OPINION READER’S FORUM
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2020
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EDITOR’S DESK
Employers and individuals key to slowing COVID-19
A
s Umatilla County’s COVID-
19 numbers continue to grow
by leaps and bounds com-
pared to the rest of Oregon, I’m see-
ing a lot of arguing over
how accurate the num-
bers are, and much less
discussion about what
we can do to protect peo-
ple in our community.
Reducing COVID-
Jade
19’s toll on our commu- McDowell
nity starts with personal NEWS EDITOR
responsibility, of course.
All the laws and inspections in the
world aren’t going to make as much
difference as the way individuals in a
community are choosing to behave.
I said it in a column two months
ago and I will say it again: If you
want businesses in your town to be
able to continue to operate, if you
want schools to be able to open in
the fall, if you want churches to stay
open, you need to do your part by
social distancing, wearing a mask
and staying home when sick.
In the time since I fi rst gave that
advice in this column, it has been
clear that many people in Hermiston
have disregarded it. In mid-June,
Umatilla County Public Health
director Joe Fiumara said the county
had traced many new COVID-19
cases to graduation parties. As cases
have risen more rapidly, the health
department has repeatedly stated
that many cases are being traced
back to people who infected their
co-workers after knowingly show-
ing up to work while sick. And
when I went to a local laundro-
mat last week after the state’s mask
order was already in effect, not a
single other person inside was wear-
ing a mask.
As easy as it is to judge, it is also
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, fi le
A sign outside of Lamb Weston’s Hermiston processing facility thanks the plant’s employees.
important to remember that while
some people are merely acting self-
ishly, others are making calculations
that not everyone has been forced
to make. For someone living pay-
check to paycheck in a job with no
paid sick leave, waking up with a
sore throat may feel like a choice
between risking their co-work-
ers’ health and not being able to put
food on the table for their children.
That’s not a decision we should be
asking anyone to make.
I’ve been encouraged, as I have
reported on workplace outbreaks,
by how many companies have told
me that they are providing paid sick
leave not only for people who test
positive for COVID-19 but also any-
one who was exposed to them, so
that they can protect others by quar-
antining at home.
This is the point of all that contact
tracing and testing that has been set
up: to stop outbreaks in their tracks
by depriving the virus of the opportu-
nity to jump to new hosts.
It is vital that all workplaces in our
community adopt generous COVID-
19 paid leave policies immediately,
along with practices, such as allow-
ing people to work from home when-
ever possible and requiring masks
when people are in the same room
together.
If workplaces are currently one of
the biggest drivers of Umatilla and
Morrow counties’ COVID-19 cases,
then employers can do more to slow
our numbers than anyone else. A paid
sick day today can help avoid a com-
plete shutdown tomorrow.
I’m hearing of people who are
going to the grocery store or running
other errands while they or members
of their household have COVID-19,
because they don’t know how else
to take care of things. If you know
COLUMN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Preparing for an abnormal school year
W
hen I’m asked what the 2020-21
school year will look like, there
are a lot of possible answers.
“Normal” is not one of them.
The percentage and volume
of positive coronavirus cases is
higher in Oregon, and specifi cally
Umatilla County, in the fi rst weeks
of July than it was in the entire
month of March when the state
required us to close our school
Tricia
doors.
Mooney
At that time, our teachers and
staff went above and beyond to
continue delivering an education to our
K-12 students, as well as laptops, inter-
net access, and meals to those who needed
them. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but I’m
proud to say the staff at Hermiston schools
and our community partners made the best
of it.
But despite those best efforts, we
weren’t able to maintain strong educational
contact with many of our most vulnerable
students. I would dare say no school dis-
trict in the state felt the distance learning
model is equal to in-classroom lessons for
the majority of their students.
Working through the Department
of Education’s evolving guidelines for
reopening make it clear that a usual fall
schedule — regular K-12 classroom teach-
ing included — won’t be possible. We
have been given a set of rules at the state
level and asked to make them work locally.
The bad news: Many of our most
vulnerable students and families will
be the most adversely affected by lim-
ited in-person engagement with teach-
ers. Children who most need daily
support, especially in the younger
grades, are the hardest to reach
through online education.
The good news: We’re a commu-
nity that’s always up for a challenge,
and has consistently supported local
education, students and teachers. Whether
it’s cheering on the sidelines of sporting
events, concerts and plays, pitching in sup-
port during fundraisers, or voting to build
new schools to make room for new stu-
dents, this Hermiston community has
stepped up time and again.
That won’t change even as our daily
routines and structures shift. We know we
can count on the support of this commu-
nity to show patience and understanding as
we thread the needle of state mandates and
local needs.
Our goal is to safely return to fi ve-
day, on-site education for every student.
It seems more likely that we will begin
the school year in a hybrid format, where
staggered schedules and prioritization of
younger grades will be in place. It is far
easier to connect remotely with middle-
and high-school students than elementary
students.
We will continue to offer courses
through Hermiston Online for students
who wish to learn from home and make
every effort to ensure technological access
for students without.
It’s in the best interest of this commu-
nity for school to resume in full, as safely
and soon as possible. Every hour of lost
classroom time has a tangible impact on
a student’s academic prospects. We are at
risk of severely damaging a generation of
graduates — one of the state’s top mea-
sures for success — if we can’t keep up
with benchmarks in reading, math, and
science.
Schools are tasked with not only pro-
viding an education, but keeping children
healthy. That includes providing a safe
learning environment, ensuring clean facil-
ities, and protecting the physical and men-
tal health of our students.
For those reasons, we have to make sure
we’re doing what we can as a community
to limit the exposure rate of COVID-19
and stay healthy. We owe it to our students
and their future.
Tricia Mooney is the superintendent of
Hermiston School District.
CORRECTIONS
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VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 27
Chris Rush | Publisher • crush@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2669
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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someone who is sick or has sick fam-
ily members, please consider reach-
ing out and asking if there is any-
thing you can drop off on their porch
for them.
When it comes to masks, I am
also hearing that some people are not
wearing one because they do not have
access to one, or a family is shar-
ing one or two masks between all of
them, meaning not everyone can be
masked if they go out together.
Not everyone knows how to sew
or has the money to purchase masks.
But given how well people rose to
the occasion when it was health care
workers experiencing the shortage
of PPE, I feel confi dent that Herm-
iston and surrounding communities
can make sure that people who can’t
afford a mask will have access to one
anyway.
Let’s work together to help keep
our communities safe.
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People with disabilities have value
To the editor:
Thank you for your insightful and
thoughtful editorial regarding ableism.
Your column resembles recent conversa-
tions that I have had with my wife, Nancy
Peterson, who is a disability activist and a
retention specialist at a local college.
Through her work and personal life,
Nancy encounters people who struggle. As
she also lives with a set of disabilities that
sometimes leaves her bedridden or puts
her in the hospital, her work is taxing. She
continues to work hard because she is car-
ing, intelligent and devoted. Meanwhile,
she encounters people who are sometimes
themselves unaware of their own worth.
I am glad for people like you (and
Nancy) who argue for the dignity of dis-
abled individuals, just as I am happy for
those people mentioned in your edito-
rial, who know that it is right to invest in a
ramp or accessible playground equipment.
Such people also prioritize people with
disabilities and chronic illnesses over the
stock market.
I hope that, as we continue to suffer this
awful pandemic, more and more people
realize that sick people, old people and all
disabled people are worthy. They are valu-
able for themselves, as they are also pre-
cious to the rest of society.
Erick Peterson
Hermiston
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