A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015
LOCAL WEATHER
DISTRICT
Head Start has experience
in early education programs
for children whose families
continued from page A1
live in poverty, partnering
was ranked 14th lowest in with Head Start to run the
the state for students know- program made sense.
ing letter names and 15th
Smith said the school
lowest for letter sounds. district will pay Head Start
Smith said 60 percent of to run the program. He said
students in the state enter the district has budgeted
school without any formal $180,000 — $90,000 com-
preschool education, and ing from the general fund
he expects that number is and the rest from federal
higher in Hermiston, with 7LWOHJUDQWV²IRUWKH¿UVW
well over half, and closer to year, which includes hiring
three-quarters of Hermiston two teachers and a coordi-
students, not having access nator, as well as paying for
to early education opportu- supplies, remodeling costs
nities.
and transportation services.
“We’ve been exploring Smith estimates continued
this for a number of years,” FRVWV DIWHU WKH ¿UVW \HDU
Smith said of expanding ser- will be about $130,000 to
vices to target 4-year-olds.
$140,000 annually.
While the school district
The current plan is for
has offered Little Steps — two Head Start teachers to
a preschool option offered teach four, half-day classes
once or twice a month for of 20 children — serving
many years — it has been approximately 80 students
unable to expand that pro- from Sept. 1 through June
gram because of space 10, 2016. The curriculum
DQG ¿QDQFLDO FRQVWUDLQWV taught will correspond with
Smith said. By moving the Oregon early learning stan-
district’s
administration dards as well as Hermiston
and support services to School District Essential
another facility in the city, Standards.
one of the three adminis-
Smith said Head Start
trative buildings next to administration has indicat-
Rocky Heights Elementary ed the program has 80 chil-
School — the one where dren from Hermiston on a
the School Board meetings waiting list, and they will
currently take place — will WDUJHW WKRVH VWXGHQWV ¿UVW
be used for the preschool. for the preschool program.
Head Start is leasing the Smith said Head Start staff
other two buildings for its will also determine eli-
own programs.
gibility based on poverty
Smith said the school level because the school
GLVWULFW LV QRZ LQ EHWWHU ¿- district wants to target chil-
nancial position to start dren who do not qualify for
such a program. Because Head Start or whose fam-
CODE
continued from page A1
pilot program focusing on
a team approach to code
enforcement.
Fetter said 1,221 code
violations were reported in
2014, which were handled
solely by the police depart-
ment’s one half-time code
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from other city departments
will assist with certain is-
sues within their areas of
expertise.
“Code enforcement will
still be an activity of the po-
lice department, and we will
still have our primary code
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Marcum, ... (but) we will be
reaching out to other depart-
ments as is necessary to put
emphasis on those things
City Council has deter-
mined are a priority,” Fetter
said. “For example, if there
is an illegal construction
going on ... we would then
coordinate that effort with
the Building Department to
make sure that it came into
compliance.”
Fetter said different de-
partments would contribute
based on each individual
situation.
He said he plans to pri-
oritize several issues to pro-
DFWLYHO\ IRFXV RQ ¿UVW7KH
next step, he said, would be
informing people about the
codes in an effort to gain
voluntary compliance from
offenders.
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educate, so it’s educating
our staff and educating the
public as to what the code
is because, quite honestly,
most people don’t know,”
Fetter said. “... When that
fails, you just keep moving
down the spectrum to cita-
tion and, eventually, some
kind of abatement.”
The city currently has
the ability to hire contrac-
tors to clean up code vio-
lations and place a lien on
the offenders’ property to
cover the cost, Fetter said.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston, who sup-
ports the new team code
enforcement approach, said
the city has claimed about
$26,000 in code enforce-
ment liens during the last
two years.
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of code compliance are
extensive and range from
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reducing health risks from
rodent infestations, as well
as enhancing the aesthetic
appeal of the city.
He said he has previous
experience with code en-
forcement from other jobs,
and he is highly motivated
to make this program suc-
cessful.
“I look at it like it’s a
marathon, not a sprint,” he
said. “There will be some
VKRUWWHUP EHQH¿WV EXW
really, it’s any city’s ability
to be committed to these
values over the long term
because these are ongo-
ing issues. The health of a
community is dependent
on a community’s interest
in taking care of itself. Our
council has recognized that
by giving code enforcement
a very high priority.”
ilies cannot pay for other
area preschool options.
