School Board Moves to In-Person Meeting
After some pushback and a reevaluation the Siuslaw School Board has decided to move this evening’s Special School Board Meeting from Zoom to the Siuslaw Middle School. Jennifer Waggoner met with school board Chairman Bob Sneddon and school superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak yesterday afternoon to discuss Waggoner’s concerns over the optics that the sudden virtual meeting proposed. Sneddon said the initial reason for the virtual type meeting was not intended to exclude parents but was rather a matter of logistics. He said that the Siuslaw Schools head of Internet Technology, Chris Rowbotham, stepped in and said that the department could facilitate an in person meeting at the middle school and would take care of the logistics. Sneddon said some board members may still choose to zoom to the meeting, but parents and concerned citizens would be able to attend. The board plans on looking at several issues, but the main concerns for individuals like Waggoner was the possibility of taking away the opportunity for some students to get a break by taking an off campus lunch and the mandatory wearing of masks during athletic practices and games. Waggoner says there is no clear cut reasoning for the constant changes.
“So that inconsistency is the problem and we are getting to the point where some of the extreme measures we are taking especially looking at these extreme policies being visited on Wednesday night are doing much more damage than they are doing good.”
Superintendent Andy Grezeskowiak says he knows that the changes have been difficult but they are constantly having to adjust to what the CDC and OHA are suggesting to help mitigate the virus, and that the schools have a duty to protect the health of all the students.
“We can’t just automatically opt out of masks and physical distancing just because people don’t want it or don’t believe in it. We have a reasonable duty to make sure preventative measures, mitigation factors are done in schools.”
Tonight’s meeting will begin at 6 pm at Siuslaw Middle School.
COVID-19 Cases Near 1,200 Locally
The Florence area is nearing 1,200 overall cases of COVID 19 with an additional 6 cases added yesterday bringing the total to 1,196. Lane County is reporting its highest daily case rate since the beginning of the pandemic with an average of 1,300.6 cases per 1,000. The county is registering about 710 cases a day over the past 7 days. The Oregon Health Authority reported an additional 6,904 cases yesterday and recorded another 41 deaths. Lane County’s daily total yesterday was 362.
Gas Prices Steady
While gas prices are not declining across the state they are seeing the smallest increase in several weeks according to Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon. This week the Oregon price for a gallon of regular gas moved up a half cent to $3.93 a gallon. Dodds says crude oil prices have surged more than $20 a barrel since early December as the demand for crude rises with the expanding economies. Florence’s price for a regular gallon of gas has remained steady over the past several weeks at $3.89.
