SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Ione school board backlash over complaints against former board chair
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Ione School District Superintendent and Elementary School
Principal Tracey Johnson discusses the district’s goals with
the board at a work session before the regular meeting Aug.
15. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
hired Scott Whittington of
CSW Investigations in La
Grande to investigate the
matter. Whittington deter-
mined Crum had violated
board policies with an email
written to Ogden in May of
this year.
The bombshell came
when Rietmann said the
council would not be dis-
cussing the complaint that
night.
“We are not ready to
take this on tonight,” Riet-
mann said, adding that the
school district had not had a
chance to consult with legal
counsel.
According to Riet-
mann at the meeting, the
school board had thought
the district’s existing le-
gal counsel, Steven Corey,
could guide them through
the process. The attorney
had been on vacation and
unreachable for several
weeks, however. Upon re-
turning home, she said he
had informed the board the
day before the meeting that
he had a conflict of interest
and would not be able to
counsel them after all.
Rietmann said she had
immediately reached out to
another attorney but had yet
to hear back.
“I’m really confused as
to why you guys aren’t able
to make a fairly simple de-
cision based on that report,”
responded Ogden, visibly
upset at the turn of events.
“I don’t think it’s as
simple as you think it is,”
replied Rietmann. “I think
we need to get our own
legal counsel to give us
advice before we move
forward.
“There was some con-
fusion in the process. I’ll
give you that,” she added.
Ogden replied that she
was frustrated because she
felt the delay tied her hands.
“I’ve been told what
you decide, decides what I
do next,” she said.
“I’m not sure we have
a decision to make,” Riet-
mann replied.
“I hope not,” Ogden
responded. “It seems pretty
clear.”
“I have a huge problem
with this,” added audience
member Erin Rietmann.
“Why is it so difficult of a
situation that you need legal
counsel?”
Lisa Rietmann re-
sponded that the board in-
tended to consult with legal
counsel as soon as possible.
She said the issue would
not need to wait for the
September board meeting
and suggested scheduling
another public meeting
at the attorney’s earliest
availability.
“I can’t give you a
date,” she said, but prom-
ised the meeting would be
well publicized.
Since then, Lisa Ri-
etmann has told the Ga-
zette-Times that the board
consulted with an attorney
but that she couldn’t speak
about the details of the
complaint, citing legal con-
straints. She did confirm
that three individuals—a
staff member, and commu-
nity member and another
board member—had all
filed complaints against one
of the Ione school board
members.
Rietmann said the
school board had not taken
final action on the mat-
ter, but that legal counsel
had advised that the board
cannot remove an elected
member.
“Any board action
would be limited to a state-
ment of censure regarding
the actions that resulted
in the complaints,” said
Rietmann.
Censure refers to a pub-
lic statement by the board
saying they disapprove of
the board member’s ac-
tions.
Ogden was not optimis-
tic about even that, saying
Rietmann had told her the
board was unwilling to ei-
ther censure Crum or take
steps toward a recall. Og-
den said she is giving notice
of resignation to the school,
saying she now feels scared
to go to work.
“I can’t live under con-
stant fear of what the board
will do or say,” she said. “I
feel scared here and I’ve
never felt scared at work.”
Silent throughout the
meeting was Crum, who
also seemed shocked by the
direction the meeting took.
He told the Gazette-Times
after the meeting that he
had been unaware they
wouldn’t have legal counsel
present.
“I literally thought our
attorney was going to show
up tonight so we could get
to the bottom of it,” he said.
After consulting with the
district’s attorney, he de-
clined to comment further.
Other Business
The board also heard its
share of complaints during
the public comment period
at the beginning of the
meeting, from parents who
stressed the need for better
communication to those
who worried the dual role
of principal and superin-
tendent might have new
ISD Superintendent Tracey
Johnson stretched too thin.
Parent Erin Rietmann
was one who spoke up
about the need for better
communication. She said
the robocalls the district im-
plemented last year worked
well “once everyone started
getting on there.”
