Crook County School board approves superintendent separation agreement

Published 1:30 pm Tuesday, January 28, 2025

The Crook County School board approved the termination of former Superintendent Melissa Skinner at a special board meeting Monday night.

Skinner mutually agreed with the district to step down after a community controversy and a student walkout over the potential removal of Athletic Director Rob Bonner and the hiring of former board member Jessica Brumble to a district position. The fairness of Brumble’s hiring is being investigated.

Skinner will receive 12 months pay as part of the separation agreement. She made $265,000 per year.

Regarding the separation agreement, board member Scott Cooper said during the virtual meeting, “It’s a final agreement, which for the benefit of our audience is basically a 12-month severance package. (It’s) maybe not my favorite set of outcomes, but it’s a whole lot better than where I think we started from, and nobody was ever going to get everything they wanted out of this whole thing, and I think there are some ways over time we’ll be able to recover the entire cost and make this net zero to the district.”

The board voted to draw up a potential contract to name acting superintendent Joel Hoff as interim superintendent.

Cooper said he was sorry for how things have ended with Skinner.

“I do think she came in with great promise, I do think she always had the best interests of the district at heart, I think she walked into a challenging political situation, and I think that there were things along the way that were unexpected,” he said. “I appreciated her heart and her effort and I also look forward to closing this chapter and moving on with what’s in the best interest of our kids and families.”

Also Monday, the school board approved nine people to serve on a committee to provide feedback on applications for the board’s two vacant seats. Applications are due Feb. 5.

Board chair Jennifer Knight named Kevin Bradley as chair and Linda Pepper as vice chair for the committee. The committee will review applications and put forward two candidates for the board’s consideration. The board will likely have a special meeting to appoint members to the vacant seats.

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.

If members are chosen before the March 15 filing deadline for the May special district election they will serve until June 30, and whoever is elected for the seats during the May election 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.

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