EDUCATION
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Poverty level estimates change federal funding
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
Drops in poverty level
estimates between 2015 and
2016 resulted in less federal
funding for some local rural
districts this year, including
Hermiston.
During the last fi scal year,
the district was eligible for
more than $85,000 from
the Title V Rural and Low
Income Schools grant. This
year, they weren’t eligible at
all, stunning offi cials at the
school district.
“This came as a surprise
to us,” said Assistant Super-
intendent Bryn Browning.
“We’ve gotten it for eight or
nine years.”
Funds from the grant are
typically distributed between
the schools in the district, and
go toward hiring substitutes
for teachers that miss school
for professional and leader-
ship development opportuni-
ties, Browning said.
She added since the dis-
trict learned it was ineligible
Dirksen
Browning
to receive the grant for the
2019-20 school year, profes-
sional development opportu-
nities were put to a halt.
“We’ll have to fi gure out
other possible ways to do
these programs,” she said.
Browning said the district
would look into using other
state funding, or dip into
general funds in the future.
“We’re not going to count
on the grant,” she said.
“This will impact conversa-
tions moving forward about
where professional develop-
ment fi ts in.”
The Rural and Low
Income Schools grant is a
federal formula grant with
two major criteria — school
districts must be in a rural
area, and at least 20% of
the children ages 5 to 17
Hermiston school board approves
bond projects manager
HERMISTON HERALD
The Hermiston School
Board approved a project
manager for the 2019 bond
projects this week.
“This is a very exciting
day,” said second vice chair
Ginny Holthus.
District
superinten-
dent Tricia Mooney rec-
ommended Wenaha Group
Incorporated to the board
during the school board’s
Dec. 9 meeting. She said
the project management
and consulting fi rm was
the lone applicant during
the request for proposal
process.
“Wenaha Group has
partnered with Hermiston
School District for quite a
while,” board chairwoman
Karen Sherman said. “I
was excited when I heard
they put in for request for
proposal.”
Dave Fischel, current
vice president of Wenaha
Group, was project man-
ager for the 2008 bond
projects, according to a
recent press release from
the district.
Wenaha Group provided
a facilities assessment for
the Umatilla School Dis-
trict, which completed con-
struction projects from a
$10.5 million bond in June.
The
Pendleton-based
fi rm has also worked with
the Milton-Freewater and
Pendleton school districts,
as well as the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, accord-
ing to its website.
Voters approved the dis-
trict’s $82.7 million bond in
November. Bond projects
include the replacement of
Rocky Heights Elementary
School and the construction
of a new elementary school.
served by the agency must
come from families with
incomes below the poverty
line, according to the Oregon
Department of Education.
This year, 33 fewer school
districts in Oregon fi t the bill
than during the 2018 school
year, although fi ve did gain
eligibility. La Grande School
District received more than
$35,000 in Title V funding
during the last school year,
but none this year.
“The Oregon local educa-
tional agencies that were not
eligible in (2019), after being
eligible in (2018), were all
ineligible because their pov-
erty level decreased to below
20 percent,” an offi cial from
the U.S. Department of Edu-
cation stated in an email to
the Hermiston Herald.
The U.S. Department of
Education uses the most cur-
rent available data from the
U.S. Census Bureau’s Small
Area Income and Poverty
Estimates available to deter-
mine which agencies make
the cut.
This year’s funding was
determined by 2016 esti-
mates, which showed a
decline in poverty rates that
some administrators found
surprising.
In Hermiston, the 2015
poverty estimates put the
district at 24.4% of students
coming from low income
families. The 2016 estimates
put that number just under
17%.
Next year’s eligibility
will be determined by 2017’s
poverty rates, according to
the U.S. Department of Edu-
cation. In 2017, Hermiston’s
estimated rate showed just
over 17% of students came
from families with incomes
below the poverty line.
“But our need seems to be
growing,” Browning said.
And according to 2018
U.S. Census Bureau esti-
mates, she’s not wrong. The
district’s poverty rate neared
20% last year.
Last year, the Mor-
row County School Dis-
trict received an allotment
of more than $33,000 from
the Rural and Low Income
Schools grant. And accord-
ing to Superintendent Dirk
Dirksen, the district has
received funds since he took
on his current position in
2011.
“We use the rural schools
grant for teacher profes-
sional development as well
as Friday school and sum-
mer school activities that we
do,” he said. “As we process
in working through this, it’s
kind of a balancing game.”
Dirksen said the district
will dip into general funds,
and hopefully utilize Student
Success Act funding to fi ll
the gap.
“It was a surprise to me,”
he said. “I know the Title
programs are always up and
down.”
Dirksen pointed out that
fi ve of the district’s schools
have high rates of low
income students that make
them part of Oregon’s Com-
munity Eligibility Provisions
program. The CEP makes
lunch free for all students at
those schools.
“Homelessness is obvi-
ously up,” he added.
The district recorded 126
students as homeless last
year, an increase of 20 from
the year prior.
Ultimately, 24 Oregon
school districts were allo-
cated Rural and Low Income
Schools funding. Last year,
the state allocated funds to
46.
Many of the districts eli-
gible for the grant this year,
including Athena-Weston,
were also eligible for
the Small, Rural School
Achievement Program for
districts with smaller pop-
ulations and opted for that
funding instead, according
to the Oregon Department of
Education.