However, she suggest-
ed using it for a wider va-
riety of communication, as
well as using “snail mail”
to keep the community
informed.
“When I first started
coming to this community,
there was a lot more com-
munication,” she said. “I
think you have kind of lost
that.”
On the topic of com-
munication, residents like
Madison Rietmann said she
didn’t feel the recent board
opening was communicated
well enough, and others
agreed.
“I feel like it’s been a
very hushed over deal, and
I don’t like that,” said Erin
Rietmann.
Lisa Rietmann replied
that former board member
Tricia Rollins had stepped
down unexpectedly only a
few weeks before the elec-
tion, leading to the write-in
election of Elizabeth Pe-
terson. Audience members
replied that elections should
be better publicized wheth-
er there was a vacancy or
not.
“You should have been
talking about those months
before,” said Brandi Orem.
“I don’t think it was
intentional. We’ve never
really publicized,” replied
Lisa Rietmann.
Crum added that there
were always ways for citi-
zens to be involved and in
the know, such as attending
board meetings and volun-
teering for committees.
In other business at
the meeting, the board
unanimously approved a
memorandum of under-
standing (MOU) with Ione
Community Church for the
church to serve as a second
reunification site in case of
emergencies.
Johnson said she and
Ione secondary school Dean
of Studetn Ryan Rudolph
had attended a school safety
summit in Pendleton Aug.
7. Representatives from
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office, Boardman PD and
Oregon State Police were
also on hand.
School district staff
from around the region had
worked on plans for reloca-
tion and reunification, the
portion of an emergency
response where students
are evacuated from a school
building and are reunited
with their families at an
alternative, secure location.
With the MOU in place,
the Ione church will be one
such location for the Ione
school. Johnson said the
next step will be to assign
emergency roles for district
staff and volunteers.
“It’s really hard in a
small school where you
don’t have a lot of people,”
she said.
The board also ap-
proved a cooperative agree-
ment with Morrow County
School District for Ione
students to play football
at Riverside High School.
Johnson said Arlington
chose not to co-op with
Ione as in the past, and
Ione did not end up with
enough players for a team.
The paperwork had already
been filed with the Oregon
Student Activities Associa-
tion (OSAA) and approved.
“Riverside was gra-
cious enough to help us
out,” she said.
Johnson also reported
that the state audit of Ione’s
English Language Learner
(ELL) program showed
the school wasn’t meeting
all the requirement, but
she had worked with the
Oregon Dept. of Education
to correct the shortcomings.
The board deferred ap-
proval of the staff handbook
until the board and staff
could go through it and
update it. However, the
board approved the student
handbook since it was just
updated and the board was
concerned that parents need
the handbook sooner rather
than later. Ogden addressed
Board Secretary Kim Thul
suggested the board should
have set guidelines for read-
ing and adopting policies.
“I think it’s a great idea
to have guidelines on every-
thing,” agreed board mem-
ber Elizabeth Peterson.
Lisa Rietmann noted
that there are also optional
policies recommended by
the Oregon School Em-
ployees Association that
the school should consider.
Peterson also brought
up the issue of the school’s
drug policy. She said she
had it on “good authority”
that there is drug use in the
student body, including by
athletes. Crum and Lisa
Rietmann responded that
the school does have a good
drug policy, but it probably
has not been well enforced
since before Covid-19.
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the board and said that, if
changes were to be made
after approval, parents
should be told of proposed
changes before the board
met to discuss them.
The board also heard
an update on the school
bond project. Johnson said
at least 20 people, five of
whom were major contrac-
tors, had participated in the
school walk-through Aug.
9. The school district will
accept bids until Aug. 22.
The school still hopes to
begin construction this fall.
Johnson said she would
be mailing updates to fam-
ilies, including maps, as
construction plans made
progress.
“It’s going to be messy,
probably,” she admitted.
At a work session prior
to the meeting, the board
also discussed policies. ISD
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