UNION COUNTY — The first 16 days of the school year have been fast-paced for Doug Hislop, Imbler School District’s interim superintendent.

Still, Hislop does not talk like time is flying by.

“It feels like I’ve been in school six months instead of 16 days. We’ve had a lot of things happen in a short period of time,” Hislop said on Monday, Sept. 20.

Hislop explained that he has his hands full addressing COVID-19 issues and taking on added responsibilities because of teachers who are out due to the pandemic. The Imbler School District as of Friday, Sept. 17, had about 20 students out due to COVID-19, one who tested positive and another 19 who are quarantined because of close contact with a positive case.

The numbers are also disheartening in the La Grande School District where last week 21 students tested positive for COVID-19 and 56 students were quarantined because of close contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive. This means 77 La Grande School District students are out due to COVID-19.

“There is a lot of COVID-19 in the community,” La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza said.

In addition, the school district had three staff members out after testing positive for COVID-19 and another four out because of close contact with someone who was COVID-19 positive.

A school-by-school breakdown indicates that last week La Grande High School had 16 students who tested positive for COVID-19, La Grande Middle School and Greenwood Elementary School each had two students out and Central Elementary School had one. La Grande High School had two staff members test positive and the La Grande School District’s district office had one person test positive.

Athletic squads at LHS that have hit speed bumps because of the pandemic include its volleyball team, which is sidelined because a number of its players have had to quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. Some of the team’s games have been rescheduled as a result. LHS will resume action Sept. 29 with a rescheduled road match against Ontario.

LHS Athletic Director Darren Goodman said he wants to help his school’s athletic teams take part in as many competitions as possible without putting them at risk.

“We err on the side of safety. We are trying to give as many opportunities to participate in sports as we can but do it as safely as we can,” Goodman said.

The 20 students the Imbler School District has out due to COVID are all members of its middle school football team. These players in grades six through eight were self-isolated or quarantined Sept. 17 after it was determined that one of the team’s players was COVID-19 positive and had had close contact with his teammates. About two weeks earlier the Imbler High School football team also had a player test positive, forcing many of the squad to be quarantined through Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Of the Imbler School District’s 19 teachers, four were out on Sept. 17 because of COVID-19 or exposure to someone who has tested positive for it. The loss of 21% of Imbler’s teaching staff puts a strain on the district since it is having a difficult time finding substitutes. This forced the school district’s two administrators, Hislop and high school principal Mike Mills, to add substitute teaching to their list of responsibilities.

Hislop said the Imbler School District is overcoming the challenges of COVID-19 because of help from its staff.

“I’m fortunate to have a great staff to deal with issues. The staff at Imbler is No. 1,” Hislop said.

He noted that when an elementary school teacher was recently out, one of the needs created was for someone to monitor at recess. An email was sent out requesting volunteers and six teachers offered their help.

Mendoza, like Hislop, said teamwork is key to overcoming the hurdles posed by the pandemic.

“It is hard but we will work through it together,” Mendoza said.

He said his major objective is to be able to keep schools open so they can continue to provide in-person instruction and meet the social and mental health needs of the students.