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A side by side comparison of the old and new contracts can be found at:

https://draftable.com/compare/KTkUmvntbEgP

Voting will take place in person at the DOC:

Thursday, 6/20 3:30-6 p.m.
Friday, 6/28 5-8 p.m.

This is the letter I wrote to the School Board, when they met via Zoom to decide we should go back to in person learning.  Not sure if they acknowledged the irony.

Quote:Esteemed Board Members,

Thank you for taking my letter.
While I certainly understand why some parents are anxious to have their kids back on site for in person learning, I have grave concerns over what I see as a rush to return too early.

We locked down schools in March, when there were no known cases.  Now, with infection rates skyrocketing (172/10,000 in West Linn, 275/10,000 in Wilsonville), we are being told it's time to go back. This makes no sense. Despite claims to the contrary, we know that children can most certainly carry the virus, and more than half of transmissions come from asymptomatic carriers.

The state has listened to medical professionals who say it's unsafe to eat in restaurants, so how is a classroom full of maskless kids eating their lunches acceptable? We are told to keep six feet of space, even though respiratory droplets have been tracked at 30 feet. Most of our schools have terrible ventilation, as can be seen during hot weather when many classrooms become so barely habitable, teachers are forced to open every window (if they can be opened) and door (if they are lucky enough to have an outside door), and even with a half dozen fans around the room, it's still a sweltering hot box.

With cohorts daily, I am baffled as to how we are to keep the schools properly disinfected? The custodial staff can't possibly keep up with the herculean effort of daily scrubbing every surface after class...multiple times a day in secondary schools. Will teachers be expected to deep clean their own rooms, while teaching both online and in person classes? That seems unrealistic, and while you may decree it to be so, it is unlikely to be sufficient, and puts the safety of the community on very overworked and exhausted shoulders.

We have spent the most of the last year watching "expendable" be redefined as "essential", and now it seems we have given up on science entirely, only to cave in to expediency. I don't envy Governor Brown the endless, and at times psychotic, chorus of malice and contempt she has had to endure from the squeakiest wheels in the state, but I am appalled at the way she threw this grenade out on Dec. 23, without any warning. I implore this Board to hold the line against rash and thoughtless pandering to people who may not have the best interests of the larger community at heart.

I know whatever happens, I will not be sending my children back to school in this district until I see more than the empty and ineffectual gestures towards safety which have been suggested thus far.

Thank you,

David Benston, WLHS

School Board member Dylan Hyde took to Facebook to suggest there are acceptable losses in returning to in person learning.  See his comments below:

Quote:You do not hear it much, but in terms of controlling COVID, Oregon is doing very well as compared to the rest of the United States. While half of the states have experienced at least 100 deaths per 100,000 people, Oregon has only experienced 38 deaths per 100,000 people (good enough for 5th best). And we currently have the 3rd lowest infection rate in the nation (behind only VT and HI). These encouraging numbers are certainly due at least in part to the state’s more-stringent-than-most restrictions.

Some people reasonably take these numbers to mean that what the state is doing is working and we should change nothing. I understand that position.
Others see these numbers and ask, “Yes, but which restrictions are making a difference, and which are not?” And “What are the costs of each restriction and at what point does the cost outweigh the benefit? For example, it probably is not worth closing every Oregon school for a year to save one life, but it is certainly worth it to save 100,000 lives. And if losing one life is acceptable and 100,000 is not, where do we draw that line?” These are the impossible questions school boards across our state are now being asked to answer.

For the past several months, I have read hundreds of emails and taken uncountable phone calls from people who feel passionately that schools should reopen and those who believe schools should remain closed. Both sides make compelling arguments that both sides too easily dismiss. I have done my best to listen to all with an open mind and heart. With our school board meeting occurring tonight, I am near making a final decision. I will share my thoughts here with two caveats. First, I speak only for myself and not my fellow board members. And second, these are my current thoughts only and I will be making no final decisions until I hear from the other board members at tonight’s meeting.

It is my belief that the schools within the West Linn-Wilsonville School District should open as soon as possible in the hybrid model the district proposed last summer and under the operational blueprints each school has created and within the framework of the Ready Schools, Safe Learners set out by the Oregon Health Authority. I believe Kindergartners should begin school on February 1, 2021 and all grades should gradually return with secondary students returning to school no later than March 1, 2021.

