Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 EDUCATION Groundbreaking for Umatilla school renovations STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY A crowd of about 4,400 people watched the Hermiston High School Class of 2018 graduate Thursday, June 7 at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. New graduation venue had pros, cons District begins to consider location for next year’s ceremony By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER The Hermiston School District wrapped up its first out-of-state graduation on June 7, successfully get- ting 342 students across the stage at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Now, school officials are taking stock of the event, and considering their options going forward. Though most acknowl- edged that the high school gymnasium could no longer hold the growing graduating classes, many debates pre- ceded the move to a Wash- ington state graduation, including looking at hold- ing the ceremony at several Hermiston venues, such as Kennison Field or the East- ern Oregon Trade and Event Center, before the school board voted 6-1 to move the ceremony across the river. Hermiston High School principal Tom Spoo said he was satisfied with the cere- mony, and that things had gone largely as planned. “Almost to a T,” he said. “The only thing that didn’t go the way I intended was simply time. The kids ended up speaking a little longer than anticipated, I went a little longer. Outside that, it went well.” Spoo said he started the ceremony a few min- utes late because of another unexpected issue — traffic coming from Hermiston to Kennewick. “We didn’t anticipate it being that bad,” he said. “The kids got there a lit- tle late. We were ready to go by seven, but I felt that there were still parents that weren’t there.” The other issue, he said, was getting the crowd of more than 4,000 reunited with their graduates after the ceremony. “The reception outside was unbelievably crowded,” he said. “We would need to plan that differently.” Spoo said he, the board and interim superintendent Tricia Mooney have yet to discuss where they will hold graduation next year. “I think we assess,” he said. “That decision has not taken place, and I don’t know when it will.” Spoo said he and Mooney did a lot of planning lead- ing up to the event, both in training the students and collaborating with Wash- ington schools superinten- dents that already held their graduations at the center. “I was very keen on wanting this to go very well,” Spoo said. “No mat- ter how well it goes, there’s always going to be naysay- ers. So I was very adamant with the kids that I wanted this to go well, and we wanted to be respectful.” Spoo said with many logistical issues, they had to start from scratch. “Transportation was a big, big deal,” Spoo said. “It’s not something we’d ever dealt with at gradua- tion before. I can’t tell you how many times I changed the leave times, the load times.” They also had to provide transportation for the band and its equipment, as well as for families who didn’t have a way to get up there. He said about 20 family members rode the bus that the district provided. He said they had to make certain changes to the cer- emony as well, which included some slightly stricter rules. “We’ve always kind of allowed the kids to be kids again, throw their caps and use silly string. But up there, it’s not something that was allowed. In many cases, they go right from one grad- uation to another,” he said. “I worked on the seniors all year, that this isn’t our house.” Spoo said they compro- mised, and as the seniors STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL Supporters of Umatilla School District pose with a golden shovel in front of Clara Brownell Middle School on Thursday to mark the start of construction on Umatilla schools. turned their tassels, admin- istrators tossed several beach balls into the sea of graduates. “We wanted to do some- thing fun,” he said. While the Toyota Center handled most of the setup, including providing chairs for the graduates and podi- ums for the speakers, there were some changes in the procedure, including the way the graduates were pho- tographed, and coordinating with the Project Graduation planners, who host the class graduation party. Some factors unique to the Toyota Center came into play, too. Audience mem- bers could get up during the ceremony and purchase snacks and drinks. Spoo said he hadn’t considered whether that was a distraction from the ceremony. “Maybe because I wasn’t thinking about that piece of it,” he said. “I saw peo- ple moving, but any kind of noise never bothered me.” The ceremonial start to bond construction at Uma- tilla schools began Thurs- day at Clara Brownell Mid- dle School in