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TEN - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 14, 2018 Morrow County School District develops crisis plan By April Sykes Morrow County School District Superintendent Dirk Dirksen told the school board and audience Monday night that the dis- trict has been working with Boardman Police and Am- bulance, fire departments, Morrow County Sheriff Ken Matlack and the sher- iff’s department, Oregon State Police, Community Counseling Solutions and its director Kimberly Lind- say, school nurses, counsel- ors, teachers and students to develop a proactive plan in the event of a serious school incident. He said protecting students and teachers is of the utmost importance to the district. Dirksen said that an emergency drill has been scheduled for Friday, Apr. 13, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at all Boardman schools-Sam Boardman Elementary, Windy River Elementary and Riverside High School- to prepare and determine district readiness in the event of “an emergency situation occurs at a school building, such as a natural disaster, a fire or gas leak or violent incident.” He said “the drill will include school staff volunteer stu- dents, volunteers to portray parents and emergency personnel acting as if this is a real emergency.” Dirksen said “perform- ing this type of drill is essential to prepare staff and students in following established procedures for various incidents that can occur. We can have all the safety protocols we need in place in our schools, but if we don’t practice them, they will simply not be as effective as they could be.” He said that after the mock incident at the schools, “staff and stu- dents will be bussed to a separate location, where the reunification portion of the drill will take place.” He said that “reunification means when students are evacuated from their school building and bused to an- other location.” He said the drill is be- ing conducted in partner- ship with local law en- forcement and emergency responders, including the Boardman Police Depart- ment, Boardman Fire De- partment, Boardman Am- bulance, Morrow County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police. He said local residents are advised that the drill will seem like a real emer- gency. Friday, Apr. 13, is a no school in-service day in the district. For more information about the drill, people are advised to call the district in Heppner at 541-676-9128. Dirksen also noted that Riverside Jr./Sr. High School was in lockdown Mar. 8, when it was re- ported a student had a gun. According to a school re- lease, “RJSHS Principal David Norton immediately contacted law enforcement, removed the student from class and searched his be- longings.” It was deter- mined that “no firearm was located on the student’s person nor in the school.” Dirksen said there was no imminent threat to students or staff at any time.” “The Morrow County School district and law enforcement take this situ- ation very seriously. The student has been removed from school, a threat as- sessment will be conducted and law enforcement will continue the investigation.” “Morrow County School District advises that it takes a proactive approach to en- suring school security and student safety.” “Students, parents, staff and community members are encouraged to use the SafeOregon website, a statewide tip line for report- ing student safety threats.” The website can be found at www.safeoregon.com. Dirksen also said the district is offering addi- tional assistance to young students who seem to be struggling, saying it is much easier to address problems in young students, rather than when they are in their teens. Also at the meeting, MCSD Board Chair Becky Kindle announced the board had completed Dirk- sen’s evaluation and that he scored between “excellent and outstanding” on every standard, adding that he is “well respected with clas- sified staff” and “continues to foster a positive culture in each school amongst the staff and community.” They also commented they were very happy he “goes out of his way to attend a variety of different community meetings and events to be the spokesperson for the district,” “has strong eth- ics and values,” “leads by example and provides good leadership to his staff.” They added, however, that he “could improve in the area of self-promotion”, saying, “He does great things within our district not many realize and rarely does he communicate to the public and/or stakeholders what he is doing and some of the amazing things that are happening district wide. We are pleased with all of his efforts and the effort of his team and just want others to know the great job he is doing in leading the district and helping to ensure that we have the appropriate programs and resources available to our staff and students.” “Mr. Dirksen is doing an excellent job in each of the standards on behalf of the district and he is meet- ing or exceeding all the requirements of Superin- tendent of Morrow County School District,” the board concluded. Dirksen said he hopes to continue as superinten- dent another three years or so, hoping to make it to a 40-year career. He was