In reaching this position, the critical questions I asked myself was, “Will in-person learning worsen, reduce, or have no effect on the pandemic's course in the broader community? And if in-person learning spreads the transmission of COVID, by how much and is that increased risk worth the benefit to our students?”
To answer these questions, I looked to the science. My review of the latest scientific studies provides encouraging news. They show that schools with poorly-planned or poorly thought-out risk mitigating strategies, will increase community spread of Covid by returning to in-person learning. On the other hand, in schools with well-planned and well-implemented risk mitigation strategies, returning to in-person instruction will likely have no measurable effect on community transmission rates. This is certainly true in areas with low infection rates and likely true even in those areas with high infection rates. Again, I point out Oregon has the 3rd lowest infection rate in the country. Here is a very brief summary of some of the latest research:

- Tulane University Study published a study last Monday finding that in communities with 36 to 44 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, the re-opening of schools had no impact on community rates of Covid, or actually reduced community rates of Covid, likely because rules and norms around social distancing and wearing masks at school were not being followed outside of school. Of note, Clackamas County’s hospitalization rate has never exceeded 25 people per 100,000—well under the rate considered safe by this study.

- Last Friday, in a study published in Pediatrics, and conducted by researchers at Duke University, scientists studied 35 North Carolina school districts with 90,000 students engaged in in-person instruction over a school quarter. Over the studied quarter, the state’s infection rate remained between 1 and 2 people for every 1,000 residents. Inside these schools, the infection rates were low. Out of 90,000 students and thousands of teachers, vigorous contact tracing found just 32 cases of individuals contracting Covid within a school and zero cases of student to adult transmissions. No schools were closed during the quarter. The researchers noted that the mitigation efforts that allowed these schools to open as safely as they did are the same efforts we are looking to implement in our District.

- In Marin County California, they have approximately 16,500 students showing up for school per day, which equals about 640,000 “student days.” In that time, they have been able to detect just 6 cases of Covid transmission in the schools, all were adult-to-adult transmissions.

When I review this information, it leads me to conclude we can open our schools safely. Is the risk zero? No. The risk can never be zero. It will not be zero even after widespread distribution of vaccines. But the risks are quite low and the potential benefit to our students enormous.

I hear loud and clear that some want us to wait to open schools a bit longer. I disagree for the following reasons.

First, I do believe the costs to our children of not returning to school is too high. While CDL is working for many, it has been a disaster for many. I have spoken with principals who tell me that CDL is working better than anyone expected in terms of academic learning, but they have real concerns about the emotional and social well-being of their students. Further, Pamplin Media ran a story last week that shared its own findings that CDL was widening the achievement gap felt by students of color.

Second, as mentioned above, the best science indicates we can return to schools safely without increasing community rates of transmission.

Third, for the past 10 months, we have asked our critical workers to continue working despite the risk of Covid because their work is so critical: our doctors, our nurses, our food producers, our grocery store workers, our police, our first responders, and so on. I have loved ones who work in these professions. I think it is time we acknowledge that teachers are also essential workers, and we need them to return to schools.

And fourth, we have put in place safeguards to protect our most vulnerable students and staff. We have approximately 20% of our students currently signed up for all-year CDL. We also allowed our teachers to sign up for these classes, prioritizing those who were at high risk or lived with someone who was high risk. The district is also not going to be forcing any students to return who are not comfortable doing so. And as I expect there will be many families who choose to remain in CDL, I am hopeful we can accommodate even more teachers who prefer not to return to in-person instruction.

As mentioned above, I am also pushing for a re-opening that has kindergartners starting by February 1st and all students back by March 1st. Others want a slower, more stretched-out timeline. I do not yet understand the benefit of stretching out this timeline. I will keep an open mind and ask tonight the benefit of stretching out the return. If I do not hear compelling reasons for it, I will likely push for a more rapid return.

I also believe that we should be providing dates of return for all grade levels. I know that some school districts, such as Lake Oswego, are only providing return dates for grades K-5. Again, I do not see a reason for this. I would rather be in a position of having to explain why a return date needs to be changed rather than having to explain why we have no return date at all.

In the event the district does return to in-person instruction, it is important that parents realize that hybrid instruction will not be a “return to normal.” Kids will be in schools, but it will be different. Much different. I ask for your patience as schools adjust to this new approach. There will be bumps.  

Finally, thank you to everyone for making sure your voices are heard. Know that they are. And while many of us will not agree, please trust that each one of us comes here with the same goal in mind: to do what is best for our children and community. You cannot imagine the pressure on the board and district to get this right.

These are not simple choices and reasonable minds can disagree.

I will see many of you tonight.

