Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 17, 2016
Two sentenced to
Awards: Lines made every place better
100 months in prison
And the winners are …
Former Western Oregon students to
spend time in prison for sex crimes
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Two men
were sentenced to 100
months in the Department
of Corrections with 20 years
of post-
prison su-
pervision
at Polk
County
Circuit
Court this
afternoon.
B o t h
Savoy
men were
f o u n d
guilty of
Me a s u r e
11 sex
crimes
after a
two-day
b e n c h
trial by
J u d g e
Weekly
Norman
R. Hill.
Robert Godeaux Savoy
III, 23, was sentenced to 8
years, 4 months in the De-
partment of Corrections for
first-degree rape. He will
serve 75 months concur-
rently for lesser sex charges.
Christopher James Weekly,
23, also was sentenced to 8
years, 4 months in the De-
partment of Corrections for
first-degree sodomy. He will
also serve 75 months concur-
rently for lesser sex charges.
The incident took place in
2014 and involved one vic-
tim. The woman did not ap-
pear at the sentencing, but
did send a statement with
Chief Deputy District Attor-
ney Jayme Kimberly saying:
“I’ve already spent too much
of my time with you both.
I’ve wasted enough time
feeling scared. Now it’s your
turn to think about what you
did that night.”
Fa m i l y m e m b e r s o f
Savoy emotionally pleaded
with the judge to show
mercy on Robert Savoy
prior to sentencing.
Robert Savoy’s father Eric
Savoy said, “My son is very
strong. He’s a young man
who would never do this. My
son is an honorable man.”
Neither Savoy nor Weekly
added anything to the
record before being issued
their respective sentences.
Attorneys representing
both men asked for a new
trial on the grounds that
the evidence was insuffi-
cient to justify a verdict,
and that the verdict was
against the law.
Hill said he believed the vic-
tim’s version of what occurred
and he denied a new trial.
Because first-degree rape
and first-degree sodomy
fall under Measure 11, Hill
said he was compelled to
issue mandatory sentenc-
ing of 100 months in the
Department of Corrections
and 20 years of post-prison
supervision. Both Savoy
and Weekly will have to reg-
ister as sex offenders.
“There is no good here,”
he said. “It’s a sad thing all
the way around.”
Attorneys representing
Savoy and Weekly intend to
file appeals to the sentence
and the trial.
Continued from 1A
This year, the cere-
mony’s theme is “In
Celebration of
Courage,” taking note
of those “courageous
and generous people
that live in our com-
munity.”
The awards pres-
entation will follow
dinner and a social
hour, which begins at
6 p.m. at Col. James
Nesmith Readiness
Center in Dallas.
The awards in-
clude: Outstanding
Organization, Small
Business, New Busi-
ness, Ag Business,
Business of the Year,
President’s Award,
Lifetime Achieve-
ment, Good Samari-
tans, Excellence in
Arts, Junior First Citi-
zen and First Citizen.
Fa i r c h i l d , w h o
nominated Lines for
Lifetime Achieve-
ment, said he is glad
to see Dallas recog-
nizing the mark Lines
left on his city.
“For a life cut short,
he had done a lot of
things,” Fairchild
said.
“A n d i n e v e r y
place, he made it bet-
ter.”
Outstanding Organization —
Dallas Fire Department Chaplains
Small Business — El Pique
New Business — West Valley
Taphouse
Ag Business — Daryll's Nursery
Business — Oregon State Credit
Union
President's Award — Dallas Eco-
nomic Development Commission
Lifetime Achievement — Ron
Lines
Good Samaritan's — Jim Ro-
driguez & Colby Hamilton
Excellence in Arts — John Beck
Junior First Citizen — Jeremey
Santee-Malloy (works at Citizens
Bank)
First Citizen — Bob Brannigan
HONORING COURAGE
What: 59th annual Community
Award Banquet.
When: Friday, 6 p.m.
Where: Oregon National
Guard’s Nesmith Readiness Center,
12835 Westview Drive, Dallas.
Tickets: Tickets are $40 per per-
son or $45 at the door. Tickets are
available at the chamber’s oice,
168 SW Court St. (open Wednes-
day and Thursday) and Dallas City
Hall, 187 SE Court St.
Theme: In Celebration of
Courage.
For more information:
http://www.dallasoregon.org.
District responds to union vote
Central’s board of directors, superintendent counter teachers’ complaints
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — The
Central School Board has
heard the complaints from
the Central Education Asso-
ciation regarding Central
High School Principal Greg
Mitchell, Superintendent
Buzz Brazeau said.
“The board has respond-
ed and we’re trying to follow
through with that process,”
he said. “It’s a personnel
issue.”