Umatilla with a groundbreaking. The project was paid for by a $10 million bond the community passed in 2016, $800,000 extra cash raised by selling the bonds at a premium and $4 million in matching state funds. The district structured the bonds so that taxpay- ers will pay their current rate longer than previously expected, but will not see an increase in that rate. “We really worked hard to only ask for what we really needed,” superinten- dent Heidi Sipe said. Visit us online at www.HermistonHerald.com Get that Summer Break feeling in a new Toyota! School district narrows scope of potential bond projects By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER A group of commu- nity members and district employees trying to help the Hermis- ton School District come up with its next bond request has narrowed their options down. Stacey Stanek and Phil Hamm, co-chairs of the Hermiston School District Facilities Planning Commit- tee, presented two “project mixes” to the school board June 11 and asked the board to approve the facility mas- ter plan. Project mix “A” has four goals: replacing Rocky Heights Elementary School, renovating Sandstone Mid- dle School, renovating Highland Hills Elemen- tary School and expanding Hermiston High School. Project mix “B” has all the same projects as “A,” with one exception. Instead of renovating Highland Hills, project mix “B” calls for replacing the school. District Operations Man- ager Brad Wayland said the board would now review the information presented to them, and likely ask him for more details about the potential costs, and what a bond structure would look like for each of these projects. “I anticipate several months of back and forth between myself, the board and Superintendent (Tricia) Mooney,” he said. Wayland said the goals of the facilities planning com- mittee were to update the district’s facilities master plan, determine short- and long-term capital projects, and develop and recom- mend a potential bond pack- age to the board. “I anticipate several months of back and forth between myself, the board and Superintendent” Brad Wayland, District Operations Manager After making presenta- tions to parent and com- munity organizations, the committee held two pub- lic meetings where people could come and ask ques- tions about the potential projects. The committee then voted on a list of prior- ities based on their research. “Number one was replac- ing Rocky Heights, and number two was renovat- ing Sandstone,” committee co-chair Stacey Stanek told the board. Stanek said the third pri- ority was building a new elementary school, and fourth was expanding the high school. But Wayland said that looking at finances, build- ing a new elementary school would have limited the dis- trict’s ability to complete the first two projects. There- fore, the committee voted on a pool of 13 different project mixes. “The committee rapidly realized we didn’t know the exact numbers of what we could spend, but had ballpark figures of what to spend to keep taxes stable,” he said. At the school board meeting Monday, the com- mittee members said project mix “A” had an estimated cost of around $67 million, and project mix “B” had a projected cost of between $75 million and $90 million. “Without a stable tax rate, we can’t really do proj- ect mix ‘B,’” Stanek said. Wayland said he didn’t know what the exact cost of each project would be, because the numbers were based on current dollar val- ues, and didn’t factor in inflation. At Clara Brownell ren- ovations will include new plumbing, electrical wir- ing, HVAC system, floor- ing, windows and roofing. At McNary Heights Ele- mentary School construc- tion will include a new office and new standalone gym so that the old gym can be a dedicated cafe- teria, giving more time for eating and physical education. All three Umatilla schools will also receive new front entrances with upgraded security. Every- thing but the new gym and new office at McNary is expected to be done before school starts in the fall. Construction on the gym is expected to wrap up in December. HERMISTON HERALD CARS 2018 Gas or Hybrid 2018 60 mo. 0 . 9 % APR 60 mo. 1 . 9 % APR OR $2,000 Cash Back AWD SUVS LEASE A NEW 2018 XLE mo. 36 mos. Security $ 3,599 2018 $ 309 Excludes Hybrid 60 mo. 0 . 9 % APR $ 0 Deposit Due at Signing OR $2,000 Cash Back 4X4 TRUCKS 2018 TRD $ 299 $ 0 Security Deposit CrewMax Excludes TRD Pro LEASE A NEW 2018 Off-Road Double Cab Excludes TRD Pro mo. 36 mos. $ 2,349 60 mo. 0 . 9 % APR OR $1,750 Cash Back Due at Signing BuyAToyota.com Every new Toyota comes with All financing on approved credit through TFS. All vehicles subject to prior sale. All prices plus tax and title. Dealer doc fees vary by dealer. For more details call 1-888-21-TOYOTA. Offers end 7/9/18.
