School district to implement new
ed format at Heppner High School
By April Sykes
....lUn.H
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
niversity of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 128
NO. 17
10 Pages
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Heppner High School
Principal Daye Stone outlined
a new educational direction for
HHS students at the Morrow
County School Board meeting
Monday night in Irrigon.
Stone said that the
pilot program measures out
come through proficiency.
Rather than advancing students
based on “seat hours”, the new
program w ill advance students
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Company backs out of co-gen plant
This past March, Cas-
cade Renewable Energy en-
tered into a 100-day option to
purchase the empty Kinzua
power plant site outside o f
Heppner. Cascade Renewable
Energy recently sent a notice
stating that they were no longer
interested in purchasing the
property
The com pany had
planned to purchase the 25
acres where the power plant is
located along with 20 adjacent
acres.
K inzua clo sed its
doors in 1998 and has been
empty since.
Secure Residential Treatment
Facility breaks ground in Heppner
based on what they can do.
Stone said that students will
advance based on “what they
know, not how long they sit.”
He said that the plan will
“place students in charge of
their own education.”
Stone said that stu
dents will receive credit for
a subject based on their abil
ity to show proficiency. He
said that this standards-based
assessment requires “higher
standards, higher expectations
and a more focused curricu
lum.” “It’s really an individual
education plan for every kid,”
Stone said. But, he added,
while it is “uncharted terri
tory,” “We’re really not doing
anything different than what
we’re doing now, just packag
ing it differently.”
The pilot program will
entail a switch to eight periods
per day, instead of the current
seven, and will provide exten
sion classes for those students
who need extra instruction. It
will also increase the number
of electives so that each student
can take an elective course. In
an eight-period day, no one
has less than three electives,”
Stone said.
With the new plan, no
‘D’s will be given and students
will receive no credit for a
’D’ in an elective class. Stone
also said that currently too
many students leave campus
each period for work study or
teacher's assistant placements.
The number of electives of
fered will also cut dow n on the
number of students leav ing the
school. The number of credits
required for graduation will
also increase to 32. Currently
24 credits are required for a
diploma and 26 are required
for an honors diploma. Stone
said that going to the new sys
tem will provide for 32 credit
options, rather than the current
28 credit options. No credits
w ill be awarded for extension
lab classes and extension ready
and math classes.
Stone said that the new
program will create challenges
for the teaching staff, who
will be required to teach more
classes, and in less time. Each
of the eight periods will be 45
minutes long. It also shortens
teacher prep time, he said.
However, commented HHS
shop and technolog) teacher,
Dave Fow ler. “As a staff mem
ber, I feel it is right for kids. We
need to reach those kids not
meeting benchmarks."
Also at the meeting,
Superintendent Mark Burrows
announced the following re
cipients of the Umatilla-Mor-
row ESD Cry stal Apple “Ex
cellence in Education Awards:
Theresa Proctor-Reese, Windy
River Elementary English lan
guage learner teacher; Sherry
Matteson, Heppner Elemen
tary School first grade teacher;
Susie Lemmon, Morrow Edu
cation Center ed assistant; and
Kathy C utsforth, Heppner
Elementary School assistant
custodian.
In other business, the
board;
-heard a report from
Irrigon High School teacher
Heather Miller on an 1HS sci
ence inquiry class concerning
a hands-on study of the local
ecosystem.
-heard a report from
Jenny Chavez of the Wellness
Committee, who reported that
the committee would like to
see less soda offered at the
schools, fewer instances of
food offered as a reward, rec
ommending prizes, games and
other rewards, instead, and
fewer instances of using PE as
a reward or punishment.
-approved a request
from the Irrigon Multicultural
Arts Center for the school dis
trict to donate to the group the
old Irrigon school building
(also formerly Irrigon City
Hall), including the land in
front of the building out to
Highway 730, with the stipu
lation that the school district
retain an easement for the
parking lot and that if the
center does not succeed, the
property will be returned to
the district.
-assigned the follow
ing board m em ber volun
teers to represent the district
at graduation ceremonies as
follows: Morrow Education
Center, Thursday, June 4, 7
p.m.-Barney Lindsay; Irrigon
High School, Friday, June 5,
7 p.m.-Pat McNamee; River
side High School, Saturday.
June 6, 10 a.m.-Nancy Vander
Does; Heppner High School.
Saturday, June 6, 2 p.m.-Bill
Kuhn.
-heard Burrows ex
press the district’s appreciation
to the Yes for Kids committee,
consisting of Larry Mills, Car
men Velasco, Lisa Mittelsdorf,
Barb Huwe and Lisanne Cur-
rin.
