Parents, students, teachers voice concern about school district administrator turn-over
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
The school board meeting in Hawk Hall Monday night was so packed that the crowd spilled out into the corridor, spreading in several directions. Yesterday the same space filled with Central High students who had staged a school walkout.
The goal of both groups was the same – to protest certain actions by the Central School District. Many parents, teachers and students want to keep CHS vice principal Laura Waight, whose contract reportedly wasn’t renewed – and they also want to see new hiring and retention practices put in place at CSD.
Both demands may be near-future possibilities. Waight is predicted to have a special hearing on her employment status in the next few weeks. Board member Melanie Landon-Hays seemed to clinch consensus from fellow board members when she suggested a review was needed of hiring procedures and exit steps, such as claims of non-disclosure agreements.
These are “structural issues” that require examination, she asserted.
Three days after the school board meeting, Superintendent Jennifer Kubista met with about two dozen students who left the high school to walk to the district office, for a discussion of the issue. The students (some shown in upper-right photo), who ranged from sophomores to seniors, said they wanted the superintendent to know how much they valued Waight.
They also called for “better communication” and inquired whether exit interviews were being done. “We’re not currently doing exit interviews,” Kubista told them, but she added that it’s “something we’ll be looking at” going forward. The meeting with students was friendly in tone and Kubista reminded them she cannot address specific personnel issues. The students congenially complied.
In interviews leading up to the school board meeting, residents expressed frustration with the school district – and with school board members who are “polite but just tune you out,” in the words of one parent. Another called Kubista “highly professional” in many ways but “tone deaf” to the complications caused by being guided too much by those around her and lacking a critical eye.
District officials have repeatedly said they cannot comment on personnel matters, including other administrators, such as those often attributed as the superintendent's "kitchen cabinet."
In public testimony, some parents were very direct. “In the last years, there have been rising concerns that our district is crumbling,” said Tanna Cable Girod, a graduate of Central High School and an active volunteer in the district. “And I have to say I share that concern,” she said, during the overflow school board meeting at the Henry Hill Building, which serves as district headquarters.
There’s a pressing need for “solid consistent leadership,” she said.
Others echoed the same concerns, citing frequent changes in principals and assistant principals in the secondary schools, hard-to-understand administrative departures and a culture in which there’s fear of retaliation for allegedly raising questions.
CHS Teacher TJ Bailey told board members: “I literally cannot tell you how many vice principals I have had since I have been there.” Bailey, who has been at Central for about nine years, taught at Talmadge Middle School for the same amount of time previously – with no changes in administration.
While Waight wasn’t mentioned by name, both David Doellinger, a school parent, and Frank White, a former CHS teacher, made a point of describing Waight’s non-renewal as wrong. “This is one of the most competent people,” Doellinger said.
White, clad in a tee shirt that read “Once a panther, always a panther,” labeled the situation a calamity. “How fortunate this district is to have had her services,” he said. “How disastrous it is to consider losing such an inspiration.” Asked after his testimony by Trammart News whether he was referring to Waight, White responded: “Of course I am.”
School Board Chair Byron Shinkle had to interrupt speakers several times to point out that no reference to the identity of an individual staff person could be made in the public setting.
Trust has eroded, observed Nathan Muti, president of the Central Education Association, the teachers’ union. “Our community needs to trust this organization,” he stressed.
Others called for more clarity on hiring practices and for exit interviews of employees who leave.
Rob Harriman, a parent, told board members he’d learned that some of those who left the district allegedly were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. This could be seen as the means to cover “misdeeds,” he said.
The problem of administrative staffing impacts district schools in other ways, as well. Lower-than-allowed levels prompt temporary school closures, a situation that has occurred several times this year, according to reports on the district website.
Abby Fitts, the parent of two CHS alumni and also of a current student there, said she has always been reluctant to speak publicly. “It takes a special set of circumstances for me to get up here. And I believe we have those circumstances now,” she said.
Fitts stated that she has been told about fears of retaliation by others for speaking out and trying to solve problems. It’s not a situation limited to the potential loss of one beloved administrator.
“It is about fixing a system that needs to be fixed so we can get back to the most important job – of educating our children and preparing the next generation,” Fitts said. ▪
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
The school board meeting in Hawk Hall Monday night was so packed that the crowd spilled out into the corridor, spreading in several directions. Yesterday the same space filled with Central High students who had staged a school walkout.
