Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Legislative Days have kept me very busy this week, but it's been great to see colleagues (even if only virtually) and lay the groundwork for a successful Short Session.  I chaired the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education yesterday, chaired the Joint Committee on Transportation today, and also attended the House Interim Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, and Water, and the Joint Ways and Means Committee.  Click on the committee names to be taken to a recording of each hearing. 

The Special Session starts on February 1st and all Committee hearings will be held virtually again this year, with Members attending in-person for Floor Sessions only.   Public testimony will be accepted by phone or by TEAMS participation and I will provide more information on how you can participate virtually as we get closer to the Session.  Tomorrow, I will be submitting my top priority bill for the Session to the Chief Clerk's Office.  I'll get into more detail in a future newsletter, but generally the bill improves the process by which the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Lab evaluates particular genetic diseases to test newborns for at birth.  The goal is to ensure that Oregon is keeping up with the science and that we are testing for as many genetic diseases as possible to ensure early intervention and treatment.

I had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful day at the beach with family on Sunday.  I couldn't believe my luck in terms of weather (almost 60 degrees!) and it was a refreshing way to head into this busy week.

Forest Grove School District Pauses In-person Instruction for High School and Middle School:

Dear FGSD Families, 

Monday’s announcement to pause in-person instruction at the high school was due to the limited number of teachers available to cover classroom instruction. Unfortunately, we are experiencing similar staffing issues due to illness at the middle school. We have worked to cover absences with substitutes, internal staff and district office staff, but have again reached the point where we can no longer safely conduct classes with the current available staff. 

At NAMS today we had 14 out of our 52 licensed staff (27%) absent and 27.5% of our students absent. With the high school already in online learning, we have moved unassigned high school staff to assist at NAMS. However, nine teaching openings at NAMS remain unfilled today. Balancing these unfilled positions with the 15 unfilled positions across the rest of the district has also contributed to this decision. At the District Office we have 11 other teachers and administrators that are being assigned every day to cover these positions, but that still leaves us 13 positions unfilled.  

As a result, we have made the difficult decision to pause our in-person attendance at NAMS due to the number of teacher illness related absences and the inability to safely cover classroom instruction. The schedule going forward will be as follows:

Look for details coming from your school and teachers for more information. Our hope is this will allow our staff to recover from their illnesses and reconvene in-person instruction on January 24. 

Students can pick up cold lunch during their regularly scheduled lunch times at any of the following schools: FGHS, Harvey Clarke, Echo Shaw or NAMS. Please knock on the exterior door closest to the cafeteria.  

Now that both the high school and middle school are in digital learning, the additional unassigned staff helping at NAMS can now be shifted to the elementary schools. With this additional help, we believe we can keep elementary students in classrooms. We will evaluate the status of each school daily and if staff absences dictate, we will notify you if it becomes necessary to close additional schools. The current estimates are that this surge will peak before the end of January. It is our highest priority to operate our schools in person, but we must have the appropriate number of staff available to operate our schools safely. We do not anticipate having to make up instructional hours at this time as the district accounts for possible interruptions in the instructional hour calendar (e.g. snow days). 

We are frustrated that we now have to make another difficult decision to pause in-person instruction at the middle school. We view the trauma of the year and a half of students out of school as being extremely impactful socially, emotionally and academically. It remains our top priority to get students safely back into classrooms as soon as we have sufficient staff ready to return to in-person instruction. 

To reiterate, our decision to pause in-person instruction is because we do not have sufficient staff to safely run classes at NAMS at this time. We hope that this pause will allow our teachers the time to recover so we can reconvene school as soon as possible. 

Respectfully, 

Dave Parker

Superintendent

Hillsboro School District Health Update:

COVID-19 Case Communications
In order to maximize our ability to effectively utilize limited staff resources, we will no longer be providing heads-up letters for positive COVID-19 cases; however, we will continue contact tracing cases that arise in the school setting and will continue alerting staff and students who are potential close contacts.

There is currently active transmission of COVID-19 – particularly the highly transmissible Omicron variant – in our community. We believe our schools provide a much safer environment than other public spaces because of our layered mitigation strategies and controlled populations; however, there are no situations where there is absolutely no risk of transmission. We ask for your support in daily monitoring of your child for symptoms of illness and following all health and safety protocols like proper masking (over the nose and mouth), frequent hand washing/sanitizing, maintaining appropriate physical distance, etc. We also urge you to consider getting yourself and your eligible children vaccinated and boosted (if applicable).

High School Sports and Activities
Our goal is to keep extracurricular activities operating as normal for our students, and one way we can affect that during this time of record-high cases of COVID-19 is limiting the number of spectators at events. 

