Multiple community members and district educators used the Oct. 13 public-comment period to urge the board to publicly support a teacher who speakers said had been falsely accused and subjected to threats and doxxing.

Cookie Sinclair, a teacher in the district, described the effects she said the incident had on a colleague: “She was falsely accused. … She had been cared to assassinated there. They posted my elderly aunt and uncle's … address online. There were so many threats of physical violence that she had to get a legal protection order,” Sinclair said during public comment.

Mary Mendoza Hensel, president of the Battle Ground Education Association, told trustees the district's internal investigation found the allegation to be false and said silence from the district and board was permitting the false narrative to spread. “Yet the district and board have stayed silent, and the silence has consequences, it allows the lie to grow,” Mendoza Hensel said, urging the board to reinstate the teacher and publicly defend staff where appropriate.

Other speakers, including staff and students, described the teacher's classroom work, the teacher’s role with National Honor Society and students' academic gains under that instructor. “She is integral to our school,” student Riley Dodson said, speaking in support of the teacher.

Board and superintendent response: At the end of public comment the board chair asked the superintendent whether the district could issue a statement. The superintendent said there was substantial misinformation circulating and that, because the matter involves personnel and legal processes, “we really can't speak to it. We need to wait for the process to play fully out, before we can say anything.” The board noted it was following applicable contract and labor law and said the legal process limits what officials can say in open session.

Other public comments during the same period raised related concerns: a teacher speaker warned about public-records requests that gathered staff photos and personal details; another speaker defended a book in school libraries and urged the board not to allow misinformation to limit classroom materials. Several speakers asked for due process protections and for the board to reaffirm collective-bargaining rights and protections in interactions with the public.

No board action or vote on personnel matters occurred during the meeting; trustees reiterated that board members could not comment publicly on ongoing personnel or legal matters while the process continued.