also employed as a teacher, coach and principal in the district for many years. In business, the board: -received a report from Larry Lehrke of Trem- co Roofing and Building Maintenance concerning the district’s current roof- ing situation. Lehrke told the board the district had done an excellent job of maintaining the various buildings, noting the ma- jority of the buildings only required maintenance and repair, with some requiring restoration and a very few requiring replacement. -received a 2017 audit report for the district from Oster Professional Group, noting the following man- agement comments: The district ended the year with a $1,818,044 deficit; es- tablished a PERS Reserve Fund to help offset the rising costs of PERS with a fund balance of $1,448,889; re- ceived $8,156,902 in prop- erty tax collections in 2017, compared to $7,440,630 the previous year, benefitting from improved property tax collections due to eco- nomic growth in the county; received an increase in Basic School Support, from $13,828,709 in 2016 to $14,860,553 in 2017, due to increased student enroll- ment; purchased additional technology and continued to upgrade and replace failing equipment; gave over $107,600 in class- room grants that teachers could apply for specific technology projects; ex- panded wrap-around ser- vices to include Ready for Kindergarten classes in all communities by partner- ing with Umatilla-Morrow Head Start and Heppner Day Care, in addition to wrap-around services that already included two stu- dent resource offices, two care coordinators, one Early Learning Care coordinator, four Community Counsel- ing Solutions counselors, one school nurse and one dental hygienist. As for 2017 reve- nues, the district: received $830,593 in charges for services, $2,997,189 in operating grants and con- tributions, $8,524,795 in property taxes, $14,860,553 in state school fund gen- eral support, $388,977 in other federal, state and local sources, $130,894 in interest on investments, $1,660,338 miscellaneous, for $29,393,339 in total revenues and $2,359 in the sale of capital assets. In the expense column, the district spent $17,679,901 for instruction, $11,017,768 in support services, $1,110,784 in enterprise and community services, $49,494 for facilities acqui- sition and construction and $979,576 in interest for long term debt, for $30,837,523 in total investments for a loss of $1,818,044 as of June 30, 2017. -received the following revenue report as of Febru- ary 28: the district received $25,108,660 in revenue, less $24,977,107 in ex- penditures for $131,553 in revenue, a $3,509,347 beginning fund balance and a projected ending fund bal- ance of $3,640,900. -received the follow- ing enrollment report for March: A.C. Houghton El- ementary, Irrigon-283; Sam Boardman Elementary, Boardman-352; Heppner Elementary-171; Irrigon Elementary-215; Windy River Elementary, Board- man-249; Heppner Jr./Sr. High-169; Irrigon Jr./Sr. High-351; Riverside Jr./Sr. High, Boardman-410; Mor- row Education Center-87; total-2,287. -approved the follow- ing employment action: resignations/non-renewals- Kathryn Christensen, SBE first grade teacher, end of school year, Joseph Cobb, IJSHS head girls’ soccer coach, Tessa Gourneau, student services technician/ data manager, March 2, Ty- lor Kershner, HJSHS junior high assistant girls’ basket- ball coach, Anna Gabriella Sohl Taylor, RJSHS ELD/ Spanish teacher, end of school year, Jill Williams, IJSHS math teacher, end of school year; retirements- Tracie Bunch, HJSHS de- partment secretary, end of school year, Joseph Cobb, IJSHS science teacher, end of school year, Sherrie Len- nox, WRE/SBE counselor, March 16, Ron Prindle, IES/IJSHS English Lan- guage Learner teacher, end of school year; employ- ment/promotions/transfers- John Christy, RJSHS vice principal, 2018-19, Tresa Grieve, MEC alternative ed assistant, Madison Hynes, RJSHS ag science/math teacher, 2018-19, Connie Lobato, student services technician/data manager, April Olsen, IES behav- ior tech, Elizabeth Shane, seven-12 online academy teacher, 2018-19, Brianne Stewart, ACH ed assis- tant, extra duty contracts-PJ Keefer, RJSHS assistant high school softball coach. -approved the follow- ing probationary teachers recommended for extension for 2018-19 (Heppner listed only)-Madison Rosenbalm, HES fifth/sixth grade. -approved the follow- ing administrators rec- ommended for extension 2018-19 (Heppner listed only)-Matt Combe, HJSHS principal/maintenance di- rector, Dieter Waite, HES principal. -approved the fol- lowing contract teachers: HES-Lynn Calvert, Me- lissa Coiner, Rick Drake, Mary Ann Elguezabal, Sue Gibbs, Sarah Matheny, Jo- selyn Piper, Jeremy Rosen- balm, Sybil Stewart, Ma- rissa Turner; HJSHS-Jean Collins, Beth Dickenson, Rick Drake, Mary Ann Elguezabal, John Flaherty, Dave Fowler, Greg Grant, Troy Morgan, Andrea Nel- son, Jason Palmer, Petra Payne, Jeremy Rosenbalm, Marissa Turner. -selected the pre-La- bor Day start for school for 2018-19 with students beginning August 27, stu- dents’ last day June 5, Christmas break December 19-January 1, spring break March 25-29. One hundred seven staff members opted for the pre-Labor Day start vs. 69 