Therefore, effective immediately, the following adjustments will be in place for Wrestling and Basketball games taking place in HSD facilities:

• Home and away athletes (including Cheer and Dance, if scheduled to perform at home events) will be allotted four (4) spectator tickets. Those four people will sit together at the event. Visiting spectators must be the immediate family of the athlete. No additional spectators will be allowed entry at this time. 
• Spectators are asked to space throughout the bleachers to maintain appropriate physical distance from those outside of their household. 
• Spectators will not be charged admission. 
• For now, there will be no band or student seating section at sporting events.
• All participants, coaches, and spectators must comply with proper mask use (over the nose and mouth at all times) while inside our facilities (except players or officials during active competition). 
• When competing, masks are not required. All other teammates, students, and family members are required to wear masks.
• Concessions will not be sold; food and drinks may not be consumed during events (except water for athletes). 
• JV and Freshman athletes are encouraged to leave the gym after their games are completed unless they are participating with varsity.

These adjustments are temporary - we will reevaluate all protocols in early February. 

Please note that all contests taking place in our high school main gyms can be viewed FREE via live stream on the NFHS Network. Type the school name into the search bar and select the event from there. 

All Hands On Deck
To help manage the staffing and substitute shortages we are experiencing in our schools, HSD is deploying all available district staff to buildings to assist on a daily basis. We are doing everything we can to keep all schools open every day. In the event that is not possible at a particular school, we may need to revert that school to online learning for a short period of time. Please know that this move would not apply to the entire district and would only be implemented as a last resort and on an as-needed basis. There are no defined thresholds for making this decision; however, two of the main criteria are the number of staff available to serve students and the number of active COVID-19 cases in a particular school. 

Updated CDC Guidelines for Isolation and Quarantine
On Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, the CDC updated its isolation and quarantine guidelines for K-12 schools. While they had previously (on Dec. 29, 2021) indicated that isolation and quarantine would remain at 10 days in the school setting, they have now aligned their guidance with previously announced metrics for the general population. 

The CDC’s announcement was followed by a press conference held earlier today by the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education in which they acknowledged the revised guidelines and the reality of challenges currently facing districts across the state. 

We are awaiting confirmation from OHA, ODE, and Washington County Public Health that this is the direction they are advising schools to go and, if so, will implement the new guidelines at a date to be announced as soon as possible. Anyone who is impacted by COVID-19 will receive instructions from HSD’s Contact Tracing Team or from the District Nurse serving their school. 

Any student or staff member currently out on quarantine or isolation must complete their original quarantine/isolation period. 

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. 

Hillsboro School District

Hillsboro Main Street Fire Resources

In light of the devastating fire along Main Street on January 2nd, I have provided a few resources to help support the recovery effort. I want to thank Hillsboro Fire & Rescue for keeping our community safe and quickly responding to the fire. I would also like to commend the Hillsboro community for coming together to aid those displaced in the fire.  

5 Ways You Can Help

• The Hillsboro Community Foundation has set up the Hillsboro Community Relief Fund to provide resources directly to those in desperate need. Donations can be made online and are tax deductible.
  
  
• Marcus Harvey, the owner of Portland Gear, has designed “Heart for Hillsboro” shirts and sweatshirts. Proceeds from the sale of these products will go toward the Hillsboro Community Foundation Relief Fund above.
  
  
• Insomnia Coffee is accepting donations of gift cards for essential items, such as gas and groceries, that will go directly to those displaced by the fires. Please drop off gift cards at the Downtown Hillsboro Insomnia location at 137 East Main Street.
  
  
• The Hillsboro Downtown Partnership is compiling a list of immediate needs for those affected and displaced by the fires. The list will be posted on the HDP Facebook page in the coming days.
  
  
• Other fundraisers are being planned throughout the community and will be announced through the Hillsboro Downtown Partnership. Be cautious of non-sanctioned fundraisers.

Statement from Mayor Steve Callaway
“Our community has been impacted by two fires this weekend: one that displaced 17 people within three apartments on Saturday, and another on Sunday that has visibly impacted our beloved Main Street. Our hearts go out to the families and all of the Main Street businesses affected by the fires. We and the community are here to support them in their recovery.”

In both fires, our firefighters did remarkable work. They stopped the apartment fire from spreading to other units. Their efforts to keep the Main Street fire from spreading was flat-out amazing. And it was a team effort with not only Hillsboro Fire & Rescue firefighters, but also our partners from neighboring agencies: Banks, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Gaston, Portland Fire, and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.

