An acting superintendent is set to become interim superintendent in Crook County Schools — for the second time in three years.

A rise in partisan jockeying over school board seats has contributed to rapid changes in leadership for the growing district based in Prineville.

“In my view, in Oregon, we’ve seen a number of districts go through pretty substantial leadership turnover both at the school board level and the superintendent level,” said Andrew Saultz, interim dean for the college of education at Pacific University in Forest Grove. “Particularly if boards flip politically, oftentimes (board members) want to bring in someone more aligned with their vision.”

New board members clash with superintendent

Crook County School District was on an upward trajectory in 2023, with a celebrated superintendent and lofty goals for making the district the best it could be.

Sara Johnson joined the Crook County School District as superintendent before the 2017-18 school year and was named the superintendent of the year in 2023 for her work there. By July 2023, she had stepped down, citing differences with incoming board members Jennifer Knight, Cheyenne Edgerly and Jessica Brumble. Johnson has since joined the High Desert Education Service District as its superintendent.

“I wish Dr. Johnson well because I think she has done amazing things for this district in terms of bringing our children new opportunities and making our district outstanding,” said board member Scott Cooper at the time.

The three controversial board members were all elected in May 2023 and ran aggressive campaigns alleging the district’s curriculum contained agenda-driven material, including radicalized and sexualized content. Knight has since diverged from that stance in board votes.

Johnson wrote in her resignation press release in 2023, “It’s become evident that the new board members do not share my vision or mission for district leadership and how to operate the school district….It has become clear that it is in the best interest of the school district — and me — to step aside and allow the new board to select their own leader.”

Schools had at that time become a hotbed of “culture war” issues, Saultz said.

“I think for me, going back to COVID, schools became kind of this lightning rod place around issues of culture war, and that’s everything from masking to LGBT students and their rights,” Saultz said. “Superintendents are kind of caught in the middle of a whole bunch of new folks on the school board, with a very clear political agenda.”

More board changes and an interim superintendent

After the election of politically charged new board members, additional changes shook up what had been a stable school board.

Board member Gwen Carr resigned in May 2023 and was replaced by Steve Holliday. There was a slight delay in appointing Holliday due to a temporary restraining order granted to Edgerly and three applicants for Carr’s seat. Cooper, the final member of the five-person board, has served since 2009.

“As the school board changes dramatically, (superintendent is) a tough leadership position to be in,” said Saultz. “Leadership turnover harms teacher retention and leadership turnover harms student outcomes…My hope would be the community would come together and be able to invest in a leader, whoever that is, to then have the time to build the relationships and the trust with the community because that’s really fundamental to the job.”

After Johnson left, the board interviewed several candidates to serve as interim superintendent before conducting a nationwide search in early 2024.

One of their options was controversial former Alsea School District superintendent Marc Thielman, who at the time told The Bulletin he wanted to bring unity and consistency to the district. Thielman faced allegations of inappropriate behavior from a former employee and implemented a policy to make wearing masks optional in Alsea before the state lifted the COVID-19 mask mandate in place at all schools. Former Crook County superintendent Duane Yecha was ultimately chosen as interim superintendent for the 2023-24 school year.

From excitement to resignation

The Crook County School Board chose educator Melissa Skinner for the top job replacing Johnson, starting in the 2024-25 school year. Skinner previously served as executive director of leadership for the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas. She started her tenure in July 2024, telling The Bulletin at the time that she was excited to build relationships in Crook County and ensure that the district offered a world-class education. But her tenure was also fraught with turmoil due to questions surrounding hiring decisions, employee investigations and more.

Board chair Jessica Brumble resigned December 10, during the same week she was named as the transportation manager for the district. The fairness of her hiring is being investigated.

Also in mid-December, the community went into an uproar over rumors that athletic director Rob Bonner would be let go. Crook County High School students walked out of class Dec. 16, and a community complaint petition asking for Skinner’s removal received over 1,000 signatures and support from the Crook County educator unions.

There were also community concerns that Steins Pillar Elementary principal Brian Kissell was asked to step into a role he wasn’t qualified for, that he was asked to implement attendance initiatives he wasn’t comfortable with and dismantle the school’s Scottish Storyline model. Kissell joined the district in 2023 from Bend-La Pine Schools.

There were additional concerns around the hiring of Skinner’s husband Michael Skinner as principal of Grizzly Mountain Homelink, the district’s home schooling option.

The board and Skinner mutually agreed to terminate her contract at the beginning of January. She was put on paid administrative leave while the negotiation took place. The board approved the mutual termination agreement with Skinner Jan. 27.

“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,” Cooper said at the meeting Jan. 27.

Board member Edgerly resigned on Jan. 9, citing threats against her family and a “woke mob” slander campaign. Edgerly allegedly had a list of employees she wanted to target for termination, with Bonner being one of them, according to the community complaint calling for Skinner’s removal.

“We have got to find a way to move our schools forward so that our deserving kids and our amazing educators can make a really great district where kids and staff and community can thrive together,” Cooper said in January after Edgerly’s resignation.

What comes next?

Assistant Superintendent Joel Hoff was named acting superintendent earlier in the month and will likely soon be ushered in as interim superintendent. The board voted to begin drawing up a contract to that effect.

The board is working to fill Brumble and Edgerly’s vacant board seats. Applications were due Feb. 5 and the application committee the board organized began conducting interviews Feb. 6. The term limits for both seats end in June 2027. If members are chosen before the March 15 filing deadline for the May 20 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.

Cooper and Holliday’s terms end in June 2025. Knight’s term ends in June 2027.