The goal of both groups was the same – to protest certain actions by the Central School District. Many parents, teachers and students want to keep CHS vice principal Laura Waight, whose contract reportedly wasn’t renewed – and they also want to see new hiring and retention practices put in place at CSD.
Both demands may be near-future possibilities. Waight is predicted to have a special hearing on her employment status in the next few weeks. Board member Melanie Landon-Hays seemed to clinch consensus from fellow board members when she suggested a review was needed of hiring procedures and exit steps, such as claims of non-disclosure agreements.
These are “structural issues” that require examination, she asserted.
Three days after the school board meeting, Superintendent Jennifer Kubista met with about two dozen students who left the high school to walk to the district office, for a discussion of the issue. The students (some shown in upper-right photo), who ranged from sophomores to seniors, said they wanted the superintendent to know how much they valued Waight.
They also called for “better communication” and inquired whether exit interviews were being done. “We’re not currently doing exit interviews,” Kubista told them, but she added that it’s “something we’ll be looking at” going forward. The meeting with students was friendly in tone and Kubista reminded them she cannot address specific personnel issues. The students congenially complied.
In interviews leading up to the school board meeting, residents expressed frustration with the school district – and with school board members who are “polite but just tune you out,” in the words of one parent. Another called Kubista “highly professional” in many ways but “tone deaf” to the complications caused by being guided too much by those around her and lacking a critical eye.
District officials have repeatedly said they cannot comment on personnel matters, including other administrators, such as those often attributed as the superintendent's "kitchen cabinet."
In public testimony, some parents were very direct. “In the last years, there have been rising concerns that our district is crumbling,” said Tanna Cable Girod, a graduate of Central High School and an active volunteer in the district. “And I have to say I share that concern,” she said, during the overflow school board meeting at the Henry Hill Building, which serves as district headquarters.
There’s a pressing need for “solid consistent leadership,” she said.
Others echoed the same concerns, citing frequent changes in principals and assistant principals in the secondary schools, hard-to-understand administrative departures and a culture in which there’s fear of retaliation for allegedly raising questions.
CHS Teacher TJ Bailey told board members: “I literally cannot tell you how many vice principals I have had since I have been there.” Bailey, who has been at Central for about nine years, taught at Talmadge Middle School for the same amount of time previously – with no changes in administration.
While Waight wasn’t mentioned by name, both David Doellinger, a school parent, and Frank White, a former CHS teacher, made a point of describing Waight’s non-renewal as wrong. “This is one of the most competent people,” Doellinger said.
White, clad in a tee shirt that read “Once a panther, always a panther,” labeled the situation a calamity. “How fortunate this district is to have had her services,” he said. “How disastrous it is to consider losing such an inspiration.” Asked after his testimony by Trammart News whether he was referring to Waight, White responded: “Of course I am.”
School Board Chair Byron Shinkle had to interrupt speakers several times to point out that no reference to the identity of an individual staff person could be made in the public setting.
Trust has eroded, observed Nathan Muti, president of the Central Education Association, the teachers’ union. “Our community needs to trust this organization,” he stressed.
Others called for more clarity on hiring practices and for exit interviews of employees who leave.
Rob Harriman, a parent, told board members he’d learned that some of those who left the district allegedly were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. This could be seen as the means to cover “misdeeds,” he said.
The problem of administrative staffing impacts district schools in other ways, as well. Lower-than-allowed levels prompt temporary school closures, a situation that has occurred several times this year, according to reports on the district website.
Abby Fitts, the parent of two CHS alumni and also of a current student there, said she has always been reluctant to speak publicly. “It takes a special set of circumstances for me to get up here. And I believe we have those circumstances now,” she said.
Fitts stated that she has been told about fears of retaliation by others for speaking out and trying to solve problems. It’s not a situation limited to the potential loss of one beloved administrator.
“It is about fixing a system that needs to be fixed so we can get back to the most important job – of educating our children and preparing the next generation,” Fitts said. ▪
City town hall meeting on budget fielded by Mayor Kate Schwarzler
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
Why there is a public-service fee of $20 now added to city utility bills, why there is no home building being undertaken in Independence and why water and sewer rates continue to increase – these issues were asked and addressed at the city’s town hall last Saturday, which was held by newly-elected Mayor Kate Schwarzler at the Independence Heritage Museum. The town hall was held to help address questions and learn concerns, Schwarzler said.
"We don't have all the answers," she said. City Manager Kenna West was also present at the town hall.