The association has pub-
lished a blog online written
by CEA president and CHS
English teacher Ben Gorman,
in collaboration with other
teachers, alleging a number
of problems with Mitchell’s
leadership at Central.
Among those complaints
are that Central High stu-
dents were not offered suffi-
Did the Stork visit you in 2015?
cient opportunities to grad-
uate.
The graduation rate at
CHS has gone from 66 per-
cent when Mitchell started
in 2013 to 84 percent this
year.
Gorman and CEA vice-
president Laura said they
are concerned about the
Class of 2016, of which 33
percent has passed Smarter
Balanced tests. The remain-
ing students need to show
their proficiency in the ma-
terial through work samples
through senior skills classes.
Waight said there were
just two senior skills classes
available, with 20 students
enrolled in each.
Super intendent Buzz
Brazeau said that every stu-
dent who needed to provide
work samples for graduation
had taken the class in fall or
winter term, or was sched-
uled to take the class in
spring.
G o r ma n , Wai g h t n o r
Brazeau could explain why
work samples weren’t done
in the class where the sub-
ject was taught — language
arts or math.
As for the master schedul-
ing, Brazeau said when he
was a building principal,
there often were changes to
the schedule two or even
three weeks into the new
school year.
He also noted that the
union’s grievance — a spe-
cific complaint about the
contract not being fol-
lowed — was filed while
Mitchell was having open-
heart surgery in 2014.
The union’s proposed
remedies — or what the
union asked for in exchange
for the contract not being
followed — were granted:
p rov i d i n g a s u b s t i t u t e
teacher so that teachers
could better prepare for
teaching a class they didn’t
know they would have to
teach or paying them for
extra time spent preparing.
Another allegation in the
blog is that Mitchell dis-
banded the building’s site
council, something state law
stipulates buildings have.
The law also notes that dis-
tricts have the right to build
councils in a way that would
best suit each district.
In Central School District,
buildings have a leadership
team, and haven’t had a site
council as defined by the
law in years, Brazeau said.
“That’s a 20-year-old law,”
Brazeau said. “We’ve always
struggled with site councils.”
Instead, the district uses
the leadership team model,
which includes teachers and
some members of the classi-
fied staff to work on curricu-
lum and try to improve the
overall operation of schools,
Brazeau said. School em-
ployees on the leadership
team receive a stipend for
the extra work.
Mitchell has had about
eight hostile work environ-
ment claims filed against
him, but they were thor-
oughly investigated and did
not rise to that level, said
Rich McFarland, assistant
superintendent and human
resources director.
Waight said the union’s
decision to take its com-
plaints public was based on
how teachers perceive
Mitchell’s actions to affect
students.
“We don’t take that light-
ly,” Gorman said. “This is an
instance where (the board)
needs to step up to the plate
and show they are willing to
do what’s best for students.
A big part of our concern is,
if it stalls, it will be too late to
find another principal or
we’ll lose teachers. They
need to be assured — apply
more pressure.”
Gorman and Waight said
the union wants Mitchell
out of the high school. A re-
placement must be willing
to collaborate, communi-
cate and have respect for
teachers, Gorman said.
Fifth: Program helps kids graduate
Continued from Page 14A
“Let’s put it in its own
fund and fund it that way,”
he said during a hearing on
the bill this month. “That is
Aria Nicole Peters • Dec. 26, 2015
All babies will be entered into a drawing for
FREE PRIZES from area merchants!
BABIES OF 2015
Showcase your little one with his or her photo, birthdate and
names of proud parents. Only babies born in 2015 are
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will appear in a special full color section of the Itemizer-
Observer on Feb. 24, 2016. Please mail or
drop off the following form, a photo and
$25.00 to our office by Feb.19th prior
to 2:00 p.m. (The photo may be picked
Mom! Dad!
up after publication). If you have any
Grandparents!
questions, please call Dawn at
Bring in
503-623-2373.
a photo!
(CLIP THIS FORM)
_____________________________________________________________
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DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 19 PUBLISH: FEBRUARY 24
Itemizer-Observer
147 SE Court St. • Dallas • 503-623-2373
the straight forward and
honest way to do it.”
Sen. Sara Gelser, a strong
proponent of the bill, said
she doesn’t believe use of
state school fund is inappro-
priate — as opponents have
charged — for the group of
students who would be
served through the new
“Post-graduate Scholar” pro-
gram.
Gelser, Green and others
who testified in favor of the
legislation say the opportu-
nity to attend community
college is an incentive to
graduate.
“I would argue that is al-
ways appropriate to use
state school fund for the
purpose of increasing a high
school graduation rate,” she
said in the hearing on the
bill.
“What we are creating is a
carrot to keep kids in school
districts, to graduate from
high school that otherwise
would leave.”