. 28-first day of school for students; Sept. 4-Labor Day holiday; Sept. 11 -next board meeting, HHS; Sept. 22-23-collective bargaining workshop; Nov. 9-12-OSBA fall convention. The Willow Creek Water Park will be CLOSED Friday, Aug. 18 from 7 -9 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 19-20 from 1-5 p.m. The Water Park will be OPEN Friday, Aug. 18 from 1-5 p.m .
