Patrons say school district too slow in
funding Irrigon school sports facilities
,
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ,1 1
The Morrow County
School
B oard
heard
c o n ce rn s at the re g u la r
meeting Monday night about
the p e rc eiv e d delay in
bringing the Irrigon Junior/
Senior High School sports
field/facility program up to
speed.
Irrig o n
c itiz e n s
expressed frustration that
fui ding for athletic field/
facility improvements was
Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 126
NO. 20
12 Pages
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
50 % turnout not met either
Voters say no to county road levy
The $10 million Morrow
County Road Levy, which
would have provided funds
for a five year fix-up o f
deteriorating county roads,
went down to defeat at the
hands of voters Tuesday 791
yes to 1167 no.
The levy would have been
defeated even if the vote had
been reversed, however, as
the required 50 percent plus
voter turnout to pass money
measures was not met. Only
45 percent of eligible voters
in the county returned their
mail in ballots. According to
M orrow C ounty C lerk
Bobbie Childers there are
4563 eligible voters in the
county and only 2055 voted.
In other contested voting
Craig Miles won a spot on
the school board with 65
percent of the vote in a 3-
way election for position
one. P osition three was
taken by Bill Kuhn, who
garnered 66 percent in a
two-way race. Dan Daltoso
took po sitio n 4 w ith 55
percent in a three-way race.
Pat M cN am ee won 76
percent of the vote to win
potion 5 in a two person
contest. Many of the other
contests were either non
contested or no candidates
filed.
Stansbury Street closure
“not going to happen'
Closing off Stansbury
Street, the street the cuts
between the two elementary
school buildings in Heppner,
“is not going to happen” the
Heppner city council learned
Monday night.
C losing the street off
permanently has been talked
about off and on for several
y ears, and was recen tly
proposed again by school
Principal Jack Thompson.
Thompson had hoped that
the
state
highw ay
department might include
the cost of closing the street
and e x ten d in g E lder St.
around by the tennis courts
to hook up w ith C ourt
Street, would be included in
its budget when other work
is done in the area.
Those hopes were dashed,
however, when the state sent
a letter nixing the idea.
Thompson has been to the
council and talked to city
o ffic ia ls about clo sin g
Stansbury over fears of a
child being hit by a car
crossing between the two
school buildings.
The city plans on putting up
stop signs during school
hours and o th e r tra ffic
measures to alleviate fears of
an accident when children
cross between the school
building and the gymnasium.
The council also discussed
o th e r tra ffic and safety
c o n ce rn s in clu d in g cars
speeding on Gale street, cars
not coming to a complete
stop at stop signs, and other
automobiles observed not
stopping for pedestrians at
cross walks.
Morrow County Sheriff
Ken M atlack w as at
Monday’s council meeting to
discuss the city’s contract
w ith
the
d e p artm en t
providing police coverage,
and he also addressed some
remedies for the council's
safety concerns.
On the contract Matlack
said he would like the basic
contract with the city to
remain the same, but there
would probably be increases
in what the city pays the
sheriff department when final
negotiations with the union
are completed and he knows
what kind of pay raises will
be given to deputies this
year.
other business the
co u n cil learn ed that its
application for a grant to
help out with upkeep costs
at the St. Patrick's Senior
C enter housing had been
turned down. The city has
hired a p rofession grant
writer to work on obtaining
m oney to help keep the
Center profitable. The city
voted to have the grant
writer resubmit the grant at
a cost of $2,500 to $3,000
to the city.
In other action the
council voted to have city
crew and neighbors work to
make repairs to the Kirk
Street Bridge. The bridge is
a dedicated city street and
therefore (he responsibility
of the city to maintain.
The council also voted to
approve the appointment of
Larry Mills and Joyce Kay
Hollomon to fill vacancies
on the planning commission.
Area graduation information
Graduation ceremony for lone Community School
will be held Friday, June 1, at 7 p.m. Baccalaureate services
will be held Wednesday, May 30. at 7 p.m. at the Valby
Lutheran Church.
Graduation ceremony for Heppner High School will
be held Saturday, June 2, at 2 p.m. Baccalaureate services
will be held Thursday, May 31, at 7 p.m. at St. Patrick's
Catholic Church.
lone Mayor says he was
“forced out of office”
See letters to editor page 2
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
not as forthcoming as was
expected. They maintained
that the district should have
anticipated better the start
up costs involved. Irrigon
citizen Meredith De Haven
charged the district with
sen d in g the m oney that
rightly belonged to Irrigon to
Heppner and lone schools
for years, while the Irrigon
community had no school.
IJSHS Principal Tom
Crane wrote the district a
letter which he presented at
the m eeting v o icin g his
concern that he was left out
of the loop in the budgeting
process for sports facility
improvements. He said in the
letter that he has gathered
information about the history
and needs of IJSH S, has
talked to many people to get
in fo rm atio n
and
has
established a field/facility
co m m itte e
to
g a th er
information that would help
the school adm inistration
determine IJSHS priorities.
