Judge grants temporary restraining order to halt Crook County School Board from filling vacancy

(Update: Statements from school board chair, two of four who filed suit)

Lawsuit claims board failed to follow own policies

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A judge has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the Crook County School Board from choosing a replacement for a board vacancy until a hearing is held next week on a lawsuit claiming the board failed to follow its own policies for the replacement process.

The complaint was filed Monday in Crooked County Circuit Court by attorney Vance Day on behalf of newly elected board member Cheyenne Edgerly, one of three challengers who ousted incumbents in the May election, along with three applicants for the position recently vacated by Gwen Carr.

Their lawsuit claims the board failed to follow its own policies when it declared the board vacancy at a special meeting late last month, rather than at its next regular meeting, and by not allowing a 20-day period to recruit candidates for the vacant position.

Judge Annette Hillman granted the requested temporary restraining order Monday afternoon, forbidding the board from taking further action to fill the vacancy under its current timeline.

She set a show-cause hearing for next Thursday, June 22 on a possible preliminary injunction pending the final outcome of the matter. Day has requested a permanent injunction against the current process to fill the board seat.

The current school board held a special meeting Wednesday night and chose the Portland, Eugene and Salem law firm Harrang Long to represent the board in defending against the lawsuit.

Thursday morning, Ritter issued this statement:

"Tonight, Crook County School Board members voted unanimously during a special meeting to hire legal counsel and have our day in court. I believe it is our right and duty to fill the vacant school board seat, and that’s what I intend to do if the court rules in our favor. 

"It’s sad that Cheyenne Edgerly is choosing to play politics. I believe she has every intention to stop a legitimate process because she wants to try to select someone with her same ideology and create a narrow-minded majority. Their attorney's claim that people were left out of the process is bogus. The process and timeline were clear, and we ended up with 23 applicants, so we obviously communicated effectively and the community response was overwhelming.

"The school board needs balanced and pragmatic leaders who will put children first and not create further chaos and dysfunction for political gain. We look forward to putting this matter behind us on June 22nd and hope to soon be welcoming a new school board member to the team. Creating stability for the future of our school district is my top priority right now."

We reached out to Edgerly for comment and a statement from her and an applicant for the position is below.

Last week, in a joint statement posted online, Edgerly and fellow new board members Jessica Brumble and Jennifer Knight spoke of how recent developments "cause gave concern" for them.

"There is no reason to rush the replacement process of Gwen Carr except for the explicit reason of not allowing the incoming board members a voice in the selection," they wrote.

"School is out soon for summer break and there could be a thorough process to find a good replacement board member. The current school board has rushed this process purely for political reasons."

"It reaffirms the reason for running for office and shining a light on how the previous board was being operated," they added. "We will focus on transparency, parental and community inclusion over politics on day one."

The new board members also expressed surprise at news of Superintendent Dr. Sara Johnson's resignation.

"Since our election and in the coming months, we will be engaging in productive dialogue with administration and staff," they wrote. "We ran on the promise to the Crook County voters that parental rights would be valued in all aspects. It saddens us that Dr. Johnson cannot get behind that community vision for the (district). We wish Sara the best in all future endeavors."

"We continue to support our hard-working teachers, staff and administrators -- as they are committed to our community, parents and the students."