Crook County School District board acknowledges open-meetings violation, dismisses complaints, declares two vacancies and pauses transportation hire

At a Crook County School District board meeting, the board voted unanimously to send a letter to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission acknowledging that an executive session on Dec. 9 was handled improperly; it dismissed and denied specific complaints related to that session, authorized the business manager to hire outside legal counsel where the district’s existing counsel had a conflict, and declared two board vacancies after two resignations. The board also removed the hiring of a transportation manager from the consent agenda and set a public application process to fill the vacant seats.

The actions address a series of grievances and procedural questions that the board said surfaced since the Dec. 9 executive session. The board accepted legal counsel’s draft letter to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission acknowledging that past practice had not complied with required procedures and instructed staff to send it. The board also dismissed a complaint filed by a member of the public against a former board member on the grounds that a former member cannot be sanctioned, and it voted to reconsider and then deny a separate pending investigation because the subject was no longer on the board.

Board members said recusals by two members left the board without a quorum to act on several other complaints; because the remaining member could not form a quorum, the board took no action on those items. Where its regular counsel was conflicted out because of overlapping interests with High Desert ESD, the board authorized the business manager to contract for outside legal representation and separately voted not to hear a complaint directed at High Desert ESD.

The consent agenda passed with one notable exclusion: the board removed the hiring of a transportation manager (item 6.8) from the consent agenda and approved the remainder of the consent items. Speakers from the district’s transportation staff urged the board to take time to hire a candidate with the required transportation experience; Lisa Wagner, speaking for transportation employees, said, “Filling the position quickly should not outweigh the need to fill it correctly.”

The board also adopted Resolution No. 404-22024-2025 updating signature and authorization designations to remove a prior signatory and add acting superintendent Joel Hough. On personnel and governance, the board announced two resignations and declared vacancies under district policy BBE: Jessica Brumble’s resignation was effective Dec. 10, 2024; Cheyenne Edgerly (transcribed variously as Edgley/Edgerly) resigned effective Jan. 9, 2025. The board voted to post the vacancies and run a public application process: the posting will go live Jan. 15, applications will close Feb. 5 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific, and the board asked applicants to indicate whether they intend to run in the May 2025 election.

To broaden public involvement in selecting replacements, the board approved a citizen review process: each board member will nominate three community members (for a nine-person review committee) to evaluate applicants and recommend candidates. The board noted that the committee’s recommendation would not be binding and that the board itself must make the appointments publicly.

Several reports and updates were presented during the meeting. The district finance presenter said the general fund projection was close to budget but noted that staff had paused some expenditures; the district has published an RFP for auditing services after an audit team split from the previous firm, Polly Rogers. The board discussed and agreed to pause active work on hiring a political consultant for a potential bond measure and to keep the facilities review committee but move the timeline off the current schedule.

Academic and student-service items included a presentation on Advanced Placement and…