School District Cancels Board Meeting Amid Calls To Discipline Administrators
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Annie Ellison, GoLocalPDX Reporter
GoLocalPDX first reported Oregon's 2014 Teacher of the Year, Brett Bigham, was threatened with discipline after filing two complaints against senior staff at the district. Further emails revealed the district attempted to ransom Bigham's trip to an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. in exchange for dropping the Bureau of Labor and Industris (BOLI) and Teachers Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) complaints he filed in 2014.
"I believe the district cancelled the meeting to avoid hearing my charges," said Bigham. "I have been writing the board since October asking them to look into illegal activity and they have not responded once."
Bigham and over a hundered others are calling for MESD Superintendent Barbara Jorgensen and other top administrators to be put on leave for what Bigham alleges is discrimination and harassment based on his sexuality. A BOLI complaint alleging harassment and retaliation is still under investigation.
The education service district offers programs for disabled and medically at-risk students, as well as students who have been involved with corrections and several alternative schools.
'Elimination of agenda items'
The board meeting's snap cancellation comes when up to 100 MESD workers were expected at the meeting during a drawn-out bargaining process between the district and the Oregon Education Association, the union representing MESD teachers, nurses and support staff. MESD workers have been without a contract for 7 1/2 months.
Tuesday morning, MESD Executive Assistant and Board Secretary Heather Severns informed staff via email the meeting was cancelled due to the "elimination of agenda items." The executive session, which is not open to the public, was also cancelled.
Despite a cited lack of agenda, several union members were expected to speak, and Bigham planned to read charges against Jorgensen, HR Director Heyke Nickerson, and others.
“They are mediating our contract and the nurses' contract, it's hard to believe there were no agenda items,” Bigham said. “Chickens.”
A petition started a week ago by the group Comunity Supporting Teachers on the online platform change.org, addressed to School Board Members Fransisco Acosta Jr., Bernie Giusto, Gary Hollands, Nels Johnson, Douglas Montgomery, Kevin Spellman, calls for Jorgensen to be disciplined, and for the alleged harassment against Bigham to stop:
Discipline Superintendent Barbara Jorgensen, and associated Administrators for bullying and harassment. Conduct an investigation, and direct administrators to allow Oregon's 2014 NEA Teacher of the Year and OEA's 2015 Teacher of the Year, Brett Bigham, to fulfill his duties as they promised with NO further harassment
As of Tuesday night, the petition had garnered 135 of 200 signatures.
Three other MESD staff members have filed BOLI complaints against the district since 2009, one the former district superintendent Ronald Hitchcock. That complaint was withdrawn, as was another complaint alleging discrimination. However, a complaint filed by nurse consulant Kathleen Mahaffy Dietrich in Jan. 2015 for discrimination, as well as Bigham's are still open.
MESD did not respond to a media request regarding the cancelled meeting agenda.
Related Slideshow: Top 100 Oregon High Schools
GoLocalPDX has ranked high schools across the state based on a method developed at Babson College, Mass. See below for the top 100 schools in the Beaver State.
#100
South Albany High School
Greater Albany Public School District
Enrollment: 1260
Economically disadvantaged: 55%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 86.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 65.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 68.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 54.6%
Four year graduation rate: 76.2%
Photo Credit: kamera kızı via Compfight cc
#99
Yamhill Carlton High
Yamhill Carlton School District
Enrollment: 375
Economically disadvantaged: 32%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 93.8%
Met or exceeded math standards: 60.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 47.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 69.6%
Four year graduation rate: 83.8%
#97
Benson Polytechnic High
Portland School District
Enrollment: 819
Economically disadvantaged: 68%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 75.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 40.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 84%
Four year graduation rate: 82.2%
#96
North Marion High
North Marion School District
Enrollment: 588
Economically disadvantaged: 62%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 86.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 64.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 58.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 58.5%
Four year graduation rate: 87.6%
#95
Hidden Valley High
Three Rivers/Josephine County School District
Enrollment: 681
Economically disadvantaged: 53%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 83.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 71.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 52.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 66.7%
Four year graduation rate: 68.3%
Photo Credit: dcJohn via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: sleepyneko via Compfight cc
#94
North Valley High
Three Rivers/Josephine County School District
Enrollment: 522
Economically disadvantaged: 51%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 89.2
Met or exceeded math standards: 56%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 46.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 72.2%
Four year graduation rate: 68.3%
Photo Credit: naosuke ii via Compfight cc
#92
Liberty High
Hillsboro School District
Enrollment: 1386
Economically disadvantaged: 46%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 89.8%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 53.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 65.8%
Four year graduation rate: 79.6%
Photo Credit: Aboutmovies, CC
#91
Academy of Arts and Academics
Springfield School District
Enrollment: 280
Economically disadvantaged: 49%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 90.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 57.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 65.4%
Met or exceeded science standards: 73.6%
Four year graduation rate: 84.1%
#89
Crane Union high School
Harney County Union High School District
Enrollment: 69
Economically disadvantaged: 39%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 52.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 69.6%
Four year graduation rate: 95%
#87
Gold Beach High
Central Curry School District
Enrollment: 173
Economically disadvantaged: 57%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 81.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 62.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 80.8%
Four year graduation rate: 56.7%
Photo Credit: Google
#86
Dallas High
Dallas School District
Enrollment: 979
Economically disadvantaged: 35%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 84.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 72.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 49%
Met or exceeded science standards: 69.8%
Four year graduation rate: 52.9%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#85
Newport High School
Lincoln County School District
Enrollment: 528
Economically disadvantaged: 43%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 81.7%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 62.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 57.8%
Four year graduation rate: 70.7%
Photo Credit: Finetooth - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#84
LaPine Senior High
Bend-LaPine School District
Enrollment: 439
