July 18, 2020 Issue, Page 1 of 8

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Serving 4 my, Western Oklahoma ( 01 y, July 18, 2020 Weekend Edition Virtual Elk program to allow parents to Salvation Army seeking opt out of campus education setting donations for utility Robin Coffman, assistance requests curriculum director By Don Munsch, Editor for Elk City Public COVID-19 has affected everyone in different ways, and Schools, discusses The Salvation Army in Elk City wants to help those need- elements of the ing assistance with electric bills because of the virus. Virtual Elk platform = 7 The Salvation Army, in a letter dated June 30, said be- with attendees cause of the coronavirus and the results of reductions in Tuesday at Elk City salaries, unemployment and other issues, the need for en- High School. Staff ergy assistance is great. photo by Don Munsch. q “Tt is the number one requested assistance behind food,” the letter said, referring to electric payments. low at In recognition of July being Home Energy Aid Month, The Salvation Army encourages people to participate in 9136 helping others. “Many individuals or families are just one paycheck By Don Munsch, Editor When the pandemic began, Elk City schools — like other away from becoming homeless or not being able to keep Around 50 people attended a meeting Tuesday evening to districts — shut down in March for the rest of the 2019-20 their utilities on and this year, more are facing these very learn more about Elk City Public Schools’ plans to allow stu- school year and distance learning was conducted. issues then ever before,” the letter said. dents to learn in a virtual setting this upcoming school year. “Our goal and our focus, even in these uncertain times ‘The letter stated people may make a donation to the Elk Parents and guardians received applications that must be when we don’t know exactly what we’re preparing for and City Salvation Army to help people with utility assistance. filled out and returned to the Elk City Public Schools by July what this school year will look like, our focus is still on the Those donations may be made to Home Energy Aid fund. 27. The application included a survey for parents/guardians students and doing what's best for the students,” Coffman The Salvation Army, along with partners Oklahoma Gas and students. Students also must sign a contract that includ- said. and Electric, Oklahoma Natural Gas and Public Service ed expectations on classroom performance and attendance, She said she understands that’s why parents were at the Company of Oklahoma, all work to bring awareness to among other issues. meeting, that they were trying to do what was best for their helping those in need with utility assistance. Those com- Robin Coffman, district curriculum director, said Tues- children and that they could leave the meeting with more panies will match a percentage of raised funds. day’s information meeting, held at the Elk City High School information in order to make a decision. Coffman said the “The monies raised in each of the counties we serve stay commons, was the first step in the Virtual Elk program. The schools would provide a quality education regardless of the in the county the donations are received from,” the letter virtual program is being offered because of the pandemic setting it was in. Tuesday’s meeting included a presentation, stated. and the concerns parents and guardians may have in sending explanation of paperwork that needed to be filled out and a Cindy Abney, divisional coordinator for The Salvation their children to campus buildings when classes begin on Q&A session with the parents. Army in Elk City, told The News that her goal is $6,000 Aug. 13. The district intends to hold classes on campuses. Coffman said virtual learning means students stay at home with this assistance project. “As many of you know, we’ve done this on a small scale to receive their education, and virtual learning is on a perma- “T think that will help what we’re able to assist folks last year but it will be on a much larger scale this year,” nent basis. Distance learning, by contrast, is temporary and monthly,” she said about the monetary goal. “Right now, Coffman told attendees at the meeting. See Virtual page 2. we have a budget of $1,000 a month and I want that to increase, so my goal is $6,000.” Superintendent ready for See Donations page 2. United Fund application ‘different’ kind of school year deadline is next week By Don Munsch, Editor ended the year with $2.5 million in carryover funds for the By Don Munsch, Editor Elk City Public Schools Superintendent Rick Garrison general funds. The fiscal year ended on June 30. Deadline is Wednesday for any organization wanting to looks forward to the new school year even much uncertainty Garrison discussed encumbrances with the board. They submit an application for the 2021 Elk City United Fund, the exists with the pandemic. ranged from various kinds of supplies to fuel to legal ser- United Fund stated in a release, School is going to look different, he said. vices and auditing services, to name a few. An application must include the following: “Tt is kind of exciting, it is really different,” Garrison told “This is the time of the year basically we set up our bud- * Current list of the board of directors. the Elk City Public Schools board at its monthly meeting get,” Garrison said. “We start encumbering, which means + An outline or discussion of program work, including num- Monday. “We’re really having to stretch ourselves, and so we set aside certain dollars for certain things. These things ber of participants. if you can get everybody to play on the same team, it'll be lead back to our budget thatI showed you. They fit within ¢ Financial statements for last fiscal/calendar year end and alot of fun.” our budget, but we have to cover them through different ven- the most recent interim financial statement. He said the district has good people to navigate the course dors and that’s how we get them paid.” * Budget for the next fiscal/calendar year. to have a successful year, as Elk City schools plan to hold Next month, he said, the district hopes to have encum- © Copy of IRS form 501 C-3. classes on campuses. He also lauded the board for its work brances for teachers ready for the board to consider. Trustees Organizations can mail applications and adjoining infor- and sacrifices. approved the encumbrances presented to them on Monday. mation to the Elk City United Fund, P.O. Box 801, Elk City, In Garrison’s financial report to the board, the district See School page 2. OK 73648, Animal shelters see rise in abandoned pets By Manda Smith, Contributing writer doned animals.” home, but who’s willing to go in a house that’s The Elk City area has seena rise in the num- She explained she hasn’t had any animals had a COVID positive person and get that dog ber of abandoned pets, but shelter employees that she knows of that are homeless because out? That’s going on in a lot of areas, but not said the reason could be tied to the economy, of someone losing their job because of CO- here, thank God.” not so much the ongoing pandemic. VID-19 or animals being abandoned because Kelsey Risinger, also from Elk City, has Vicki Adams, Elk City native and owner of their owners dying of or being hospitalized been working at the Elk City Animal Shelter of Western Animal Resources Inc., has been for the virus. for over a year and agreed with Adams’ evalu- advocating for animal welfare in the Western But she said she knows there are people ation about why animals are being abandoned. Oklahoma area since 1998. Lately, there has abandoning their animals because of the virus “There’s definitely been an upswing in seemed to be a surge in abandoned pets, but in in other parts of the country because she’s part abandoned or dumped animals,” she said. “I Cory Lemons, animal control this area, at least, COVID-19 doesn’t seem to of a nationwide rescue network. don’t think it has to do with the coronavirus supervisor, has been an animal be causing this problem. “Other areas - New York, Austin, Houston - exactly; [it’s] probably more to do with the control officer at the Elk City “We don’t know i it’s directly related to are having an awful time,” Adams said. “There oilfield slowing down.” Animal Shelter for seven years. COVID,” Adams said. “Every time we have are a lot of people hospitalized and a lot of Although the virus may not be causing more Photo by Manda Smith. an oilfield downturn, we get a lot more aban- situations where we know they have a dog at See Animals page 2. 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