Poverty estimates for
2018 from the U.S. Census
Bureau put Oregon’s pov-
erty level below the 17%
national average, at 14.3%.
Umatilla County’s 2018
estimate was at 19.8%.
High schoolers win Congressional App Challenge
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
The offi ce of U.S. Repre-
sentative Greg Walden rec-
ognized a team of four high
schoolers this week as win-
ners of the 2019 Congressio-
nal App Challenge for Ore-
gon’s District 2.
Seniors Rogelio Lemus,
JJ Fitzgerald, Laine Whelan
and junior Adamaryz Lopez
Naverette won the compe-
tition for their creation of
an application known as
FINANA (Finances Incor-
porated Nationally Allowing
Non-profi t Automation).
According to a press
release recently issued by
the school district, the app
assists non-profi ts in fund-
raising efforts by allowing
users to inventory their pro-
ceeds and acts as a point of
sale system.
“It’s a web app that
allows many non-profi t
organizations to manage
Contributed photo by Hermiston School District
Seniors (right to left) JJ Fitzgerald, Laine Whelan, Rogelio Lemus
and junior Adamaryz Lopez Naverette won the Congressional
App Challenge for Oregon’s District 2 this week.
their fundraising using an
SQL database to store and
track all items being sold,”
Lemus said in a video used
to explain the application.
The four high schoolers
utilized multiple program-
ming languages and two
web servers to create a web
page for the application.
This is the second year in
a row that Hermiston teens
won the App Challenge for
District 2.
Last year Lemus was
a junior when he and
Ethan Orozco developed
BANANA (Basic App
to Notify Authorities of
Non-Authorized
Abduc-
tions), which utilizes facial
recognition technology to
locate missing people.
Lemus got the idea for
FINANA while helping out
with a church fundraiser.
In 2016, Courtney Cash,
Marvin Hozi and Jordan
Liebe were the fi rst high
schoolers to win the Con-
gressional App Challenge.
This year’s winning team
has been invited to a spring-
time reception in Washing-
ton D.C. to show congress
members how FINANA
operates.
“The FINANA app stood
out because it had a great
amount of detailed cod-
ing,” stated Hermiston High
School computer science
teacher, Robert Theriault in
the recent news release.
24 th Annual
Christmas Spirit Award Presentations
Good Shepherd Community
Health Foundation is pleased to announce
Roger & Karen Bounds and Charlie & Carol Clupny
as the 2019 Christmas Spirit Award Recipients.
Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation is pleased to honor Roger & Karen Bounds as
recipients of the 24th Annual Christmas Spirit Award.
This award is given to those who exemplify the Spirit of Christmas by giving of themselves to
others all throughout the year.
Roger & Karen Bounds have a long history of community service in the greater Hermiston area.
They have spent countless hours seeking to help individuals in need or to enhance the ability of
others to be successful.
Karen has participated as a charter member of the Desert Arts Council and chaired many events.
They are both enthusiastic supporters of the Hermiston Warming Station, dedicating countless
hours to help the indigent or underserved of our community. They have provided two buildings
to house the station at various times when there was a need.
Roger & Karen have given many unsolicited and anonymous acts of kindness to those in
need. They quietly support a multitude of non-profit organizations through donations and
contributions, and volunteer the use of their personal skills and abilities to promote education
and literacy within our community.
Their various acts of kindness include visiting the shut-ins, the aged, providing dinners for
the underserved and to those who are grieving. They are examples of benevolent service and
a willingness to dedicate their time and energy to assist others and make the Hermiston
community a great place to live.
It is for these reasons that Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation, which strives to make our community a better place to live, has
selected Roger & Karen Bounds as 2019 Christmas Spirit Award recipients.
Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation is pleased to honor Charlie & Carol Clupny
as recipients of the 24th Annual Christmas Spirit Award.
This award is given to those who exemplify the Spirit of Christmas by giving of themselves to
others all throughout the year.
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Charlie & Carol Clupny are kind, compassionate, and enthusiastic members of our
community who give of their time, talents and resources to various organizations to benefit
others. Their dedication and work ethic has blessed the lives of many community members.
They actively give service to the Lions Club, been avid supporters of the Hermiston High
School band, and volunteered to help individuals in need without hesitation and formal
requests. They exemplify the virtues of integrity, compassion, and caring concern for others
less fortunate.
Both have served the Parkinson’s Support Group that brings comfort and understanding
to those who are afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. Carol has written a book that has been
widely acclaimed in documenting her journey and experiences that has helped others
through this debilitating and life-changing experience. Charlie has been an emcee for various
worthy causes, and is a CASA worker, and both are supporters of Made to Thrive helping the
youth within our community.
You will not find a more kind, loving or gentle couple to grace any community. They do not
seek the limelight but are known for their benevolence by friends and strangers alike.
It is for these reasons that Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation, which strives to
make our community a better place to live, has selected Charlie & Carol Clupny as 2019 Christmas Spirit Award recipients.
The Foundation mission is to enhance the quality of life and general health of residents living in West Umatilla and
Morrow County communities by raising funds and giving to community projects. Good Shepherd Community Health
Foundation reviews funding requests and makes awards for worthwhile projects twice a year.
The next deadline for submitting grant applications to the Foundation is January 31, 2020.
Groups or individuals interested in making a donation or being considered for funding are
encouraged to call the Foundation office at 667-3419.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season.
December 19 & 20
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