Crane said that he
w as told by a ssista n t
superintendent Wade Smith
that “ the m oney in the
b udget
w as
for
im p ro v em en ts and not
necessarily for ju st field
lighting. I was 99 percent
assured that the $25,000 in
the 06/07 budget would be
replaced if we spent that
m oney on fen cin g . He
(S m ith ) p ro v id ed ex tra
money to get the first phase
o f the perim eter fencing
done. I was also told that we
were waiting on a grant to
help finish the PTE (PE and
technology) building. That
grant did not com e, so
finishing the building became
the number one priority at
IJSHS,’’ said Crane.
C rane said that a
th re e -y e a r
plan
reco m m en d ed by the
ad m in istra to rs at IJSH S
includes the following:
-0 7-08
F inish
heating, air conditioning and
lighting in PTE-$35,000;
lighting upgrade in gym-
$10,000 (Umatilla Electric
Co-op matching dollar for
dollar grant); sports field
lighting/scoreboard
i n s t a l l a t i o n ^ 5 0, 0 00
(funding/m aterial request
turned into UES).
-08-09 Perm anent
concession stand to include
restrooms and crow’s nest.
Track
-09 10
grant
(resea rc h
on
a p p lic a tio n s has been
started).
D i s t r i c t
S u p erin ten d en t
M ark
Burrows responded that the
budgeting process was not
yet over and the district
would send the sports field/
facility budget back to Crane
for his input. C rane had
e a rlie r su b m itted his
resignation to the board,
saying that he had accepted
a position elsewhere starting
this fall so he could be closer
to his child.
C ran e
also
responded to remarks from
the Irrigon citizenry alleging
that the IJSHS Booster Club
“runs the school.” Crane
said that he told Burrows
and the booster club that he
would not agree to be on the
b o o ster club b o ard and
would not be a dues paying
member. Rather, he said that
he or IJSHS Vice Principal
Chris Davis would attend the
booster club meetings as a
resource to discuss ideas.
“We have had a very good
re la tio n sh ip w ith the
boosters, chamber and other
g ro u p s both in sid e and
outside of the school. As
wi t h each tow n in the
district, we are all trying to
help our students and staffs
succeed,” said Crane.
A fter the m eeting
IJSH S
B o o ster C lub
m em ber
Dan
Young
reiterated that the “booster
cl ub does not run the
school.” He said that the
problem he encountered w as
that there w ere a sm all
num ber o f p aren ts who
volunteer to support the kids
in a variety of activities. He
said that those involved
parents seem to show up at
every m eeting or event,
versus a large number who
choose not to get involved.
Also at the Monday
night meeting at Windy River
Elementary in Boardman,
the board approved hiring
Matt Combe to the Heppner
E lem en tary
p rin cip al
p o sitio n , rep lacin g Jack
T hom p so n ,
w ho
has
resigned to take a position
elsew h ere. C om be is
currently administrator at the
Morrow Education Center in
Irrigon.
R iv ersid e Ju n io r/
Senior High School Principal
Dirk Dirksen review ed a
plan which requires students
who have not passed their
benchm ark tests to take
ad d itio n al
benchm ark
classes, rather than electives.
If a student then passes his
benchmark test, then he may
return to an elective class at
the end of the quarter.
In other business, the
board:
-gave approval for
district adm inistration to
negotiate with the Chartwell
company for food service
management district-wide.
An OSEA representative
ex p ressed co n cern that
current employees’ jobs may
be in jeopardy and asked the
district work to retain their
current employees.
-saw an enrollment
rep o rt as fo llo w s: A .C.
H oughton E lem en tary ,
Irrig o n ,
g rad es
p re
kindergarten through fourth-
347; IJSHS grades seven-
12-312;
H eppner
Elementary grades k-six-
195: Heppner High School
g rad es
s e v e n -12-228;
Irrigon Elementary grades
four-nine-128; RHS grades
sev en -1 2 -3 9 1 ;
Sam
B oardm an
E lem en tary
grades k-three-322; WRE
grades
fo u r-six -2 3 0 ;
Morrow Education Center/
M orrow C ounty School
D istrict
stu d en ts-5 2 ;
Morrow Education Center/
Umatilla School District-36;
total-2241 students.
-ap p ro v ed
the
fo llo w in g
2006-07
c la s s if ie d /c o n f id e n tia l
personnel recommended for
rehire
for
2007-08
(H eppner/L exington area
only listed):
- H e p p n e r
Elementary: Loma Botefuhr.
special ed assistant; Deb
-Continued on Page three
Vandalism at Citv Park
/ rr~~
Public Works employees for the City of Heppner recently
reported that vandalism has been discovered at the City
Park.
Wyden visits Heppner
I A
A
US Senator Ron Wyden (left) visits with Kenneth Turner at
the St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner Saturday. W yden
was here to hold a Tow n Meeting to discuss issues with local
people. Previous he held a private meeting with govern
ment officials and others at the courthouse. A small crowd
heard the senator discuss energy, farm programs and other
issues.
At th e MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in H ep p n er:
Rototillers and Lawn Thatchers for rent
F irew o o d p e rm its now a v a ila b le !
- "Spring hours through June: 8 - 5 : 3 0 Mon-Fri /
8 - 4 Sat -
M orrow C ounty Grain G rowers G reen F eed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
t