FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 11, 2020
FFA Students highlight
backpack program at school
board meeting
Heppner High School
FFA students highlighted
their Backpack Program at
Monday’s Morrow Coun-
ty School Board meeting
at Heppner Jr./Sr. High
School. Students in the
program collect food to be
sent home with children in
backpacks, so the students
and their families have
food over the weekends
and long breaks. They have
also instigated a “Make and
Take” program in which
FFA members and students
make meals together and
then the ingredients are sent
home for the students and
their families to make. The
programs have received lo-
cal, statewide and national
accolades.
The FFA students, led
by HJSHS teacher and ag
advisor Beth Dickenson,
have collected over 275
pounds of donated food,
including canned food,
cereal, mac and cheese and
other foods, which they
store in their “backpack
room” until needed.
Also at the meeting,
Heppner football team
members introduced them-
selves to the board and were
congratulated for their 2A
championship win.
The board heard a
“Bonds 101” presentation
concerning vital informa-
tion on bond passage from
Lauren MacMillan, of Pip-
er, Sandler & Company.
The school district is plan-
ning to send a bond issue
to the voters in May of
2021. An advisory work-
shop by the DLR Group is
planned for tonight (March
11) at Heppner Elementary
School.
In other business the
board:
-viewed presentations
from Andrea Nelson on
the S.O.S. program and
granted a travel request
from HJSHS teacher Dave
Fowler and TSA students
to attend a TSA conference.
-received the March
enrollment report as fol-
lows: A.C. Houghton, Ir-
rigon-232, Sam Boardman
Elementary-349, Heppner
Elementary-184, Irrigon
Elementary-212, Windy
River Elementary, Board-
man-265, Heppner Jr./Sr.
High School-143, Irrigon
Jr./Sr. High School-358,
Riverside Jr./Sr. High
School, Boardman-463,
Morrow Education Center,
Irrigon-63, total-2,269.
Boardman community
schools are up 20 students,
from 1,057 in March of
2019 to 1,077 this year;
Heppner schools are down
10 students from 337 to
327; Irrigon schools are
down 41 students from 843
to 801; Morrow Education
Center gained six students
from 57 to 63; and the
district total student popu-
lation lost 25 students, from
2,294 to 2,269.
-learned that 133 of
the district staff approved
starting the school year
with a pre-Labor Day start,
compared to 47 selecting a
post-Labor Day start. The
district has traditionally
followed the staff’s pref-
erence of starting before
Labor Day.
-approved the follow-
ing employment action:
resignations/non-renew-
als-Brandon Hammond,
Sam Boardman Elemen-
tary principal, Alexandra
Hobbs, Irrigon Elemen-
tary sixth grade teacher,
Crystal Marquez Lemus,
Sam Boardman Elemen-
tary ed assistant, all at the
end of the 2019-20 school
year, and Hilaree Vander-
pas, Riverside Jr./Sr. High
School assistant softball
coach, retirements-Tom
Coffelt, RJSHS head custo-
dian, March 10, Bruce Ker-
nal, SBE assistant custodi-
an, June 4; employment/
promotions/transfers-Jerry
Bair, full-time assistant cus-
todian, Toni Stanger, assis-
tant custodian, both ACH;
Danielle Hoeft, temporary
ed assistant and Chelsea
Matheny, K-1 teacher, both
Heppner Elementary; Jill
Ledbetter, vice principal
and Doashea Qualls, life
skills/special ed, both SBE
2020-21; Ofelia Cisneros
Zavalza, Care coordina-
tor, IES/ACH, Christopher
Hardcastle, assistant cus-
todian/bus driver, Irrigon,
Kaira Rysdam, principal,
IES 20/21; Toni Stanger,
assistant custodian, ACH;
extra duty contracts-Kasey
Kroske, assistant baseball
coach, Tiffany Locey, junior
high head track coach, both
IJSHS, Skyler Wightman,
assistant softball coach,
RJSHS.
