Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - SEVEN
SCHOOL DISTRICT
lation other groups highly
recommended to get the
H1N1 flu vaccine include:
pregnant women, new par
ents and caregivers of in
fants less than six months
old, health care workers,
emergency services and
law enforcement person
nel, children six months to
school age, people 19-24
years old and those 25 to 64
who have underlying health
issues such as asthma, heart
or lung disease, diabetes or
HIV. Smith said that those
groups may get the vaccine
at the school clinics or at
the Morrow County Health
Department.
Burrows touted the
district’s benchmark gains
over the past five years. He
told the board that Mor
row County School district
has dramatically increased
the percentage of students
achieving benchmarks in
reading and math in 2008-
09 compared to 2003-04.
In 2003 M CSD
lagged area districts with 34
percent of the students meet
ing or exceeding bench
marks in reading and 32
percent in math, compared
to: the Pendleton district
with 51 percent meeting or
exceeding benchmarks in
reading and 43 percent in
math; the Hermiston district
with 45 percent in reading
and 36 in math; and Ontario
with 43 percent in reading
and 30 percent in math. In
2003-04 the state percent
ages were 49 percent meet
ing or exceeding in reading
and 42 percent in math.
In 2008-09, the
tables turned with MCSD
on the top of the heap with
64.9 percent o f the stu
dents meeting or exceed
ing benchmarks in reading
and 58.2 percent in math,
compared to the Hermiston
district with 60.6 meeting
or exceeding benchmarks in
reading and 52.4 percent in
math; Pendleton, 60 percent
in reading and 38.3 percent
in math and Ontario with
53 percent in reading and
36.7 in math. For 2008-09,
statewide percentages were
66.1 percent meeting or
exceeding in reading and
53.6 meeting or exceeding
in math.
The 2008-09 data
shows a 31 percent gain for
MCSD in reading and a 26
percent gain in math from
the 2003-04 figures.
On the down side,
Burrows said that he re
ceived information from
Morrow County Assessor
Greg Sweek, that he be
lieves that the amount of
monies the district would
receive from its local option
tax approved by voters was
overestimated. Burrows said
that Sweek told him that the
school district should ex
pect around $365,000 per
year for the period of the
three-year levy, rather than
the original estim ate of
$500,000 per year. Burrows
said he would be scheduling
a meeting with Sweek to
further discuss the issue.
The board heard a
presentation from Michael
Lasher concerning a possi
ble merger of the Umatilla-
Morrow Education Service
D istrict with the Union
Baker ESD. Lasher said
that Oregon lawmakers are
pressuring ESDs to merge
to reduce the number of
ESDs operating in the state
and the Umatilla-Morrow
ESD was considering tak
ing pre-emptive action. The
MCSD Board was some
what hesitant considering
the legal issues the Union
Baker ESD had been pre
viously involved in under
prior management. UBESD
is nearing bankruptcy and
im minent closure is an
ticipated. Lasher told the
board that a detailed cost
analysis determined that it
would cost from $230,000
to $475,000 to bring the
U nion C ounty sch o o ls
to the same levels as the
Umatilla-Morrow Schools,
however, he said that there
was some duplication of
personnel in the two ESDs
which could be trimmed,
with the UBESD having
“a lot of people in the of
fice that they don’t need.”
“Their (UBESD’s) financial
situation is not very good,”
he added “They aren’t pro
viding the services they
should.” MCSD Board
member Berto Hernandez
sum m ed it up w hen he
asked Lasher, “Who’s the
big dog?”, meaning who
would be in charge of the
ESD if the merger went
through. Lasher replied
that the UMESD is about
twice the size of UBESD,
serving about 13,000 stu
dents in Umatilla and Mor
row counties, compared to
around 7,000 in the UBESD
service area.
Under the propos
al, Union County school
districts would merge with
UMESD and Baker County
Schools would merge with
the Malheur ESD.
Lasher said that ad
vantages of a merger would
to be to: enact local control
on the “inevitable closure of
UBESD”; provide a model
for future ESD consolida
tion; provide an increased
student capacity which
would increase state influ
ence and leverage for con
tracts and grants; increase
the revenue stream; crate
a larger hiring pool and
entrepreneurial expansion;
and brokerage opportunities
with Blue Mountain Com
munity College and Eastern
Oregon University, among
other advantages.
D is a d v a n ta g e s ,
said Lasher, would include
reconfiguration of the ESD
board; potential hiring re
quirem ents o f UBESD
staff; a possible employee
lawsuit; an unclear divi
sion of assets and liabilities
with Baker County/Malheur
ESD; the larger area served;
and impending resolution
of the Public Employees
Retirement System (PERS)
and alternative education
settlement.
In other business,
the board:
-appointed Andrea
Fletcher and Lisanne Currin
to the budget committee.
-accepted the fol
lowing resignations/retire-
ments: Donna Barton from
her position as assistant
principal, effective D e
cember 1, however she will
finish out the school year;
Josh Bettesworth, River
side High School assistant
custodian; Nancy Burnett,
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School Title I education
assistant.