We are also grateful for our partnerships with NW Natural, PGE, the Red Cross, TriMet, and others whose help allowed us to respond to both of these emergencies and support those affected.”

For updates and video, visit the Hillsboro Fire & Rescue Department Twitter feed

*Thank you to Kimberly Culbertson for working with our office to provide the best resources possible.

Rob Drake announces retirement

I have great respect for Rob and his many years of public service to Washington County.  I have personally worked with Rob for over 30 years, first as Mayor of Beaverton and then as City Manager of Cornelius, and there isn't a harder worker or better partner you could have for a project. I wish him the best in this new chapter, though I'm sad to see him go.

You can read more about his departure in the Hillsboro News Times article, authored by Dillon Mullan, below:

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Rob Drake, Cornelius city manager, to retire from public service

One of Washington County's longest-tenured public servants is retiring after parts of five decades in various offices. Rob Drake told the Cornelius City Council last month he plans to retire from his position as city manager at the end of June.

"I've had a really exciting and wonderful career. Now I'm looking forward to spending time with my family," Drake said at the Dec. 10 meeting. "I'm really honored to have helped lead Cornelius through the last 10 years in a very genuine and heartfelt way."

Drake, 72, grew up in Northeast Portland before moving to Beaverton. He graduating from Sunset High School in 1967 and earned a degree from Portland State University. Drake analyzed legislation for a think tank, drove a Wonder Bread delivery truck and sold wine before successfully running for Beaverton City Council in 1987. In 1993, he started a four-term, 16-year stint as mayor until 2009.

"I lost a bid for a fifth term. It was embarrassing, but that's part of that process of maturing and learning about life," Drake said. "I'm not the brightest guy in the room. I've always acknowledged that."

In 2021, Beaverton voted to adopt a council-manager form of government, standard for Oregon cities with more than 2,500 people, in which the city council hires a chief executive officer under the title city manager or administrator to supervise day-to-day operations instead of the mayor.

But when Drake was mayor, he had an administrative role, supervising department heads and overseeing City Hall. That gave him experience that made him sought after by other city governments after he left office in Beaverton.

After his time in Beaverton, Drake spent six months as interim city manager in both Tillamook and Carlton. This February, he will mark 10 years as Cornelius' city manager.

Drake earned plaudits for taking the reins of a city government in crisis, stepping in after a feud between former city manager Dave Waffle and former mayor Neal Knight led to Waffle being fired, Knight and two other council members being recalled, and City Hall grappling with an increasingly serious budget shortfall in 2011.

Drake points to the construction of a new Cornelius Public Library as well as an overhaul of the city police as his biggest accomplishments in Cornelius. In 2014, the city disbanded its police department and began contracting with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

"When I got here, the Latino community felt intimidated by our police department," Drake said. "There was no trust. So we had to make the change."

In 2019, the library more than quadrupled in size when it moved into three three-story Cornelius Place building at the corner of North Adair Street and 14th Avenue.

"I've cherished the many years I've been able to work with Rob. He's set the bar for what it means to be an exceptional public servant," Metro councilor and Cornelius native Juan Carlos González said.

"We previously had people who were regulators, rather than partners, in some staff positions. Rob was instrumental in coaching people, and when we had people try to take advantage of the city, Rob was always there to say no," said Mayor Jef Dalin, who was on the City Council for eight years before becoming mayor after Knight was recalled in 2011.

Dalin added, "We will hire another city manager, but we won't replace Rob Drake."

While the state has made the difficult decision to pause accepting new applications at midnight on December 1 for the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP), Washington County’s local Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program continues to accept applications through existing local pathways.

Community Action, the agency administering the local funds for Washington County, maintains a phone line, an online portal and has established partnerships with other agencies, community-based organizations as well as public health contact tracing staff to get the funds out as quickly as possible. These local funds will continue to be available for income-eligible renters over the foreseeable future.

Oregon has safe harbor rules in place that mean renters cannot be evicted for 60 days, or 90 days in some parts of Washington County, if they show their landlords proof of having applied for any emergency rental assistance program. These maps show the protections for the different jurisdictions within Washington County (Information in English mapping tool) bit.ly/3aTeFbc or (Information in Spanish mapping tool Protección contra desalojos (arcgis.com).

All renters needing assistance and residing in Washington County are encouraged to apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance program. To learn more on how to apply for emergency rental assistance, visit the Community Action webpage at https://caowash.org/programs/housing-stability/renter-support.html. For immediate resources including shelter and food access contact 2-1-1 online at www.211info.org or by calling 2-1-1.