-approved the fol-
lowing licensed employ-
ment action for 2020-21
(Heppner schools listed
only): Heppner Jr./Sr. High
School-Mayme Jill Miller,
counselor, Katelyn Ad-
ams, special education;
Heppner Elementary-Chel-
sea Matheny, fifth grade;
2019-20 contract teachers
recommended for extension
2020-21 Heppner Elemen-
tary-Lynn Calvert, Melissa
Coiner, Rick Drake, Sue
Gibbs, Sarah Matheny, Jo-
selyn Piper, Jeremy Rosen-
balm, Madison Rosenbalm,
Sybil Stewart, Marissa
Turner; Heppner Jr./Sr.
High School-Jean Col-
lins, Beth Dickenson, Rick
Drake, John Flaherty, Dave
Fowler, Greg Grant, Troy
Morgan, Andrea Nelson,
Jason Palmer, Petra Payne
and Jeremy Rosenbalm.
-adopted a resolution
accepting and appropriat-
ing unanticipated revenue
as follows: Heppner Jr./Sr.
High School-$1,000-ASB
from the Bank of Eastern
New Baby in Your Family?
Engagement?
Oregon; Riverside Jr./Sr.
High School-$19,550 from
the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation; and Sam Boardman
Elementary-$1,082.66 from
the Benevity Community
Impact Fund.
-approved a budget
resolution to appropriate
the following changes in
the special revenue funds
as follows: Revenue: lo-
cal revenue-$2,287,914,
up $200,00; state rev-
enue-$881,950, up
$266,325, federal reve-
nue-$2,669,103, up
$170,610 interfund trans-
fers-$1,341,000,beginning
fund balance-$2,238,889,
total-$9,418,856, up
$636,935; Appropriations:
instruction-$4,375,576,
up $621,935, support
services-$1,352,117, up
$15,000; enterprise and
community-$$1,242,274;
contingencies-$2,448,889,
total-$9,418,856, up
$636,935.
-approved the first
reading of rescinded, new
or revised policies on stu-
dent discipline, suspen-
sion-rescind, suspension.
-adopted rescinded,
new or revised policies as
follows: reporting suspend-
ed child abuse, minutes of
board meetings, workplace
harassment, rescinded drug
and alcohol testing-trans-
portation personnel, drug
and alcohol testing and
record query-transporta-
tion personnel, personal
electronic devices and so-
cial media-staff, rescinded
cyberbullying, reporting of
suspected sexual conduct
with students, compulsory
attendance, admission of
resident students, rescinded
cyberbullying, expulsion,
medications, rescinded re-
porting of suspected abuse
of a child, reporting of
suspended abuse of a child,
rescinded reporting require-
ments regarding sexual
conduct with students, re-
porting requirements for
suspended sexual conduct
with students, public com-
plaints.
-adopted new, revised
or rescinded administrative
rules as follows: work place
harassment reporting and
procedure, suspected sexual
conduct report procedures
and form, medications,
rescinded reporting of sus-
pected child abuse, report-
ing of suspended abuse of
a child, rescinded sexual
conduct complaint form,
suspected sexual conduct
report procedures and form.
-approved the school
district’s comprehensive
sexuality education plan.
-approved the OSAA
cooperative sponsorship of
boys’ tennis for Riverside
and Irrigon high schools.
-heard the following
announcements-bond ad-
visory workshop #5 at Hep-
pner Elementary, March 11;
end of third quarter, March
19; spring break, March
23-27; next board meeting,
Monday, April 13, Irrigon
Elementary.
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188 W Willow Street
Heppner, OR
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AT 5PM
Oregon election security
never stronger
Information provided by
Morrow County Clerk
Bobbi Childers
Election security is a
big discussion topic for the
2020 elections. The 2016
election saw the use of mis-
information used in con-
nection with elections like
never before. We know that
no votes were changed in
2016 and we also know that
one state voter registration
database was compromised.