-approved the fol
lowing employment: Bon
nie M oore, Sam Board-
man Elementary School
four-hour assistant cook;
A ngela, Tipton, Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School
department secretary; De
lia Lopez, RHS assistant
custodian.
-approved the fol
low ing extra duty con
tracts: Vem Gumbert, Irri-
gon Junior High head boys’
basketball coach; Mindy
Wilson, Heppner Junior
High assistant girls’ basket
ball coach; Anna Conklin,
HJH head g irls’ basket
ball coach; Ken Bailey,
HJH head wrestling coach;
Mike Ehrsam, HJH assis
tant boys’ basketball coach;
Cody Rolan, HJH head
boys’ basketball coach;
Richard Rockwell, RHS
assistant wrestling coach;
and Randal Olsen, RHS as
sistant baseball coach.
-heard a report on
the Morrow Education Cen
ter curriculum.
-approved an atten
dance variance from MCSD
to the Hermiston School
District.
-h e a rd the fo l
lowing attendance report:
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School, Irrigon-265; Hep
pner Elementary School-
196; Heppner High School-
224; Irrigon Elementary
School-197; Irrigon High
School-336; Riverside High
School-423; Sam Boardman
Elementary School-320;
Windy River Elementary
School, Boardm an-220;
Morrow Education Cen-
ter-M CSD-223; Morrow
Education Center-Umatilla
School District-46; total
2,250 students.
-approved a revi
sion to the district’s criminal
records checks/fingerprint-
ing policy as mandated.
-adopted the fol
low ing budget calendar for
the 2010-11 budget: March
12,2010-budgets due from
buildings and departments;
April 14-publication o f
notice of budget meeting;
A pril 21-second notice
of budget meeting; April
22-distribution of budget
document to committee;
May 3-first budget meeting
and budget message; May
10-regular board meeting,
second budget meeting if
needed, with additional
meeting dates to be set by
the committee if needed;
May 21 -deadline for budget
approval; June 2-publica
tion o f notice o f budget
hearing; June 14-budget
hearing, adopt budget and
make appropriations; June
14-regular board meeting;
July 1-beginning of 2010-
2011 fiscal year; July 15-
deadline to certify levy to
assessor.
-heard the follow
ing announcements: Vet
eran’s Day holiday, N o
vember 11 ; Oregon School
Board Association conven
tion, Portland, N ovem
ber 12-15; Thanksgiving
holiday, November 26-27;
next board meeting, Irrigon
Elementary School, 7 p.m.,
December 14; winter break,
December 19-January 3;
school resumes January 4.
Upon hearing the
announcements read, board
Chair Barney Lindsay com
mented, “Why do we call
it winter break? What hap
pened to Christmas?” “You
can call it Christmas break
if you want to Barney,”
retorted Burrows.
-held an executive
session concerning legal
issues.
CITY COUNCIL
get through redistricting.
Anderson said although participation in the
census is not voluntary, and it is against Federal law to
refuse to answer, only 3-4 questions are “required’ to be
answered on the several page census forms.
In other business the council heard from Ryan
Miller of Miller Disposal, the Heppner garbage collection
franchise holder, who said they would be discontinuing
cardboard pickup at the end of this month. Miller said the
price he is able to get for cardboard does not justify the
cost of picking it up. “There just isn’t enough volume to
continue in Heppner,” Miller told the council. “It is too
small an area to generate the volume,” he said. ‘But we
gave it a shot." The company had been picking cardboard
up for recycle for several months now.
The council heard a report from public works
director Brian Harmon, who said overall the Court Street
reconstruction project recently completed in Heppner (see
related story) went pretty smoothly. “Everyone worked
together,” Harmon said about the city crew, contractor
Knife River, and ODOT. He said there was one more
problem to fix before the project would be considered
completed. A driveway belonging to Gary Schonbachler
that is also used by the neighbor will have to be replaced
because of a design flaw that caused vehicles to brush
concrete when pulling into the driveway. There was also
one other driveway that had to be replaced.
The council also approved a new water and sewer
application form that requires the landlord of the property
sign the form and be notified if the renter gets behind on
payments. The city wants to hold landlords responsible
for unpaid water and sewer charges even though it col
lects a $ 130 deposit when new customers sign up. The
deposit is supposed to take care of unpaid bills. The city
has had some problems in the past collecting on unpaid
water bills, and is cracking down on late payers and those
who try to skip town without paying.
. The council was apprised of money received by
the city from county “tippage” or Findley Buttes Landfill
fees. Cities and other groups apply to a special economic
group that this year doled out $250,000 in tippage fees. A
complete list including what the City of Heppner received
is below:
- Boardman Community Development Assn. $30,000
Community Sports Complex
- Columbia River Community Health Services $10,000
New Clinic Project
- Boardman Park and Recreation District
$4,000
Community Center Planning
- Boardman Senior Center
$4,200
Upgrade Tables and Chairs
- City of Heppner/Heppner Little League
$ 18,500
Hager Park Restroom
- Heppner Chamber of Commerce
$550
Computer for Chamber Office
- Heppner Senior Citizens Center
$4,750
Window Blinds
- Heppner Daycare & Preschool
$3,700
Operating Subsidy
- Heppner High School/Heppner Booster Club $9,900
Fairgrounds/Stadium Snack Shack
- City of lone
$ 10,000
Street Paving & Repair - Emert Rd; A, B, C &
D St.
