As calls for Oregonians to get the COVID-19 vaccine continue, local school districts are playing their part.
With all Oregonians 16 and older now eligible, school districts have started bringing vaccines to high schools for of-age students who want to be vaccinated. Bethel School District was the first to offer an on-site clinic in the Eugene-Springfield area, administering about 300 vaccines over three days this week at Willamette High School.
Oregonians 19 years of age and younger currently make up 3% of people vaccinated. Other districts across the state also have started offering on-site clinics. Bend-La Pine had clinics this week (which were met by anti-vaccine protesters), as reported by The Bend Bulletin, and Eugene School District has one scheduled for May 12.
Three Springfield School Board seats are up for election in the May 18 Special Election. However, only two are contested, with eight candidates split between them on the ballot.
All three seats are for four-year terms. The only uncontested seat is Position 2, with incumbent Emilio Hernandez being the lone candidate. Hernandez is also the only incumbent running.
The Register-Guard sent all the candidates a questionnaire that asked about relevant experience, reasons for running, plans to make schools more inclusive and other questions. Here s a bit more about each of the candidates, based on their responses.
Since filing, Lisa Barrager decided to stop campaigning and instead is supporting Kelly Mason for the seat. However, Barrager s name will still appear on the ballot. Position 3 candidates Samantha Alcantar and Brandy Crosby did not return multiple requests for comment.
As they say, all politics is local, and in Lane County, local politics gets heated when it’s school board elections.
The issues are huge in K-12 education racism and diversity, COVID, standardized testing and more. We are impressed by all the people willing to take on this tough and important duty. Good board members are simultaneously independent thinkers, willing to question how the board is voting and why, and yet also able to function effectively with other board members they may not always agree with to get things done.
It’s great when voters and candidates get fired up about the school board especially if it means positive changes for the kids. So knowing that Eugene and surrounding communities take their school boards seriously, our small editorial board Zoomed with as many candidates as we could, and sent surveys out to the ones who we either couldn’t squeeze in or who didn’t respond. Some candidates didn’t respond in time or at all.
Bonamici hears concerns of community colleges, students April 24 2021
Federal aid is coming, but lawmaker is told that colleges would like help to maximize benefits.
Community colleges and their students will benefit from an array of federal aid programs, but presidents and students told U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici they would like help maximizing their benefits.
President Joe Biden s pandemic recovery plan, which Congress passed and Biden signed on March 11, contains $40 billion for higher education Oregon s share is estimated at $400 million plus $39 billion nationally for child care, and other sums for vaccinations, food and housing assistance. These are challenging systems to navigate. We ve been doing this for more than three years. We know we need benefit navigators to help students to do that, Mark Mitsui, president of Portland Community College, said during a conference call with Bonamici.
Lane County to host mass vaccination clinic for ages 16 and 17
The clinic, which will be at Lane Community College, is expected to give out about 3,000 Pfizer shots.
Posted: Apr 23, 2021 4:15 PM
Posted By: Chris Lindsay
LANE COUNTY, Ore. Lane County is set to host a mass vaccination clinic aimed at 16 and 17-year-olds this weekend.
The clinic, which will be at Lane Community College, is expected to give out about 3,000 Pfizer shots.
As of right now, health officials say people haven’t scheduled enough appointments to keep up with the amount of doses they plan to give out.
Jason Davis with Lane County Public Health said he thinks the main issue with people is the lack of knowledge about the event.