SUNDAY, MAY 19, 1963
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
Controversy Over School District Problems Splits Butte Falls
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lwiLllTT3OTLffM:lM:tf-iTfTO
(Edilor'i no tat Contro
versy has developed in the
Butte Falls school district.
In an effort to determine
the basis and scope of the
controversy. Mail Tribune
Reporter and Regional Page
Editor Cleve Twitchell has
been interviewing Butte
Falls residents and school
officials. His report of the
situation follows.)
By CLEVE TWITCHELL
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Butte Falls - On the cvc
ning of March 6 of this year,
the board of Butte Fa 111
School District No. 91 voted
5 to 0 not to offer a 1963-64
contract to C. L. Stratton, who
for the previous six years had
served as principal of the lo
cal elementary school.
The board's action touched
off an eruption that has vir
tually split the community. It
is a controversy that actually
has been smouldering here for
some time, with the March 6
decision merely lighting the
final fuse. And at present, the
hassle in still very much alive.
One group of residents is
seeking to get Stratton rein
stated as elementary school
principal for the coming year.
A second group supports the
school board's decision.
Question of Decisions
Basically, the issue at stake
in Butte Falls is a question of
whether the school board and
administrators should decide
school matters, or whether
Ihe voters should decide them.
One group feels that once
the voters have elected a
board, it should be left alone
to make decisions as it sees
fit. The other group feels the
voters should have a more
direct say in major school
matters.
Following the board's de
cision March 6 not to reelect 1
Stratton, a number of moves
and counter-moves took place
First, a hearing was held
before the board, at which
time those seeking to reinstate
Stratton presented a petition
demanding that he be offered
a 1963-64 contract. The peti
tion bore a total of some 250
signatures.
Hold Firm to Decision
Board members held firm
in their original decision,
however, contending that
many of the signatures were
not those of registered voters
within the district. The other
group admitted that all of the
signatures might not be valid
but argued that the petition
represented the "overwhelm
ing sentiments" of the com
munity anyway.
Subsequently, district su
perintendent Charles Cope
land and the board asked the
Oregon Education Associa
tion's Commission on Ethics
and Professional Rights and
Responsibilities to make an
impartial investigation.
A subcommittee of the com
mission spent April S and 6
at Butte Falls interviewing
all who wished to be heard.
Following its investiga 1 1 o n,
the subcommittee released a
report stating, among other
things, "The subcommittee
found no reason to question
the ethics of the board's de
termination," and at another
point that it believed the
board and administration "has
acted in what they believed to
be the best interests of the
school community."
Petitions Circulated
Next, petitions seeking the
recall of two board members,
Andrew Hamstra and Duane
Burton, were circulated. They
were presented to the school
board, with sufficient signa
tures to put the recall on the
ballot.
Both men were recalled in
an election on May 6, Ham
stra by 90 to 81 and Burton by
88 to 83. In the same election,
Duane Smeltzer, a candidate
supported by those seeking
Stratton's reinstatement, de
feated Francis E. Poole,
school board chairman, 96 to
75, and the school budget was
voted down, 97 to 69. Smelt
zer will take office July 1.
Following the election, the
remaining three board mem
bers, Poole, Charles Ferguson
and Jess Rodgers Jr., named
successors to fill the vacancies
created by the recall of Ham
stra and Burton. Their action
was taken in accordance with
a recently enacted state law.
Appointed to Board
Appointed to the board
were Mrs. Hannah Dalton, a
member of the board in prev
ious years, and William L,
Harris. Both are sympathetic
to the March 6 decision not to
reelect Stratton, and so as a
result of these appointments,
the balance of power remain.
ed 4 to 1 in favor of the school
administration
The other group, which had
hoped with the recall move
to gain a 3 to 2 majority on
the board, was unhappy, if
not furious. It felt that the
"will of the people" as ex
pressed at the election has not
been followed.
Some members of this
group indicated they plan to
take the matter to the county
school superintendent, oi
even the state board of educa
tion if necessary.
Policy of County Office
Alf B. Mekvold, county
school superintendent, on. the
other hand, said that it is the
policy of his office to try to
get the parties in a contro
versy to get together and
work out their own solution.
His office wants to avoid step
ping in and usurping the pow
ers of the local board, he said.
Chances for a reconciliation
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SALVATION ARMY WEEK
-"-ME-
between the two sides of the
Butte Falls controversy ap
pear somewhat remote at
pre.ent, however. Each side is
determined to win.
"The people's will shall pre
vail," say members of Strat
ton's supporters. "We will
never drop the fight." In ad
dition to Stratton's reinstate
ment they are asking Cope
land to resign and the board
to appoint two members sym
pathetic to the majority vote
expressed at the May 6 elec
tion. "The only way for this
thing to be resolved is for
Stratton to leave the com
munity," say members of the
other side.
