Two newly-empty seats on Crook County School Board ready to be filled

Published 11:00 am Tuesday, January 14, 2025

The Crook County School District board announced two vacancies for board seats at Monday night’s board meeting, with applications due Feb. 5.

Jessica Brumble’s seat was Zone 3 and covers the southeast area of the county while Cheyenne Edgerly’s seat was Zone 1 and covers the northwest area of the county.

Applications are open for 20 days and are due Feb. 5.

If members are chosen before the March 15 filing deadline for the May primary they will serve until June 30, and whoever is elected for the seats during the May primary will fill them until the terms are up in 2027. If the board is unable to fill the vacancies before March 15, whoever the board appoints will serve until June 30 of the next election year.

The board voted to ask whether prospective candidates would consider running in the May primary.

“That’s why I think we should tell people right up front what they’re signing up for. If you want a three month stint on the school board, that sounds a whole lot more appealing than the 116 years I’ve served,” said board member Scott Cooper, to laughter.

Cooper also proposed that the board create a committee of nine people to help go through applications and recommend people for the open positions, which passed. Brumble’s seat will be filled first and Edgerly’s will be filled second, due to the order in which they resigned.

Edgerly resigned Thursday, citing threats against her and her family. Brumble resigned Dec. 10 and the school district announced her hiring as transportation director the same week. Due to an ongoing investigation into the fairness of Brumble’s hiring, her new role is tentative, according to the meeting agenda. Discussion was removed from the consent agenda at Monday’s meeting.

The board received various complaints in the last week. Complaints against several board members ended in no action being taken as board members recused themselves and there were not enough members for a quorum to take action. Other complaints against Edgerly and Brumble were dismissed because they are no longer on the board.

The board also voted to not hear a complaint raised against the High Desert Education Service District since they didn’t see how to act on a complaint against another entity’s employee. Another complaint filed by district Athletic Director Rob Bonner against Edgerly won’t move forward due to Edgerly’s resignation.

The board’s legal counsel drafted a letter for the Oregon Ethics Commission regarding the board’s Dec. 9 executive session, which the board called without giving the subjects of the complaint the opportunity to have an open hearing. The letter acknowledged the violation.

After all the complaints were dealt with, Cooper said “May I propose we just all move on?” to applause from the packed meeting.

Former Superintendent Melissa Skinner and the district are in the process of negotiating her exit.

Crook County school board member Cheyenne Edgerly resigns, citing ‘woke mob’

Crook County superintendent to go on paid leave as she exits district

Administrative changes on hold after Crook County school district chaos