Lawen Elementary School District

Lawen School District 18[1] a.k.a. Lawen Elementary School District was a school district headquartered in Lawen, in Harney County, Oregon. It had one school.[2] The school, which had grades 1–8, was a two-room facility, described by The Daily Astorian as "tiny".[3] The school grounds had a septic tank, a well, a horse barn, and a bell tower. Some students rode on horses.[4] The enrollment in a previous era was 18, and the school employed two teachers.[5]

In May 1984,[6] a flood from Malheur Lake went into the school property, with the septic tank and well affected.[3] The foundation was also damaged.[7] Therefore, students went to Crane Elementary on what was supposed to be a temporary basis. Circa 1985 it was anticipated that the waters itself would enter the school building. At the time, nine students had been at Lawen Elementary.[8] United Press International stated that possible repairs would have been "expensive".[7]

In 1985 there was a referendum on whether to merge the Lawen district into the Crane district, but voters turned down the proposal in a referendum. Five people voted against it and four people voted for it.[2] The Lawen school remained closed. The board of trustees, each spring, earmarked money for a re-opening, but this did not happen, and instead it paid the Crane district to teach Lawen students.[5]

In May 1987 another referendum was held, and voters this time favored the merger.[9] On June 28, 1988, the Statesman Journal stated that the final vote count for the May 1987 referendum was 7–4.[9] According to a May 1987 The Astorian article, at the time there were 33 registered voters; the article stated five voted in favor to close, three voted against it, and the remainder did not vote.[3] At the time of the vote, there were three Lawen area students attending the Crane School and one attending a school in Burns (then in the Burns Elementary School District).[4] On May 31, 1988, seven voters voted in favor to consolidate Lawen into Crane, and four voted against.[7] In 1988 the Lawen district merged into the Crane district.[9]

References

  1. ↑ CIC's School Directory. Vol. 38. Curriculum Information Center. 1983. p. 11 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 Manzano, Phil (1985-03-27). "Voters kill most Oregon school measures". The Oregonian. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "School District Closed". The Daily Astorian. Astoria, Oregon. 1987-05-22. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Reynolds, Barbara (1987-05-21). "School dry victim of flooding". The Oregonian. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Ames, Sarah B. (1988-06-28). "Inundated school district officially dissolved". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Braymen, Pauline (1984-05-08). "Corps, county will study canal plan to drain Harney lakes". The Oregonian. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 "Underwater district throws in the towel". The Bulletin. United Press International. 1988-06-28. p. A-3 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Durbin, Kathie (1985-03-24). "Voters to decide 53 school district, college money measures Tuesday". The Oregonian. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 "Lawen School District merges with Crane". Statesman Journal. 1988-06-28. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.