Sean C. Morgan
A representative of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement visited School District 55 Monday, Aug. 13, as part of the certification process that will allow the district to resume its exchange program with Josai University High School of Tokyo.
“He is the one that makes sure the school is a school,” said Cynde Burford, former coordinator of the exchange program. She credits the quick site visit to pressure from the offices of Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Peter DeFazio.
The exchange program is apparently halted for the 2012-13 school year because paperwork had not been filed for recertification under a 2010 law that requires recertification every two years, Burford said.
Now, the School District must complete a full certification process instead of recertification, and it will take too long for two Josai exchange students to attend Sweet Home High School this year.
Monday evening, Supt. Don Schrader wanted to make it clear that the program is not canceled.
“At no time was the program ever going to be canceled,” he said. The district simply needs to complete the recertification process.
The site visit came much faster than he expected, he said. “We thought it was going to be maybe 10 months from now.”
The visit went well, Schrader said. Schrader, Winslow and Burford met with the investigator.
“My impression is we had all the paperwork we needed,” Burford said.
She has since contacted Wyden’s and DeFazio’s staff, Burford said, and they indicated they would contact their liaison to ICE and SEVIS.
Because of the delay, the two girls who were supposed to attend Sweet Home High School are planning to go to Regis High School in Stayton this year, Burford said. Their families, with some help from Josai, will pay upward of three times as much to attend school there.
Sweet Home is the premiere exchange school for Josai students, Burford said. The top students in the exchange selection process come here.
When Sweet Home fell through this year, it was a big embarrassment, Burford said, and the girls had to go somewhere.
“It’s a huge honor they were selected as the top picks to go to Sweet Home,” she said.
It is unlikely that the girls would be able to divert their visit to Sweet Home this year, Burford said. “Parents have already put out the expense, and Regis has already found host families for them, even though the girls would really like to go to Sweet Home.”
The certification still needs to be completed quickly because the exchange program selection process begins in December at Josai, Burford said. Josai officials need to know if it’s possible for their students to attend Sweet Home in 2013-14.
“So we still need to be quick,” Burford said. “We’re trying to rescue the program so it’s not out of sight, out of mind.”
Neither Burford nor Schrader know how long it will take after the site visit to complete the process, although Schrader thought it could take nearly a year.
The Josai exchange program celebrated its 30th anniversary this year.
The sister school relationship is one of the oldest of its kind in Japan, according to Mistuaki Mashimo, principal of Josai High School.
Under the program, Sweet Home students and Josai students spend a year at their sister schools. During alternating summers, groups from one school visit the other.