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Breaking barriers success story - Morrow

September 21, 2009

Morrow County

The Port of Morrow on the Columbia River at Boardman is boosting the region’s economic development with new industry and agriculture - bringing in more migrant families to fill new jobs. Boardman’s “under age 18" population is the highest in Oregon, at 38 percent, and at Sam Boardman Elementary, 65 percent are Hispanic students. Superintendent Bruce Anderson is hiring bilingual instructional aides because the region lacks enough qualified ESL teachers. He’s looking into extending the school day and year; plus “sheltered” classrooms at high school to provide a smaller, close-knit environment. Morrow County provides a summer migrant ed program. Like many districts with a high population of migrant families, the district faces the dilemma of losing students whose families move back : Up to 100 kids will leave school in the fall and come back two months later.

“Every community is unique; you can’t have a canned approach. It’s a matter of boards and educators being committed to doing what’s right,” Anderson said. “We also need a better understanding of their culture.” When the last census was taken in 1990, Sam Boardman didn’t even have an ESL program. A good contact for further insight is Principal Susan Tolar, who was principal at Sam Boardman Elementary for 20 years and has seen the dramatic cultural shift. She can be reached at 541-481-7383.

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