In Oregon in 2016, adver-
saries tried to get into our
voter registration system
and we stopped them. Our
voting systems were very
secure in 2016, but there is
more we are doing to make
them even more secure for
2020.
For 2020 misinforma-
tion is the biggest threat to
elections. While we make
efforts to educate Orego-
nians so they are not fooled
by misinformation, we are
also continually improving
the physical and cyber secu-
rity of our election systems.
In February the Secre-
tary of State partnered with
the US Attorney and FBI to
host an Election Security
Symposium. There were
over 160 attendees that
encompassed local election
officials, members of the
legislature, candidates and
federal and state partners.
The symposium included
information on election
security risks and threats as
well as tools and strategies
to minimize and combat
those risks and threats.
Speakers came from the
FBI, Department of Home-
land Security, Cybersecuri-
ty and Infrastructure Secu-
rity Agency, representatives
from Deloitte and Touche
and Facebook, as well as
the Oregon Titan Fusion
Center. The event is being
modeled as a best practice
for the country.
In 2018 the Oregon
TIGER (Threat Informa-
tion Gathering and Elec-
tion Resources) Team was
born. The goal of the team
is to identify threats and
vulnerabilities to Oregon’s
election system and to work
together using the resources
of federal, state, and local
governments to mitigate
those threats and vulner-
abilities. Members of the
TIGER Team consist of
the Oregon Elections Di-
vision, US Cybersecurity
and Infrastructure Security
Agency, Oregon Emergen-
cy Management, Oregon
Chief Information Officer-
Cyber Security Services,
Oregon National Guard,
Oregon Titan Fusion Cen-
ter, and FBI.
As part of the work
of the TIGER Team, the
Department of Homeland
Security has been conduct-
ing onsite assessments at
each of Oregon’s 36 county
election offices. They are
assessing physical and cy-
ber threats and vulnerabili-
ties. Actions are then taken
to mitigate those vulnera-
bilities that are identified.
Each of the counties have
also been trained on strong
passwords and to be cau-
tious of clicking on links.
The Elections Division has
conducted phishing cam-
paigns targeting the coun-
ties to further help them
learn how to avoid practices
that could leave our systems
vulnerable.
In preparation for this
year’s elections, an exercise
was conducted for all of
the counties at their annual
conference last summer
simulating attacks on our
elections. During the sim-
ulation exercise, official
election websites were be-
ing hacked. Disinformation
was being spread on social
media. Electrical power
and communications went
down. There was also train-
ing on avoiding phishing
attempts and strengthening
passwords. This exercise
helped us be more prepared
in case we are attacked.
The Secretary of State’s
office has multiple lay-
ers of defense controls,
including hardware and
software designed to pre-
vent cybercriminals from
gaining access or misusing
our systems. We have hired
cybersecurity professionals
to maintain and defend our
election systems. We con-
tinue to improve security
processes and protections
for all systems.
All 36 Oregon coun-
ties are members of the
Elections Infrastructure
Information Sharing and
Analysis Center (EI-ISAC).
The EI-ISAC was estab-
lished to support the cyber-
security needs of election
administrators. Through
the EI-ISAC, election agen-
cies gain access to an elec-
tions-focused cyber defense
suite, including incident
response and remediation,
threat and vulnerability
monitoring, cybersecuri-
ty awareness and training
products, and tools for im-
plementing security best
practices. These are all
things election adminis-
trators have had to learn
over the past 5 years as we
are now on the front lines
of defending democracy
against attacks.
The security of Ore-
gon’s election systems has
never been stronger. We
thwarted efforts to com-
promise our system in 2016
and are in an even stronger
position now to combat
any attacks on our election
systems. Security systems
are never finished and need
to continue to be improved
and modernized. We will
continue to implement best
practices to protect our
election systems and you
can have confidence your
vote is secure.