'Premeditated Railroad Job'
Members of the group seek
ing Stratton's reinstate melt
contend that his non-reelection
was a "premeditated rail
road job" planned from the
beginning of the school year.
To support this contention
they offer the testimony of
two teachers in the district,
who state that they were ap
proached by persons shortly
after their arrival who at
tempted to turn their feelings
against the elementary school
principal.
One of the teachers con
tends he was taken aside by
the superintendent early in
the year and told that all was
not well at the grade school
because the principal was in
compatible with the other
teachers.
The two teachers also ob
jected to what they called a
"loyalty oath" which was cir
culated at one point following
Stratton's non-reelection. The
sheet was a form of pledge
indicating that those who
signed supported the school
board and its decision.
The teachers complained
that this was a damned-if-you-do
and damned - if - you - don't
proposition, because if a
teacher didn't sign, it made it
appear that he was against the
board, but if he did sign, then
such action indicated he fa
vored the board's decision on
Stratton.
Sup erintendent Copeland,
when asked about the so-called
"loyalty oath," confirmed
its existence and explained
that he drew it up at the re
quest of the school board,
which wished to determine
how the teachers felt about
the Stratton situation. Al
though no one was obligated
to do so, seven of the 10 teach
ers in the district (excluding
Copeland and Stratton who
both also teach) signed the
statement supporting the
board, the superintendent
said.
The school board members
say the decision not to reelect
Stratton as principal was the
climax of a series of events
over a period of several years.
A year ago, Stratton was re
tained by a 3 to 2 vote of the
board.
Get Into Personalities
The specific reasons for the
action get into the realm of
personalities, and some of
them must as such remain con
fidential, but basically the
board contends that the prin
cipal was Incompatible with
most of the other teachers and
that he took school matters to
the general public instead of
to the school board.
"When 12 people can't get
along because of one man,"
remarked board member
Hamstra, "you remove the
one who is the cause of the
trouble, not the other 11."
Hamstra was on the board
one year before he was re
called. When elected in 1962
he actually was supported by
the same group now attempt
ing to reinstate Stratton. But
during his year on the board
he changed his mind and in
1963 voted with the other
members not to reelect the
principal,
Hamstra says he changed
his mind on his own and was 1
not pressured into it. He says j
he did so because he felt Strat
ton consistently came to him
personally and to other resi
dents of the community with
complaints about school mat
ters instead of taking them to
the board as a whole.
Stratton on the other hand
contends that he spoke of
school matters only to a few
people, mostly persons who
asked about them. "I feci that
It is Ihe public's privilege to
know what is going on," he
said. "Tlic' public doesn't, in
my opinion, know enough
about school matters. After
all. they're paying the bill."
The school matters to which
both sides refer, revolve pri
marily around a question of
whether the seventh and
eighth grades should attend
classes at the grade school or
at the high school three
blocks away.
This year, because of sched
uling problems, seventh and
eighth graders have attended
some classes at each school.
The state board of education
objected, stating that in effect
the district was conducting a
six-year high school in two
separate buildings without its
permission.
And so the superintendent
and the school board drew up
a program for a six-year high
school and six-year elemen
tary school, voted it into ef
fect for the 1963-64 school
year and secured the state
board's approval. Stratton in
the meantime drew up and
supported a program to keep
the seventh and eighth grades
at the elementary school.
The board and superinten
dent say that Stratton had
been warned repeatedly for
several years not to take
school business to the general
public. Stratton, however,
contends that prior to his non
reelection no one came to him
to tell him he was out of line
or offer suggestions as to how
he could get back into line.
The board's view is that it
did not fire Stratton but
merely did not offer him a
new contract. The board has
offered to recommend Strat
ton for a job In another dis
trict as a teacher but not as a
supervisor. "I feel we've done
everything possible to see that
he got fair treatment," said
Superintendent Copeland.
"The board has a right to hire
whom they wish."
in the controversy agrees that
it isn't doing Butte Falls or its
school system any good. Be
cause of its small size and
relative isolation, the OEA
Commission on Ethics sub
committee noted, the district
already has trouble attracting
good teachers and providing a
well-rounded edutational pro
gram. Some observers foresee the
possibility that the current
hassle may lead to consolida
tion with another district.
If the district's proposed
1963-64 budget continues to
be voted down, for example -and
the pro-Stratton group has
indicated it will continue to
vote the budget down as a
protest move - the school
board could find itself forced
to operate after July 1 only
on those funds not raised
through local taxes.
According to County Super
intendent Mekvold, there is
no legal precedent to indicate
what would eventually hap-
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