Recall petitions filed against Rainier School Board 1:21 p.m.
Monday, January 28, 2008 1:37 PM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleA Rainier man has filed recall petitions on six of the seven sitting Rainier School Board members, saying they’ve failed in their oversight duties.
Russ Crawford, who has criticized board members and Superintendent Michael Carter for several months, filed the paperwork late last week. The members named are Chairman Dale Archibald, Vice Chairwoman Penny Blahm, Rod Harding, Bill Scholten, Scott Schuff, and Chad Womack. Crawford claims that the board has let Carter run the district with no oversight and that they are “no longer fulfilling their ultimate obligation,” to the students and community, according to a statement he released.
The district spent the summer in turmoil after a power clash between Carter and then-Jr./Sr. High School Principal Jeff Gilbert boiled over. Tied into it was Gilbert’s investigation into allegations that Carter’s wife, English teacher Laurie Kash, was seen kissing a foreign exchange student living in the Carter-Kash home. The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission is reviewing complaints against all three educators. The school board reprimanded both Carter and Gilbert, but Gilbert resigned rather than accept the proposed plan of improvement that would have been administered by Carter.
Crawford does not specifically state that the Gilbert-Carter matter caused the recall, but he does allude “lack of interest/investigation and disregard for their teaching staff,” as some of the school board’s failings.
Not on the recall list is the board’s newest member Alison Dale-Moore, who is not eligible for recall because she just was appointed to fill a vacancy. Crawford also applied for that post but was not selected.
Crawford must now gather signatures to see if there is enough support to force a recall election.
For further details, see Tuesday’s The Daily News.
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