Chamber Chatter
Now through March
20, Morrow County is hold-
ing a junk vehicle clean-
up program for the entire
county. Types of vehicles
allowed are cars, pickup,
motorcycles, flatbed trail-
ers and utility trailers. The
price will be at a reduced
rate and the amount will
be decided on a case by
case basis. Morrow Coun-
ty deputies will be on the
lookout for these types
of vehicles on properties
and will contact the land-
owner about possible code
violations. Those interest-
ed in taking advantage of
this program, contact the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office 24-hour dispatch at
541-676-5317. Names, ad-
dresses and phone numbers
will be added to a list to be
contacted by a deputy to
arrange pickup.
Tuesdays at 7 a.m.,
Weekly Video Conference
Session with Morrow/Uma-
tilla County House and Sen-
ate Representatives. Local
Chambers from Boardman,
Heppner, Hermiston and
Boardman have coordinat-
ed a Weekly Legislative
Video Conference Meet-
ing with Morrow/Umatilla
Counties Oregon House
Representatives Greg Bar-
reto and Greg Smith and
Senate Representative Bill
Hansell. The video confer-
ence session will be held
during the short session,
starting every Tuesday at 7
a.m. from Tuesday, Febru-
ary 4 to the end and possi-
bly wrap up calls in March.
Heppner video conference
will be held in the upper
conference room of the
Bartholomew Building.
Please join us and keep up
to date with the discussions
that are going on at the State
Capitol.
March 11 at 6:30 p.m.,
Crafty Nights at the Hep-
pner Library. This craft
night is for adult crafters
only and you will be making
a holiday Gnome. Register
online at https://oregontrail.
ploud.net/ or contact the
library at 541-676-9964 for
more information.
Thursday, March 12
through Sunday, March 15,
38 th Annual St. Patrick’s
“Wee Bit O’ Ireland” cele-
bration. See the schedule in
this week’s issue of the G-T.
Friday, May 15 at 12
p.m., Morrow and Gilliam
County Crop Tour. Meet at
Starvation Farms, 73117
Strawberry Lane, Lexing-
ton. This is a bus tour and
will hold seating for 58.
There will be direct seed
drill demonstrations, OSU
and USDA Plot Tours. Live
music from the Corey Peter-
son Band and dinner to fol-
low. Sponsored by PNDSA,
OSU Extension, Morrow
and Gilliam Wheat Grow-
ers. For more information
or to RSVP contact Larry
Lutcher or Erin Heideman
at OSU Extension office at
541-676-9642.
Friday, March 20, 9
a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Free
In-Person Tax Preparation
Service at the Lexington
Town Hall. AARP Foun-
dation Tax-Aide offers free
tax preparation to anyone
of any age – especially if
you are 50 or older or can’t
afford paid tax preparation.
AARP membership is not
required. There are no
scheduled appointments,
it is first come first served.
Be sure to bring your ID,
social security cards and
last year’s tax forms.
Friday, March 27 from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., “In Her
Shoes” presented by Do-
mestic Violence Services,
Inc. at Good Shepherd
Medical Center Confer-
ence Rooms 1 and 2. Come
anytime during the event
and walk in the shoes of a
victim of Domestic or Sex-
ual Violence. Registration
available via EventBrite,
by calling 541-667-3509
or healthinfo@gshealth.org
for more info.
Friday, July 17-Sunday,
July 19, Heppner High
School class of 1965 will
be sponsoring a “splendor
of the 60’s” class reunion.
Event schedule and activ-
ities are being organized.
There will be a no host
fellowship Friday evening,
dinner and music on Satur-
day evening; Shot gun golf
will be held on Saturday at
noon at the Willow Creek
Country Club. Everyone
is invited to help make
it happen. Contact Stuart
Dick at 541-377-5451 or
Ken Evans.
Have a news story or photo for the Gazette? e-mail editor@rapidserve.net
call 541-676-9228 or stop by the office on Willow St., Heppner Today