The mayor's town halls are a welcome event in the community, according to several residents who attended. The intimate space of the Heritage Museum board room created a relaxed atmosphere for questions, one of them observed. And plenty were asked on Saturday by the full crowd in attendance.
Rebecca Jay, a member of the city’s planning commission, asked that city officials provide more clarity on spending – an observation that drew murmurs of agreement across the room.
Schwarzler said the city is “gearing up” for the budget session and urged participation in the process – an informational session will be held this Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Independence Civic Center.
Asked by Trammart News when the municipal audit would be completed – the document is now overdue at the Oregon Secretary of State’s office – West answered that the annual audit would be available in March or April.
A review of the municipal filings show that Independence is the only city in Polk County that is missing its municipal audit, which is due at the beginning of every calendar year. The Polk County Board of Commissioners confirmed this week that their outside audit was finished, as well.
City Manager West frequently interjected explanations to resident inquiries. At one point, after questions surfaced about the cost of water-sewer rates, West noted that there are projects that require attention due to maintenance needs, citing the sewage lagoon ponds. There are occasions when the city “smells awful,” she said, explaining that biosolid removal from the ponds is a necessity.
David Clyne, a former city manager for Independence, told the group that “not one single home had been built” since new fees for builders, called system development charges, had been implemented early in West's tenure as city manager. The cost-per-unit now exceeds $50,000, according to city-permit records.
Schwarzler replied that the SDCs had been lower than they should have been for years and adjustments had to be made. When Clyne and others wanted to know why a $20 public service fee was added to utility bills for police, both Schwarzler and West described law enforcement as an essential service. Areas threatened to be cut – parks, the library, the museum – are not defined as essential services by law, according to the Oregon Revised Statutes, West said.
In a brief comment after the meeting, Clyne said he was disappointed the city hadn’t hired a professional pollster to find out why a levy to support other services – the parks, museum and library – went down to such a blistering defeat on the November ballot. “Wouldn’t it make sense to consider additional professional and community sources for advice, given those results?” he asked.
During the town hall, Clyne pointed out that he and another former city manager who lives in Independence, Greg Ellis, had offered to help with problem-solving ideas from their years of experience in Independence. A letter describing that offer was submitted to the city council this past December. There has been no response to it, Clyne confirmed.
(NOTE: Trammart News covered only the first two sections of the town hall. 1) Budget: A focus on where to find information and how to get involved in shaping city priorities, and 2) Public Safety Fee: A clear breakdown of what it covers and why it matters. The third, which was not included in TN coverage, was on library services, "Debunking the myth that 'libraries are obsolete' and highlighting all the incredible resources your library card unlocks.")
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
Why there is a public-service fee of $20 now added to city utility bills, why there is no home building being undertaken in Independence and why water and sewer rates continue to increase – these issues were asked and addressed at the city’s town hall last Saturday, which was held by newly-elected Mayor Kate Schwarzler at the Independence Heritage Museum. The town hall was held to help address questions and learn concerns, Schwarzler said.
"We don't have all the answers," she said. City Manager Kenna West was also present at the town hall.
The mayor's town halls are a welcome event in the community, according to several residents who attended. The intimate space of the Heritage Museum board room created a relaxed atmosphere for questions, one of them observed. And plenty were asked on Saturday by the full crowd in attendance.
Rebecca Jay, a member of the city’s planning commission, asked that city officials provide more clarity on spending – an observation that drew murmurs of agreement across the room.
Schwarzler said the city is “gearing up” for the budget session and urged participation in the process – an informational session will be held this Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Independence Civic Center.
Asked by Trammart News when the municipal audit would be completed – the document is now overdue at the Oregon Secretary of State’s office – West answered that the annual audit would be available in March or April.
A review of the municipal filings show that Independence is the only city in Polk County that is missing its municipal audit, which is due at the beginning of every calendar year. The Polk County Board of Commissioners confirmed this week that their outside audit was finished, as well.
City Manager West frequently interjected explanations to resident inquiries. At one point, after questions surfaced about the cost of water-sewer rates, West noted that there are projects that require attention due to maintenance needs, citing the sewage lagoon ponds. There are occasions when the city “smells awful,” she said, explaining that biosolid removal from the ponds is a necessity.
David Clyne, a former city manager for Independence, told the group that “not one single home had been built” since new fees for builders, called system development charges, had been implemented early in West's tenure as city manager. The cost-per-unit now exceeds $50,000, according to city-permit records.