“We’re trying to reach
those kids in most need of
formal training and formal
instruction,” he said.
According to a press
release, in addition to ac-
ademic skills, the center
will provide other care
to students and families,
including screenings, re-
ferrals and resources for
parent education classes in
both English and Spanish.
Smith said, while the center
will be a small step in the
right direction, he wouldn’t
be surprised if there are re-
quests to expand the pro-
gram to accommodate more
students in future years.
“I’m expecting it’s going
to be a program that’s going
to grow in popularity and
interest among our fami-
lies,” he said.
Smith said, despite the
cost of the program, the
district expects the pre-
school will be a worthwhile
investment because studies
show every $1 spent on
pre-kindergarten
educa-
tion pays off eight-fold. In
that regard, Smith said the
district hopes, by offering
preschool, it will recoup
some its costs on the back
end by not having to spend
so much money on reme-
diation for students later in
their education.
“That’ll be our test
and our journey as we dip
our toe in the water with
pre-kindergarten learning
in the Hermiston School
District,” he said.
TAXIS
continued from page A1
has grown from 4,500 to
17,345 during that time, the
exclusive franchise was no
longer necessary and that
competition would provide
better service to patrons.
Hermiston Transit em-
ployee Sean Robinson said,
however, the business was
“barely surviving” now and
that the employees are ded-
icated to serving their cus-
tomers.
Mayor Dave Drotzmann
said he has used Hermiston
Transit on several occasions
and had received satisfactory
service. He said most other
businesses compete in the
free market, and Hermiston
Transit should not be afraid
of competition.
Councilman John Kirwan
agreed.
“Free market society is
the society we live in,” he
said.
Morgan said the licensing
program would set annu-
al fees of $50 per company
and $25 per driver. He said
background checks would
be required. The companies
must provide service for 18
hours per day, which is also
required in the current exclu-
sive agreement, he said.
Morgan said no changes
will be made to the Senior
and Disabled Transit Pro-
gram, for which qualifying
riders can purchase $2 tick-
ets at City Hall for one-way
taxi trips. He said riders will
now be able to choose which
licensed taxi provider in the
city to use for the service,
Today's Weather
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Mix of sun and
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Showers possible.
Highs in the mid 70s
and lows in the up-
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Clouds giving way to
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A few morning show-
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upper 40s.
Sunrise Sunset
5:27 AM 8:19 PM
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64/39
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Hermiston
69/43
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69/44
Burns
61/42
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57/32
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Hi
67
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54
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61
58
66
65
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47
40
43
36
31
45
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47
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rain
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City
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Hermiston
John Day
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Lincoln City
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Hi
60
68
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44
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43
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32
39
30
47
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City
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Portland
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The Dalles
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56
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National Cities
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©2010 American Profile Hometown Content Service
and the city will pay those
companies $6.15 per ticket
redeemed.
In other City Council
news:
• The council opted to
move forward with the city-
owned natural gas utility
that would service Herm-
iston’s southern industrial
area. City Manager Byron
6PLWK VDLG FLW\ RI¿FLDOV
will consult with experts to
better determine the oper-
ating costs for the project.
He said the initial estimate
to construct a transmission
line is $3.2 million and that
Thu
Fri
Sat
5/14
5/15
5/16
5/17
6
High
7
High
6
High
7
High
6
High
The UV Index is measured on a 0 -
11 number scale, with a higher UV
Index showing the need for greater
skin protection.
RI¿FLDOV DUH UHVHDUFKLQJ
funding options, including
money from the state. The
city would also recover
costs cost by charging trans-
mission fees to the industrial
customers. Morgan said the
gas service to the area is cur-
rently “maxed out,” and any
new development that uses
even minimal amounts gas
would require an investment
of about $2 million to up-
grade the capacity with the
current provide, Cascade
Natural Gas. Smith said the
city should take “more of a
leadership role” to ensure
0
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11
the industrial area has the
gas capacity to attract new
investment and jobs.
• In the consent agenda,
FRXQFLOPHPEHUV¿OOHGPXO-
tiple committee positions:
Carleen Flaiz, Margaret
Saylor and Derek Caplinger,
Planning Commission; Joan-
na Hayden and Fred Allen,
Budget Committee; Mike
Botti, Recreation Projects
Fund Advisory Committee;
Hector Ramirez, Hispanic
Advisory Committee; and
David Bothum, Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center
Authority Board.
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