June 19, 2009

Sherman residents speak out on school

By Sam Craig
of The Chronicle

     Even with two mayors backing them, the group of parents and community members who are trying to keep North Sherman Elementary School from closing are having some problems convincing the district that it would be an economically feasible idea.
     Almost every school district in Oregon is looking for ways to slash excess costs from their budgets, and the Sherman County School District is no different. The school board’s decision to shutter North Sherman Elementary in the fall, however, has residents of Wasco and Rufus up in arms. They’ve spent the last couple of days trying to convince the board to change its mind or find another way to overturn the decision.
     In Wasco on Tuesday night, residents showed up at city hall to band together against the plan to close the school down. The large turnout was too much for the small room of the city hall and library, so they moved down the road to the Wasco Church of Christ.
     Some walked, some drove, but within minutes of the doors being unlocked and the lights turning on, the benches were filled and the pulpit played host to numerous impassioned speeches.
     Wasco Mayor Amy Asher, who also organized the rally, was one of the first to speak, and wanted to know why the funds from the wind turbine Special Investment Program, or SIP, couldn’t be used to pay for school programs.
     “I have said right from the very beginning that I don’t understand why, with the windmill money that we have, why we can’t keep our school open,” Asher said. “I have said from the very beginning, why can’t we use the money to hire more teachers so we can have single-grade classrooms. I don’t understand why, with the money that we’re getting from our county, why our schools are not at the top of that list. Our children are our future and we really need to be taking care of them.”
     The night in the church continued with community members expressing concerns about the distance that would have to be covered by kids on the buses and the dangers of U.S. Highway 97’s icy twists and turns in the winter. Aside from the danger, some worried that the shift would drive away potential new members of the community.
     The population of Rufus is rising, and that, according to Rufus mayor Cliff Jett, is reason enough to keep the elementary school open. He’s expecting between 10 and 15 new residents to lay down roots in the small town this summer. With a current population of fewer than 300 people, that could mean a five percent upswing in population. Jett is thrilled about an estimate of 200 or more people that could move to the town in the not-so-distant future for work in Sherman County, but says closing the elementary could change some minds about Rufus as a viable option.
     The next-closest school is in Grass Valley, a 30-mile trip from the little town on the Columbia. That means kids will be spending a large chunk of their school days on the bus.
     “From Rufus, the estimated time from the time kids get on the bus, it’s about an hour and a half one-way,” Jett said. “I don’t have children in school, so I’m not a really good person to be talking about that. I don’t go to the school board meetings and I’ve been disappointed with the representation we have on the school board. If I had kids and lived in Rufus, I would take them to The Dalles. It’s a shorter trip and there’s more opportunity as far as I’m concerned.”
     Sylvia DePaepe, a Junior at Sherman Junior/Senior High School, knows what it’s like to have a school closed down. She went to the Rufus school before it shut down and she had to attend class in The Dalles because of winter driving concerns.
     “My mom wanted to come just to hear what people had to say,” DePaepe said. “She asked me if we should go and I said, ‘Yes,’ because my two younger brothers go here and I’m just as concerned about their safety as my mom is.      Going over that hill in Grass Valley, that’s a long ride in the winter and that would just be terrible.”
     Members of the audience varied in age, from infants to seniors, and just about everyone had an opinion. For some, the school closure was a loss to the community and for others, a massive inconvenience, but the experience of having attended a small school seemed to be of utmost importance to many.
     “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a small school,” Jett said. “I know that the greater wisdom for today is that bigger is always better, but I just don’t buy that. A lot of times when it comes to huge schools, especially for small children, they get lost in the shuffle.”
     Ivan Ritchie, Sherman School District Superintendent was in attendance, but when asked if there was any way to get around the closure, he replied that he would prefer not to answer the question and reminded the crowd that the issue had been discussed for two years by the school board.
     The next morning, around 75 members of the community showed up for the Sherman County Court meeting to plead their case. From 9:30 to 11 a.m., they testified before the commission.
     “I think the school board is going to pay attention to them because there were quite a few of them standing up and talking, not afraid to vent,” said Sherman County Judge Gary Thompson. “There were three or four board members there and it got their eyes opened. I think. We’ll see.”
     The crowd did get a bit passionate, but Thompson said he understood, though there really was nothing legally he could do to keep the school open. But, he believes, having a chance to speak will help the cause, although there is a need for some decorum.
     “We try to keep control,” Thompson said. “I had to kick one member out. This is a hearing and in a county hearing process, there should not be any clapping and applauding or shouting and cheering and all that. People should sit on their hands. They can make faces because I can’t do anything about that. First time they started clapping and yelling, I put a stop to that, but they can make faces all they like.”