Schwarzler replied that the SDCs had been lower than they should have been for years and adjustments had to be made. When Clyne and others wanted to know why a $20 public service fee was added to utility bills for police, both Schwarzler and West described law enforcement as an essential service. Areas threatened to be cut – parks, the library, the museum – are not defined as essential services by law, according to the Oregon Revised Statutes, West said.
In a brief comment after the meeting, Clyne said he was disappointed the city hadn’t hired a professional pollster to find out why a levy to support other services – the parks, museum and library – went down to such a blistering defeat on the November ballot. “Wouldn’t it make sense to consider additional professional and community sources for advice, given those results?” he asked.
During the town hall, Clyne pointed out that he and another former city manager who lives in Independence, Greg Ellis, had offered to help with problem-solving ideas from their years of experience in Independence. A letter describing that offer was submitted to the city council this past December. There has been no response to it, Clyne confirmed.
(NOTE: Trammart News covered only the first two sections of the town hall. 1) Budget: A focus on where to find information and how to get involved in shaping city priorities, and 2) Public Safety Fee: A clear breakdown of what it covers and why it matters. The third, which was not included in TN coverage, was on library services, "Debunking the myth that 'libraries are obsolete' and highlighting all the incredible resources your library card unlocks.")
Editorial Column:
Legal analysis shows constitutional lapses in new council rules
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
After the Independence City Council adopted new rules of conduct despite a view by Oregon legislative counsel that portions of it were likely violations of the state constitution, Trammart News commissioned an outside legal analysis of the issue. It arrived as a thorough document with multiple legal citations. So, it has been boiled down in what lawyers now call “plain English.” That interpretation is below. --Anne Scheck
City Councilor Shannon Corr asked to have a letter included in the upcoming Tuesday’s council agenda packet about a fellow council member, Dawn Roden. She referenced Roden and the term “grandstanding.” Corr mentioned “censure” as a possible future outcome.
Corr might want to rethink that.
“Grandstanding” is the word highlighted by several attorneys who have weighed in on the potential constitutional violations included in a new set of rules on council conduct, which was approved by the city council earlier this year in a 4:1 vote, with Roden dissenting.
In the third legal opinion sought so far, Trammart News received a vetting by a trio of legal experts on whether these new council rules violate the constitution. In a careful analysis, the conclusion seems clear – and it’s the same one reached in the other two. These new rules appear, in part, to be unconstitutional.
And one reason is the word “grandstanding.”
This word appears to have been inserted by Independence City Manager Kenna West, who began using it early in her administration. In Corr’s letter, she defines “grandstanding” as speaking in a way “designed to attract attention and impress the audience, often by making dramatic statements or taking extreme positions.”
As it turns out, this is freedom of speech in the way it is often practiced by lawmakers, according to the recent legal examination of the issue.
Although this is over-simplification by Trammart News of the case-law citations that went into the compilation, that pretty much sums it up. Elected officials who are passionate about making their points can be colorful, exasperating, tongue-tied or argumentative. Sometimes they can even, allegedly, be frightening.
Take the case of Brian Boquist who, as an Oregon state legislator, notoriously declared: "Send bachelors and come heavily armed” when he was ordered to return to the Capitol after a Republican walkout. He was then required by a legislative committee to give a 12-hour notice before accessing the building in the future, in case security measures were needed. Boquist then sued.
The Ninth Circuit recently held that the inflammatory speech made by then-state senator Boquist was protected under the First Amendment – because he was an elected official. Supreme Court precedent has recognized that legislators are to “be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy.”
You might think the City of Independence has a right to place reasonable restrictions on speech occurring in spaces set up by the city for public discussion – called “limited public forums” – if those restrictions don’t discriminate against any particular viewpoint. And you’d be partly right. Generally, city council meetings are considered limited public forums.
However, the prohibition on “grandstanding” likely infringes on any legislator’s right, including a city councilor.
Why? Expressing a view is essentially what the public’s representatives are elected to do. And the word “grandstand” in the city council’s new conduct rules “is vague and broad enough that it might prevent city councilors from making speech they otherwise would be allowed to make,” according to the legal analysis.
This is called a “chilling effect” in First Amendment case law and could, by itself, be sufficient to make the law unconstitutional, according to precedents listed in the report.
Political speech is a central part of an elected official’s duties; Elected officials have an obligation to take positions on controversial political questions, so that their constituents can be fully informed by them, according to the citations.
