Letters, letters, letters

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To the Editor:

In last week's Nugget, Connie Morris wrote an editorial in favor of putting our district's sixth and seventh graders at the same site, and grades 812 at the current middle/high school site. While this proposal may indeed make sense arithmetically, it is a poor choice educationally.

As a teacher and a parent, I support a separate middle school, primarily because it is the best way to keep the focus on the unique needs of young adolescents, both educational and social.

Despite the best efforts of staff and community, I believe that middle school students will always play second fiddle in a 712 building. Every decision - in terms of programming, scheduling, and staffing - seems to first consider the needs of the high school students.

While our district could make improvements in this area, it is difficult to avoid this syndrome. The high school students represent approximately two thirds of the student body, and with graduation as an issue, the stakes are high.

Second, I have serious concerns about interactions among middle school and high school students. While a par

ent who wrote to the Nugget recently dismissed this issue as irrelevant, as someone in the building every day, I can assure readers that it is indeed a problem. Perhaps we can never avoid this completely in a small town, but housing the groups in different buildings would certainly help.

Both these considerations are important; both would only be made worse by isolating the eighth graders in what would be almost entirely a high school setting. In addition, we would need to ask a group of teachers to divide their days between two sites, giving them little opportunity to be part of a team in either building.

Finally, Ms. Morris used Oregon's Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) as a justification for the 67 and 812 grouping. As a member of the district's curriculum committee, I do not see that argument as having any merit.

The statewide and district assessments are organized around "benchmarks," which are at grades three, five, and ei

ght, with ClMlevel assessments at grade 10. The most logical grade groupings for the CIM are K3, 45, 68, and 910 (with grades 1112 focusing on the Certificate of Advanced Mastery).

I urge parents and community members to educate themselves about these issues as the district faces important decisions.

Sincerely,

Lora Nordquist

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To the Editor:

I have read that the proposed gift of a park site on the old Barclay property includes the drainfields for Hotel Sisters and possibly some other businesses in downtown Sisters.

If so, what will those businesses use if that field is declared saturated? Over the last three or four years and as recent as a week or two ago, I have observed skip loaders and gravel trucks working in that area. That would seem to indicate some spill-overs or saturation problems with the leach lines, necessitating constant work to comply with health requirements.

I wonder what state health department would approve such a site for a children's play area. Will the city be spending scarce dollars and manpower to remove acres of highly contaminated and possibly toxic soil - a sort of Sisters Love Canal?

Periodically that area has been used as cattle and horse grazing area. I haven't yet heard of any "mad cow disease" - maybe a septic cow situation instead.

I would like to hear what health authorities have to say about the gift - would it be a Sisters Trojan Horse? Just curious!

Russell B. Williams

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