Irrigon high school may open in 2004

Published 9:15 am Saturday, January 24, 2004

IRRIGON – Citizens who have been fighting to get a high school opened in Irrigon may get their wish a year earlier than expected.

The Morrow School District administration recommended this week that the School Board considering opening the high school this fall rather than in 2005 as initially planned.

A School Board decision is likely at its February meeting, when the recommendation will be discussed again.

Irrigon has not had high school for decades. Currently, high school students in Irrigon attend Riverside High School in Boardman, while middle school students in Boardman are bused to Irrigon to attend Columbia Middle School.

Riverside High School Principal Dirk Dirksen said the biggest problem in getting the school open this September would be staffing.

“That was the biggest stumbling block,” Dirksen said.

But plans are moving ahead and a rough schedule could be put together now for the school, he added.

Arranging sports schedules in time for next season also would be a challenge, since new schedules would be necessary for the new high school in Irrigon and Riverside, which would drop from 3A to 2A classification.

Morrow County School Board Chairman John Renfro said that the football field and the gym in Irrigon would need work before they could be ready for high school competition. But he added that there are existing funds in the district budget to handle some of those upgrades, although there have been no estimates made of the cost.

Ken Matlack, a school board member from Irrigon who has long championed opening a new high school, said that he and the community were “ecstatic” about the possibility of opening early.

“The identity of the of the town of Irrigon is going to be greatly enhanced,” Matlack said.

Brook Griffin can be reached at 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1309, or by e-mail at bgriffin@eastoregonian.com