preferred the post- Labor Day start. -adopted the Compre- hensive Sexual Education Plan for 2018-2024, which outlines standards concern- ing sexual health, disease prevention, promotion of mental, social and emo- tional health, violence and suicide prevention, includ- ing textbooks. With adop- tion, the plan also explains district policy and state laws associated with health instruction, outlines stan- dards by grade level tied to the four areas, offers guide- lines for parent/community involvement and who to contact with questions, includes parent opt-out let- ters and is reviewed and ap- proved by the school board every two years. According to the district, the Health Adoption Committee met with community members in all three communities the last week of February to explain legislation, docu- mentation, standards, cur- riculum and answer ques- tions. “In each community we had great questions and feedback from community members,” said the district. -approved the school budget calendar. -learned of a vacancy 2018-19 budget commit- tee for Position 2, which expires June 30, 2019. Cur- rent members include: Tom Wolff, Position 1, expires June 30, 2018, Amy Muel- ler, Position 3, expires June 30, 2018, Janet Dezellem, Position 4, expires June 30, 2020, Shannon Boor, Position 5, expires June 30, 2020, Rita VanSchoi- ack, Position 6, expires June 30, 2018, and Loren Dieter, Position 7, expires June 30, 2018. Budget committee members are ap- pointed by board members and serve for a three-year term. The board voted to delay appointment to the budget committee until the next meeting when a proposed candidate has decided whether or not to accept the appointment. -accepted and appropri- ated unanticipated revenues as follows: Heppner El- ementary Associated Stu- dent Body: $3,310 from the Howard and Beth Bryant Foundation to the Hep- pner Elementary Chess club; $691.60 from the PGE Employee Giving Cam- paign, Heppner Elementary School General ASB; Ir- rigon Jr./Sr. High School ASB: $500 from Umatilla Electric to Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School Football Pro- gram; $500 from the Bank of Eastern Oregon to the Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School Football Program. -held an executive ses- sion to consider the dis- missal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charg- es brought against a public officer, employee, staff member or agent. Follow- ing the executive session, the board reconvened to terminate the employment of Windy River Elementary School sixth-grade teacher Robert Weems who was arrested in The Dalles for multiple counts of sexual abuse in the second and third degrees. He had been hired to teach at Windy River July 1. -heard the following announcements: end of quarter March 15; spring break, March 26-30; next regular board meeting, April 9, Irrigon Elementary. Bob Baker Memorial to be held in Ione The 14 th annual Bob Baker Memorial will be held Saturday, Mar. 24 at the Ione American Legion hall. Doors open at 5 p.m. for the bake sale and the sandwich and salad bar meal. The games will be Texas Hold ‘Em, Poker, Bingo and Bunco as well as a rifle and beef raffle. Sign-up will start at 6 p.m. with play to begin at 6:30. The poker buy-in is $40 and players are allowed to re-buy until 7:30 p.m. Bunco buy-in is $10 and raffle tickets will be sold for $1 each or six for $5. Bingo will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Bunco from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The rifle being raffled this year is a .22 long rifle lever action repeater. There will be two beef raffles, each for one-half beef, cut and wrapped. Beverages at the fund- raiser will be provided by Bucknum’s. Raffle tickets are available at the Ione Market, MCGG in Ione, from Legion and Auxiliary members and at the door. NRCS announces deadline The NRCS is accepting applications for the Envi- ronment Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through March 16 th . EQIP focus areas are forest health in the Kahler watershed, Russian olive control in the Board- man area, forest health in Penland Lake and Blake’s Ranch locations and post- harvest pest management south of Ione. If you are located with- in these areas and are in- terested in EQIP assistance please call the Heppner NRCS field office at 541- 676-5021. WE PRINT! Business Forms Business Cards T T h h e e G NO. CODE T STREE G READIN NO. E METER SERVIC May ST T AMOUN April MED CONSU T STREE March G READIN Feb. MONTH June Jan. May Dec. April Oct. Feb. ieb S. Gr ge Rd Jan. ia bing Ran 39 Virgin 75 Bom OR 978 Dec. Nov. 705 on, Lexingt Oct. Sept. Aug. July June ke stu UB Mac rs ww b@go LEW hine w.g IS old ldcati nd ca tin du ustrie str ies s.c 85 .co om 989-85 m He (541) media.net P.O ach Ce pp . Ho ll (54 ner, @m OR Box me virginia (54 1) 37 97 33 83 1) 67 7-205 6 6-9 26 6 ION 1 Jim Nov March n old Cat Su pe r ld Re High co ve -Ban ry Go MONTH June MER CONSU Letterhead & Envelopes Swa nso Hom E, OR e: Cell: 541- 422 97843 541-56 -71 1-4314 62 Crop Ins urance n Pine it Unio Cred ral rs Since 1960 k Fede Membe Our Cree Serving 8 Box • P.O. 97886 N. 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