Dylan

BECAUSE, we want to provide more transparency in the voting process; and


BECAUSE, the current practice is only to inform members of the winners; and


BECAUSE, this lack of information is not consistent with best practice; and


BECAUSE, members in the past have expressed curiosity in reviewing the full elections data; and


BECAUSE, anything that encourages trust in the elections process is a good thing; therefore


WE PROPOSE, That the WLWV Chapter 102 Bylaws, Article 4, Section 1.3 be amended to read:


Section 1
Original unchanged text, removed text, added text.
1.3 Elections shall be completed in the month of April and the results sent to the membership. The results shall be accompanied by a report that includes raw numbers as well as percentages, describing voter turnout, votes cast for each candidate/nominee/proposal and any other pertinent information.

BECAUSE, current language requires the assignment of a cell phone; and


BECAUSE, not every president wishes to carry an additional cell phone; and


BECAUSE, there may not always be a need for the president to be available at all hours of every day; and


BECAUSE, the budget may not always allow for the maintenance of a cell phone; therefore


WE PROPOSE, That the WLWV Chapter 102 Bylaws, Article 8, Section 2.1 be amended to read:


Section 2
Original unchanged text, removed text, added text.
2.1 The chapter shall may provide a phone to the President to be used for chapter business only.

The voting website will be http://electionrunner.com  will let you know when it is ready for voting.

We are discussing the online voting . We will set up vote the first 2 weeks of April

Candidates are

President- Mary Hanks

Vice president- John Steele

Secretary- Jessica Pricer

Treasurer-Rhonda Linstrom

conference delegates are

Mary Hanks
John Steele
Jessica Pricer
Rhonda Linstrom
Mj Steele
Sheila Warren-Bayman
David English
Gary Moon

As of Yesterday 3/6/2018 we have nominations for the new board members. The elections committee will be meeting on Monday at 4:30 pm to discus the up coming elections hows and whens. We will also  post the nominees for the new board members and delegates for conferences on this forum.

ELECTRONIC MEETINGS
Many organizations today have officers and members scattered across the globe and choose to conduct meetings via the telephone, e-mail, or videoconferencing. Remember that the reason organizations have meetings is so members can hear about issues, respond to what others are saying, and give suggestions to evaluate them all at the same time. Telephone and video conferencing meetings allow members the means to accomplish these goals. If members want to hold telephone or video conferencing meetings, the bylaws must include a special provision. Members should adopt rules of order concerning basic parliamentary procedure about how to obtain the floor, make motions, and handle the debate in telephone and video conferencing meetings.
However, meeting via e-mail or electronic chat room does not allow members to fully participate in the democratic process. Many organizations today try this approach to meetings and find that it creates confusion rather than order. They have difficulty keeping order, having members understand where they are in the process, and getting business done.
E-mail is quickly replacing many other forms of communication. Many people find it a fast, inexpensive way to inform and communicate with others. However, because of its convenience, a temptation of e-mail is for some disgruntled officer or member to e-mail everyone with their concerns, or even a resignation, and then later have to withdraw the resignation or apologize for off-the-cuff remarks. Another problem is that members send e-mail messages intended only for boards and committee members to those who are not members of the boards or committees. Because the information is shared with the members in general before any decision is made, this can cause dissension in the organization.
E-mail is a quick way to get announcements, agendas, committee reports, and minutes to members. However, e-mail is not always effective when used during a decision-making process. Some e-mails get read immediately, and some don't. Occasionally, e-mail is not delivered to the proper recipient, or it is not delivered at all.
One problem with deciding an issue by e-mail is that members often respond to the remarks of one member at a time, instead of responding to all of them at once. Plus, two or more members may be typing a response at the same time, and if conflicting responses to an issue are sent simultaneously, it can be difficult to determine the response from which to work.
Often the entire group becomes confused with who said what, who responded to what, and what was finally decided. As a result, organizations must still have a standard meeting to get everything sorted out. What begins as a potential timesaver can result in wasting a lot of time. If the members were in a room together, they would all hear the discussion at the same time, know who is speaking and what side they are on, and know the outcome of a vote. Because there is not much order in electronic meetings, essential elements of democracy are sidestepped (see Chapter 1).
E-mail meetings may be helpful for organizations whose members are scattered, but it should not be used as a medium for decision-making in organizations whose members can easily meet in person. For this reason, the organization's rules should clearly define any use of e-mail.
Until someone designs a good computer program for having online meetings, using e-mail for sharing newsletters or factual information or for correcting the minutes is best. If members want to use e-mail for official notification of meetings, the bylaws should contain this information, but keep in mind that not everyone has a computer or Internet access.




https://www.kidlink.org/docs/RobertRules/chap16.html