Thursday, February 20, 2020 • Vol. 135, No. 34 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon Observer The
Oregon School District
Start time compromise in the works Work group holding final public session this week SCOTT DE LARUELLE
On the Web
For information about the district’s work group on school start/end times, visit
oregonsd.org/Page/5429
Unified Newspaper Group
said there’s no perfect solution. “I don’t love the idea of my kids having to get on a bus any earlier, but I understand we have high school kids getting on buses very early in the morning and perhaps staying in school a lot later than we would like and being on on the bus a lot later than we would like,” he said. When the board formed the work group, administrators presented eight options to consider and held three listening sessions late last year to gauge the public reaction. From those, it was apparent that extending the school day and starting school earlier for some elementary schools was problematic. The group has held three work sessions over the past several weeks, and its final one was scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18. At that
Turn to Time/Page 11
Inside
A library love story
Community comes together to support capital campaign EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
After three years of preparation, the library kicked off its capital campaign for its new building on Valentine’s Day with a love-themed event at Firefly Coffeehouse and
“The campaign fundraising steering committee has been working tirelessly over the past several months, with community residents who would come on board to donate early to the project,” Glysch said. “We’ve been able to do this with the help of some significant donations already.” Library director Jennifer Endres Way said there are more events
Turn to Campaign/Page 12
Pagenkopf confirmed as interim police chief EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Page 7
Artisan Cheese. Hundreds of people turned out for the occasion, called “Love Your Library.” Before the event commenced, Oregon Village Board Trustee and project leader Randy Glysch told the Observer private donations from the capital campaign’s quiet phase, which started in September 2019, have already come to over $1.1 million.
Oregon Police Department Village Board had recommended the move
Panthers miss out on state qualification
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Village president Jeanne Carpenter reads to 9 year old Grayson Hammond, Oregon.
Jennifer Pagenkopf is the Village of Oregon’s interim police chief. The village’s Police Commission appointed the lieutenant to serve that role Thursday, Feb. 13 – the same day former chief Brian Uhl served his last day. Uhl had been hired as the director of safety for the Village of Ashwaubenon, where he will preside over the municipality’s police, fire and emergency medical services departments. The Oregon Village Board had recommended Pagenkopf for the duty
Monday, Feb. 3, and voted earlier in the week to provide her a municipal vehicle to travel to work. “I’ve had the privilege of serving this community for 15 years,” Pagenkopf told Pagenkopf the Observer Friday, Feb. 14. “It’s a highlight of my career to be the acting chief.” Pagenkopf said she feels overwhelmed with the support she has received from OPD staff, the Village Board, the commission and the community at large. Her main goal, she said, is to continue providing great service to the community. “That, in itself, is a large task,” she
said. Pagenkopf said she is meeting with groups like OregonCARES and the Oregon Wellness Coalition to further establish the department’s presence as a community policing force. “It’s nice to lean on partners like them,” she said. She said she’s working to restore relations with Oregon School District after a contentious year reaching a new agreement to ensure a police officer is stationed at the high school. Pagenkopf said she also will oversee OPD training on implicit bias, working with the Madison Police Department. Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie. heidemann@wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeidemannEmilie.
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An expected compromise on school start and stop times is set to go before the Oregon school board next month. After the Oregon School District’s proposal to unify the start and end times across all schools met with concerns from some students and teachers last fall, the school board formed a work group in December to further study the issue and make recommendations. With that mission nearing its end, some members of the 20-person group – comprising of OSD teachers, administrators, parents and a bus contractor – said they are prepared to compromise on a complicated issue. The group has pored over data about start and end times, and the effects on students not getting enough sleep, or on extracurricular activities and jobs. Work group member and district parent Aaron Zitzelberger