- City of lone
$5,000
Park Restoration
- lone Little League
$5,000
Little League Field
- Creative Care Preschool
$2,000
Operating Subsidy
HEALTH CARE RALLY
However, the most
impressive part of the whole
event was that after stand
ing there for two hours,
everyone followed through.
The entire crowd headed
straight to the House office
buildings. Quietly, politely,
earnestly - citizen lobbyists
20,000 to 40,000 strong en
tered the offices of our rep
resentatives to express our
concerns. As you walked
down the hall ordinary
everyday citizens passed
in small groups - in every
office 10 to 12 people were
clearly and intelligently
expressing their concerns
and values. This continued
until the offices closed at
6 p.m.
• T he r e s p o n s e ?
Some offices were polite
- others were more hostile.
Many felt that they only
needed to listen to those
from their own state. They
I
were told in many ways that
because this issue affects
the freedoms of every indi
vidual in the country - we
all were the constituents of
all of them. It became very
apparent that we as citizens
have been too complacent
- which has caused some
of our representatives to
become arrogant and un
able to listen to the public.
The members are much too
insulated from the people
they represent. Staffers
form a very real barrier be
tween the congressman and
constituents. Rarely do they
have to talk face to face
with the people they serve.
It is apparent that for many
of the Blue Dog Democrats
(those who are supposed to
be fiscally conservative) the
main and primary goal is to
get re-elected.
We returned and
continued the effort on
Friday. Many of the people
of the day before had re
turned home. But we found
ourselves in several situa
tions (such as asking direc
tions) where we were talk
ing to vacationers touring
the Capitol who were also
concerned and were inter
ested when they discovered
our part in the rally. There
were people from Ohio,
Texas, San Francisco-who
thanked us for our efforts.
The bill that ulti
mately passed the House
on Saturday evening, if
also adopted by the Sen
ate, would not only end
healthcare as we now know
it in the United States, it
would also tax its citizens
into submission and pov
erty, destroying our once
thriving economy and take
away basic constitutional
liberties of choice and self
determination.
\
However, our ef
forts made a difference
in many ways. The Re
publican caucus knows
that people who care are
a real and committed part
of the electorate. The bill
passed the house by only
five votes. The Senate is
aw are o f p eo p le’s con
cerns in an additional and
very concrete way and as
they continue to hear these
voices of middle America
there is still hope they will
create a better bill that will
allow America’s vision of
freedom and liberty to re
main intact.
However, what I
learned is that the people of
our great nation need to be
“Touring” the Capitol less
and “Participating” more.
It is the only way our rights
and freedoms will remain
ours.
- lone Booster Club
$3,000
SMART and Read-N-Play
- ICABO - lone Education Foundation - Grow lone,
Inc.
$15,000
Emert’s Second Addition
- Town of Lexington
$28,000
Water Reservoir Update
- Town of Lexington
$7,000
Waterproof Storage Building
- Town of Lexington Fire Department
$2,500
Personal Protection Equipment
- City of Irrigon
$6,500
Water Line to Irrigon Sports Complex
- Irrigon Rural Fire Protection District
$15,000
Personal Protection Equipment
- Oregon Trail Library District
$10,000
Irrigon Branch Library
- Irrigon Jr/Sr High School/Knights Pride Boosters
$7,500
Athletic Complex Concessions Facility
- Irrigon Marina Park Recreation District
$7,700
Irrigon Park Dist. Equipment and Shop Build
ing
- Stokes Landing Senior Center
$8,800
Dining Hall/Kitchen Upgrade
- Morrow County Tourism Committee
$1,500
Morrow County Brochure
- Morrow County Health District
$9,500
Emergency Services Training Mannequin
- Ione/Lexington Cemetery District
$3,000
Cemetery Stone Restoration
- North Morrow Vector Control District
$17.400
Fogging Unit
Total
$250,000
Doherty returns from
software testing trip to D.C.
While working in Washington, D.C. Doherty was able to go
to the Washington Monument, World War I and II Memo
rial, the White House, Korean Memorial, Holocaust Memo
rial, and the National Mall. -Contributed Photo
Adam Doherty of
the Heppner branch of the
Farm Service Agency re
cently returned from a trip
to Washington. D.C.
While in D.C., Do
herty tested software for
programs that the Farm Ser
vice Agency administers.
“With the new Farm Bill
passing in 2009, new pro
I
grams were implemented.”
said Doherty, “and in order
for them to work in the
county office, they needed
office people to test to see
if what they had written
w ould work in the real
world.”
D oherty was in
Washington, D.C. October
13-23.