Article I, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution provides that “No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any subject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse of this right.”
In fact, Oregon established its free-speech framework in a case called State v. Robertson and, surprisingly, it differs from the federal framework. Section 8 generally provides more free speech protection than the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Repeated attempts by Trammart News to determine how the term "grandstand" was selected as part of the language for this change in council rules or whether the city's contracted attorney could address constitutional questions that have arisen all went unanswered by Emmanuel Goicochea, Independence's communication director.
(Note: Mandatory inclusion of minority opinions is common in governmental reporting requirements when oversight boards are making decisions and some members of such boards voice positions apart from the majority.) ▪
Legal analysis shows constitutional lapses in new council rules
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, March 7, 2025
After the Independence City Council adopted new rules of conduct despite a view by Oregon legislative counsel that portions of it were likely violations of the state constitution, Trammart News commissioned an outside legal analysis of the issue. It arrived as a thorough document with multiple legal citations. So, it has been boiled down in what lawyers now call “plain English.” That interpretation is below. --Anne Scheck
City Councilor Shannon Corr asked to have a letter included in the upcoming Tuesday’s council agenda packet about a fellow council member, Dawn Roden. She referenced Roden and the term “grandstanding.” Corr mentioned “censure” as a possible future outcome.
Corr might want to rethink that.
“Grandstanding” is the word highlighted by several attorneys who have weighed in on the potential constitutional violations included in a new set of rules on council conduct, which was approved by the city council earlier this year in a 4:1 vote, with Roden dissenting.
In the third legal opinion sought so far, Trammart News received a vetting by a trio of legal experts on whether these new council rules violate the constitution. In a careful analysis, the conclusion seems clear – and it’s the same one reached in the other two. These new rules appear, in part, to be unconstitutional.
And one reason is the word “grandstanding.”
This word appears to have been inserted by Independence City Manager Kenna West, who began using it early in her administration. In Corr’s letter, she defines “grandstanding” as speaking in a way “designed to attract attention and impress the audience, often by making dramatic statements or taking extreme positions.”
As it turns out, this is freedom of speech in the way it is often practiced by lawmakers, according to the recent legal examination of the issue.
Although this is over-simplification by Trammart News of the case-law citations that went into the compilation, that pretty much sums it up. Elected officials who are passionate about making their points can be colorful, exasperating, tongue-tied or argumentative. Sometimes they can even, allegedly, be frightening.
Take the case of Brian Boquist who, as an Oregon state legislator, notoriously declared: "Send bachelors and come heavily armed” when he was ordered to return to the Capitol after a Republican walkout. He was then required by a legislative committee to give a 12-hour notice before accessing the building in the future, in case security measures were needed. Boquist then sued.
The Ninth Circuit recently held that the inflammatory speech made by then-state senator Boquist was protected under the First Amendment – because he was an elected official. Supreme Court precedent has recognized that legislators are to “be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy.”
You might think the City of Independence has a right to place reasonable restrictions on speech occurring in spaces set up by the city for public discussion – called “limited public forums” – if those restrictions don’t discriminate against any particular viewpoint. And you’d be partly right. Generally, city council meetings are considered limited public forums.
However, the prohibition on “grandstanding” likely infringes on any legislator’s right, including a city councilor.
Why? Expressing a view is essentially what the public’s representatives are elected to do. And the word “grandstand” in the city council’s new conduct rules “is vague and broad enough that it might prevent city councilors from making speech they otherwise would be allowed to make,” according to the legal analysis.
This is called a “chilling effect” in First Amendment case law and could, by itself, be sufficient to make the law unconstitutional, according to precedents listed in the report.
Political speech is a central part of an elected official’s duties; Elected officials have an obligation to take positions on controversial political questions, so that their constituents can be fully informed by them, according to the citations.
Article I, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution provides that “No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any subject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse of this right.”
In fact, Oregon established its free-speech framework in a case called State v. Robertson and, surprisingly, it differs from the federal framework. Section 8 generally provides more free speech protection than the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Repeated attempts by Trammart News to determine how the term "grandstand" was selected as part of the language for this change in council rules or whether the city's contracted attorney could address constitutional questions that have arisen all went unanswered by Emmanuel Goicochea, Independence's communication director.
(Note: Mandatory inclusion of minority opinions is common in governmental reporting requirements when oversight boards are making decisions and some members of such boards voice positions apart from the majority.) ▪
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