Westside Stories

Last week, the winter weather had a significant impact on the area. Icy roads made it difficult for commuters, leading to slow drives. Many events and meetings were canceled, and several businesses closed their doors to ensure the safety of patrons and employees. People stayed home, only venturing out when absolutely necessary.

Naselle School was closed for four days, giving students and staff an unexpected winter break. Yards were filled with snowmen, snow forts, and snow angels, while sledding paths traced down the hillsides.

I reached out to Superintendent Lisa Nelson for insight into the administration’s decision to close the school for several days. “We take the school closure decisions day by day,” said Nelson. “Every day is a little different around here as our school district encompasses 400 square miles. In addition to that, we have staff that live as far away as Puget Island, Ocean Park and Astoria, so the process is to get out there and check the roads by driving around. That is done by me, Transportation Director Karl Smith, and Principal Justin Laine. We check in with each other to report on our areas and do a lot of checking on the weather forecast. Our transportation person gets input at times from DOT (Department of Transportation), the county and State Patrol but, often, it is just us lone wolves out there.”

Explaining the routine further, Nelson said, “In the afternoon, we check the roads again to see if the road crews were able to treat the roads, including the main highway, and side roads. The three of us touch base again and discuss what progress was made and again check the temperatures and expected weather conditions that are expected throughout the night. This last round, we scheduled some late starts because our buses leave on a regular day at 6 a.m. That means we checked roads between 4 and 6 a.m. Usually, it is too dark, and we can’t get a good read on things, so the delay helps us have a little more time to physically see the road conditions and what changes might have occurred since the previous road check.”

As far as making up for those school days, Nelson said, “In the past, we have used our midwinter break as built-in make-up days for inclement weather, but our staff voted last year to discontinue that because our basketball teams usually make it to state and most everyone wants to attend. So, for this year, we agreed to have any make-up days go at the end of the school calendar. That makes our projected end date to be June 20.”

Significant progress has been made on the construction of the STEM/Music room at the school, despite the weather conditions. The siding has been completely removed, and the interior walls and contents have been taken out. Plumbers have installed pipes for the septic system, and contractors are currently replacing the plywood sheathing on the walls. Window openings have been cut and are being boarded up in preparation for the exterior surfaces and windows.

Before the adverse weather, the Naselle/Grays River School District Board of Directors met for most of the day on Feb. 1 to conduct a series of interviews via Zoom with candidates for the superintendent position. The Board will continue finalist interviews on Feb. 11, 12, and 13, with the intention of recommending a candidate for hire after the Feb. 13 interview.

Westside Happenings

February

15 – Pannukakku Breakfast & Nordic Winter Market at Suomi Hall in Astoria,

10 a.m.–3 p.m.

18 – Naselle Grays River School Board Meeting, School Library, 6:30 p.m.

22 – Bunco at Johnson Park, doors open at

5:30 p.m., games start at 6 p.m. $5 to play

all night (date change)

March

8 – Movie night at Grays River Grange, 7 p.m.

Featured film is The Dark Divide.

To include an event on the calendar or to give feedback, contact me at writerlisayeager@outlook.com. You can also follow me on Facebook @ Writer Lisa Yeager.