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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2018)
A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018 FROM A1 retained some strategies and many staff members, the way special programs oper- ates is different from the days before it left the Inter- Mountain Educational Ser- vice District (IMESD). It has been nearly four years since Hermiston left the ESD, stating it wanted to have more control over funds the ESD gets from per-student payments from the state. When Hermis- ton left, it took control of its special programs and ser- vices like assessment and evaluation, speech language pathologists (SLPs) and school psychologists. Wilson said staffing lev- els didn’t really change. There are about 30 staff members in special pro- grams. But, he said, the level of access between schools and special educators, as well as the roles of special programs staff, are different. The increased focus on Hermiston let evaluation specialists tailor assess- ments more specifically to each student. Wilson said they discov- ered some of their assess- ments were culturally biased, and a disproportion- ate number of students were being identified as special needs when the issue was actually related to language or culture. “We’ve tried to tailor our assessments to remove as much cultural bias as possi- ble,” he said. But hiring speech lan- guage pathologists and school psychologists is still a challenge for both entities, and Wilson said there tends to be more turnover in those positions. He said the district strug- gled with speech therapy for a while, but quickly real- ized that speech therapy by video, or “teletherapy,” was not working. “Parents resoundingly said it was not effective,” he said. The district now uses an outside agency, called the Hello Foundation, to pro- vide speech therapy, which operates on-site. IMESD superintendent Mark Mulvihill said the ESD still provides several services to Hermiston. The ESD funds pro- grams from a few differ- ent sources. The majority of the programs Hermiston opted out of are covered by the IMESD’s general fund. About 95 percent of that money went to the schools, based on how many students they have enrolled, and about 5 percent goes to the ESD itself. Mulvihill said when Hermiston withdrew, they received about $2.4 million. But the ESD also provides some services that are based on state and federal grants. Hermiston still receives sev- eral services, including for autism, deaf and hard of hearing students, vision and traumatic brain injuries. “We have to serve the kids that reside in those towns, not the districts,” Mulvihill said. Debbie and Angelo Her- rera have a daughter who is now 15, and has received special services in Herm- iston since she was a small child. Angelo said there have been some ups and downs since the switch from the ESD. “The first thing that comes to mind is the turn- over,” he said. “It seems like there’s always an SLP job open.” Previously, he said, their vided a warm place to sleep for 84 individuals. Addie Zumwalt, the board’s vice chair, said she has been vol- unteering at the shelter for the last three years because she believes it provides an important service to the community. “I just like the idea of giving people a warm, safe place to stay,” she said. Board member Steph Jackson said volunteering is easy — it’s mostly just keeping an eye on things and maybe getting some- one a glass of water. “After a while you get in a routine,” she said. Zumwalt, Hill and Jack- son were at the house that hosts the warming sta- tion on Monday night, making preparations for the season. Zumwalt and Hill were hand-letter- ing signs with information about the warming station, while Jackson was stapling together packets of infor- mation and paperwork for the upcoming trainings. They have been work- ing late into the night sorting supplies into tote boxes, setting up rooms and cleaning. “Steph and I have been here until 4 or 5 in the morning after we get our kids to bed, getting things done,” Hill said. She said some compa- nies have provided services such as extermination and HVAC inspection for free. They are still looking for someone willing to grade the gravel driveway and parking lot, and need some volunteers to help finish deep-cleaning the building. While the warming sta- tion serves Hermiston’s homeless population, it is also open to others who temporarily need a warm place to sleep. Hill said in the past they have served people who were traveling through town, got stranded and couldn’t afford a hotel. Families have also shown up after their heat went out. Men and women sleep in separate rooms on thick pads on the floor. The ESD continued from Page A1 thing,” she said. “How to make friends, solve con- flicts, how to calm your body,” she said. “The big- gest difference between this and other classes is that we focus on it every minute of class, even when math is happening.” Though these students spend some or all of their academic time in special- ized classes, they join their grade-level peers for classes like P.E., music, and art. “Whenever we remove a student to a special class- room, we always have a plan to get them back into a tradi- tional classroom,” said B.J. Wilson, Hermiston’s Special Programs director. Beckley said while their strategy has largely stayed the same since she started in Hermiston 18 years ago, a growing number of students need those services. “We look at it more from a trauma-informed lens than before,” she said. “The need for kids dealing with trauma has increased. We have an alarming number of students in the foster care system.” Wilson said to be placed in special programs, a stu- dent has to go through an assessment. If a teacher or parent thinks a child might need special services, the district has evaluation spe- cialists who will determine what services, if any they need to receive. Though Hermiston has HELP continued from Page A1 own schedules by signing up online for shifts they are willing to cover. They can work 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., 7 p.m. to midnight, midnight to 4 a.m. or 4-6:30 a.m. No one ever works alone, and the building has doors that automatically lock when closed. Last year, the Hermis- ton Warming Station pro- STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Educational assistant Lijuan Shen helps sixth-grader Nicole Neustal learn to type Thursday, Nov. 1, at Sandstone Middle School in Hermiston. WE HEAR YOU! daughter had the same SLPs since she was in elementary school. “Now she has a pretty good rapport with the girls,” Debbie said. “But it took a little bit.” Another parent, Branda- lynn Gorman, has had some complaints. She said her son, who is autistic, had been violent with another stu- dent in class, lashing out due to a sensory disorder. After suspending him several times this year, his school attempted to shorten his day. But Gorman said they tried to do so without her permis- sion. She said she was in the middle of working through the situation with the dis- trict, but so far was dissatis- fied with the way things had been going. Wilson said he could not comment on the spe- cific incident. He said some- times staff will recommend a shortened day for a stu- dent if they feel it’s bene- ficial. But he said they will not do so without the input of the parent. Angelo said he doesn’t feel that services are vastly better in Hermiston now, but said they have the potential to be. But he added that some people expect services to improve for their child auto- matically, without advocat- ing for them. “We get involved,” he said. “You can’t just expect things to happen, there’s got to be some follow through.” “But when we talk to spe- cial programs, they’re usu- ally listening,” Debbie said. warming station does not provide meals but does pro- vide hot chocolate, coffee and snacks. The building is only open in the eve- nings — guests have to find somewhere else to spend their days. For more information about volunteering, contact Hill at 541-289-2150. The warming station could also use donations of items such as cleaning supplies, laun- dry supplies, gloves, hand warmers, socks, snacks, hot chocolate and ear plugs. WIN BIG & OFTEN. THIS NOVEMBER! 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