State agencies are fanning out to offer assistance in the wake of a tragic attack at a Bend elementary school this month, Gov Tina Kotek said Monday.

Those efforts include helping teachers and others to access paid time off of work, speeding up background checks for substitute teachers, and potentially providing state funding to Bend-La Pine Schools while they await federal emergency money.

“This is an all-of-government response at the executive branch,” Kotek said at a press conference in the Capitol, standing alongside Bend-area lawmakers and the directors of several state agencies. She added: “We are treating this like the disaster it is.”

The governor announced she is declaring a state of emergency at Bend-La Pine Schools and High Desert Education Service District. That will allow the districts to avoid state requirements — such as minimums for instructional time — while they recover from the attack.

Kotek said she is directing the Oregon Department of Education to require schools educate parents about the state’s safe-storage law, which requires gun owners to keep firearms locked away when not in use in order to keep them out of the hands of minors.

“Having a law is not enough if people do not understand what it requires or how to comply with that,” Kotek said.

Three students and one teacher at Bend’s Silver Rail Elementary were killed on Oct. 15, when a 16-year-old stormed the school with a shotgun reportedly purchased by his mother.

Law enforcement agencies investigating the incident have not said whether they believe the attacker’s mother violated the safe storage requirement, and Kotek said she did not have more information to share.

At Monday’s press conference, directors of the Oregon Department of Education, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Emergency Management, and Oregon Employment Department all laid out steps they are taking to assist Bend citizens.

Employment Department Director Andrew Stolfi said his agency is making workers available in Bend to help residents access the state’s paid family leave policy. The law gives Oregon workers up to 12-weeks of paid time off in order to treat a health condition or care for a family member.

The employment department has also set up a special email address and phone number to expedite paid leave applications from Bend.

“Paid leave is not only available to the faculty and staff of Silver Rail and Bend-La Pine School District, but to any eligible worker who needs time off to treat themselves or a family member because of this tragedy,” Stolfi said.

Charlene Williams, the director of the Oregon Department of Education, said her agency has been working closely with Bend-area schools to respond to the shooting, including by speeding through background checks for the mental health professionals assisting survivors.

“We know that the road will not be easy, but we’re committed to walking it together,” Williams said.

The education department is also helping the school district apply for grant funding from a federal program that reimburses schools for costs tied to violent acts. While that application moves forward, Kotek said she would ask state lawmakers to approve emergency funding when they meet in December.

Kotek did not say how much she would request. After a 2015 attack at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg where a shooter killed nine people and then himself, the federal government supplied $1.2 million.

The governor did not outline any proposed changes to state gun laws as a result of the tragedy in Bend, but suggested she expected proposals to emerge when the Legislature convenes next year.

“I remain strongly committed to examining Oregon’s gun violence prevention laws and determining what more we can do to prevent firearm deaths,” Kotek said. “I do not believe our responsibility ends when the immediate crisis passes. We need to understand what happened, identify ways that our laws and their implementation can be strengthened and be willing to act on what we learn.”

That sentiment was echoed by state Sen. Anthony Broadman, a Bend Democrat whose district includes Silver Rail Elementary.

“We in the Bend delegation are three parents of school kids who go to school in Redmond and Bend,” Broadman said. “It’s our responsibility to look at state laws through the eyes of the people we are serving and to make changes if something is not serving them.”

Broadman and state Rep. Jason Kropf, also a Bend Democrat, grew emotional at times in describing their city grappling with the attack.

“Grief also demonstrates the love and caring you have for people that you have lost,” Kropf said, paraphrasing a pastor’s remarks at a memorial service for Megan Lambert, the 25-year-old teacher who died in the attack. “Our town and our region is grieving, but there’s also been incredible displays of love and caring.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/26/gov-tina-kotek-declares-emergency-details-state-help-in-wake-of-bend-shooting/