School delayed by fire's impacts

Disrupted by the Milli Fire, Sisters schools have delayed the start of the academic year.

In a message to the district, Superintendent Curt School announced a plan to push back the start of school. Currently, 1st-9th grades will start on August 30; 10th-12th grades start on August 31. The lost days will be added back the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.

Scholl said he made the decision due to loss of preparatory work time for teachers. He saluted them for their efforts in the face of poor air quality conditions.

"The most important guiding principle for me is the health and safety of our entire school community," he said. "I know the staff wants nothing more than the opportunity to give the students the best possible educational experience. I was truly impressed by the dedication, effort, and support on display at SES yesterday when staff from all building came to help our elementary staff unpacked their classroom. I also realized that the lack of access to our facilities for staff created a sense of urgency and I found staff working when they should have excused themselves. Eventually, I had to send all staff home due to the air quality concerns."

Scholl told The Nugget that the district has taken steps to improve the air quality in the buildings, even as smoke from the Milli Fire (and other fires in Oregon) continues to hover across Sisters Country.

"We installed carbon-based filters in all of the schools on Friday and over the weekend and today (Monday), we have seen a significant improvement in air quality in the buildings," Scholl reported. "They improve the air quality because they filter more of the particulates out of the air that we bring in from the outside."

Air quality is expected to remain a concern for several days as burnout operations continue on the Milli Fire and smoke from the massive Chetco Bar Fire in southwest Oregon continues to drift across the state.