-received the follow
ing attendance report as of May
4: A.C. Houghton Elementary-
348.5; Heppner Elementary
S chool-187; Heppner High
School-225; Irrigon Elemen
tary School-120; Irrigon High
School-317; Riverside High
School-389; Sam Boardman
Elementary-314; Windy River
Elementary-238; district-w ide-
2242.5.
-accepted the follow
ing resignations/retirements:
Brenda Newport, English lan
guage learner ed assistant,
ACH; Tracie Kennedy, WRE
special ed assistant.
-approved the follow
ing em ploym ent: Lindsay
Orem, HHS special ed teacher,
replacing Sam Thurston; Mari-
bel Torres, RHS counselor,
replacing G. Ann Thomas;
Jennifer Matlack, promotion to
ACH assistant custodian.
-approved the follow
ing extra duty contract: Jake
McElligott, 1JSH head boys’
basketball coach.
-approved 2008-09
classified/confidential person
nel recommended for rehire for
2009-10.
-heard the following
announcements: May 19-elec
tion day; May 25-Memorial
Day; May 29-last senior day;
next board meeting-June 8,
district office, 7 p.m.; June
10-last school day for stu
dents; June 12-last teacher
w ork day.
-held an executive ses
sion to discuss negotiations
and a student expulsion.
Repeat property offender
sentenced to 57 months
Robert James Amos,
49, of Bellingham, WA was
convicted of multiple charges
in Morrow County Circuit
Court on May 7,2009. He was
convicted of attempted robbery
11, assault IV, theft III, burglary
II, forgery I, criminal mischief
I, unauthorized use of a motor
vehicle and theft 11.
All the crim es oc-
curred in Morrow County over
approximately three months
last fall and involved six dif
ferent victims. Amos was ex
tradited from Washington state
to face these charges.
Circuit Court Judge
Christopher R. Brauer sen
tenced Amos to 57 months
incarceration with the De
partment of Corrections, and
further ordered that Amos pay
$7,948 in restitution to his \ ic-
tims, among other conditions.
The sentence was the result
o f a negotiated settlem ent
with Morrow County District
Attorney Elizabeth Ballard,
representing the State, and Jon
Lieuallen of Milton-Freewater,
representing the defendant.
Three men arrested in altercation
A bulldozer begins work on the site for the secure mental health facility in Heppner.
-Photo by Andrew Sykes
A new eight-bed,
6,200 square foot secure
residential treatment facility
broke ground in Heppner
this week, with construction
expected to be completed in
September or October of this
year.
Located on a 15 acre
parcel across the highway
from Lakeview Heights on
the Willow Creek Highway,
the secure mental facility has
been in the planning stages
since last summer.
Developers say the facility
will give an economic boost
to the area providing 15 to
20 full time positions paying
$30,000 to $65,000 in wages.
The annual operating budget
would be around $960,000
and construction costs of the
facility w ould be $ 1.2 million.
In addition, most supplies for
the facility w ould be purchased
locally,
including
food,
medications, transportation
and general supplies.
When
built,
the
facility will be administered
by Community Counseling
Solutions.
Ballots due May 19
On May 6 the Mor
row County Sheriff’s Office
received a report at approxi
mately 1:30 p.m. in regards to
an assault that had occurred
outside of Boardman. A deputy
was dispatched to the scene
and a description of the suspect
vehicle was broadcast.
Within five minutes
the vehicle was spotted in
Boardm an by O fficer Nat
Hughes of the Boardman Po
lice Department. The vehicle
was stopped and three men
were detained until Deputy
Gordon Adams of MCSO ar
rived. A subsequent investiga
tion resulted in the arrests of
the follow ing suspects:
-Eusevio Chavallo,
48, of Boardman was charged
with harassment, strangula
tion, menacing, theft by extor
tion, disorderly conduct-II, and
criminal trespass-11.
-Edgar A. Juarez, 41,
of Boardman w as charged with
disorderly conduct-II, crimi
nal trespass-11, conspiracy to
commit theft by extortion, and
conspiracy to commit harass
ment.
-Ascención M. Garcia,
29. of Boardman w as charged
with disorderly conduct-II,
criminal trespass-II, conspir
acy to commit theft by extor
tion, and conspiracy to commit
harassment.
The incident is still
under investigation.
Heppner/Ione graduations fast approaching
lone Community School will hold its graduation ceremony on Friday, June 5. at 7 p.m
Heppner
High School will hold its graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m.
Ballots are due back to the Morrow County Clerk's Office by Tuesday, May 19. If anyone
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has not received their ballot they should call 676-5604.
Seniors” page can call the Heppner Gazette-Times at 676-9228 or send an email to megan a
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