Economically disadvantaged: 63%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 88.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 72.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 47.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 62.2%
Four year graduation rate: 74.7%
Photo Credit: samantha celera via Compfight cc
#82
La Grande High
La Grande School District
Enrollment: 560
Economically disadvantaged: 37%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 84.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 60%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 56.4%
Met or exceeded science standards: 59.4%
Four year graduation rate: 74.1%
Photo Credit: Fiorenza Thompson via Compfight cc
#81
Yoncalla High
Yoncalla School District
Enrollment: 87
Economically disadvantaged: 70%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 58.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 64.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 52.9%
Four year graduation rate: 78.8%
Visitor7 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#80
Elmira High
Fern Ridge School District
Enrollment: 436
Economically disadvantaged: 52%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 88.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 70.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 63.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 66.7%
Four year graduation rate: 77.6%
Photo Credit: Katr67 - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
#79
Churchill High
Eugene School District
Enrollment: 1020
Economically disadvantaged: 44%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 82.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 73.6%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 68.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 61.3%
Four year graduation rate: 69.2%
Photo Credit: EvelynGiggles via Compfight cc
#75
Klamath Union High
Klamath Falls City School District
Enrollment: 663
Economically disadvantaged: 56%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 81.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 69.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 40.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 54.8%
Four year graduation rate: 83.4%
Photo Credit: User:bobjgalindo - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#71
Cottage Grove High
South Lane School District
Enrollment: 761
Economically disadvantaged: 59%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 90.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 70.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 54.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 64%
Four year graduation rate: 87.6%
Photo Credit: Visitor7 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#69
McKenzie High
McKenzie School District
Enrollment: 67
Economically disadvantaged: 61%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 41.7%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 50%
Met or exceeded science standards: 83.3%
Four year graduation rate: 68%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#68
St. Helens High
St. Helens School District
Enrollment: 974
Economically disadvantaged: 36%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 72.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 59.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 66%
Four year graduation rate: 75.7%
Photo Credit: M.O. Stevens - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#67
Lakeview Senior High
Lake County School District
Enrollment: 223
Economically disadvantaged: 45%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.8%
Met or exceeded math standards: 69.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 66.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 73.5%
Four year graduation rate: 88.1%
#64
Clackamas Middle College
North Clackamas School District
Enrollment: 290
Economically disadvantaged: 28%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 59.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 78%
Four year graduation rate: 32.6%
Photo Credit: slightly everything via Compfight cc
#63
South Medford High
Medford School District
Enrollment: 1698
Economically disadvantaged: 56%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 61.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 71.2%
Four year graduation rate: 80.4%
Photo Credit: @RunRockPrincess via Compfight cc
#59
Weston-McEwen High
Athena-Weston School District
Enrollment: 164
Economically disadvantaged: 33%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 61.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 76.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 47.2%
Four year graduation rate: 75.7%
#55
Putnam High
North Clackamas School District
Enrollment: 1196
Economically disadvantaged: 39%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 88.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 73.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 69.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 59.3%
Four year graduation rate: 75.7%
#54
Neah-Kah-Nie High
Neah-Kah Nie School District
Enrollment: 181
Economically disadvantaged: 54%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 83.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 58.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 41.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 97.5%
Four year graduation rate: 87.5%
Photo Credit: albertogp123 via Compfight cc
#47
Junction City High
Junction City School District
Enrollment: 532
Economically disadvantaged: 54%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 85.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 56.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 64.8%
Four year graduation rate: 65.1%
Photo Credit: crazytales562 via Compfight cc
#46
Sam Barlow High
Gresham-Barlow School District
Enrollment: 1651
Economically disadvantaged: 38%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 84.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 78.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 68.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 76.7%
Four year graduation rate: 81.8%
#45
Forest Grove High
Forrest Grove School District
Enrollment: 1779
Economically disadvantaged: 59%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 89.4%
Met or exceeded math standards: 85.7%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 66.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 61.1%
Four year graduation rate: 72.5%
#43
South Salem High
Salem-Keizer School District
Enrollment: 1835
Economically disadvantaged: 49%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 89.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 73.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 66.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 66.5%
Four year graduation rate: 81.9%
#42
Hood River Valley High
Hood River County School District
Enrollment: 1218
Economically disadvantaged: 57%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 78.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 69.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 53.5%
Four year graduation rate: 77.4%
#41
North Douglas High
North Doughlas School District
Enrollment: 98
Economically disadvantaged: 45%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 78.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 72.7%
Met or exceeded science standards: 60.9%
Four year graduation rate: 69%
#38
Newberg Senior High
Newberg School District
Enrollment: 1508
Economically disadvantaged: 42%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 87.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 77.6%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 71.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 68.3%
Four year graduation rate: 78.2%
#37
West Salem High
Salem-Keizer School District
Enrollment: 1646
Economically disadvantaged: 35%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 83.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 74.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 74.2%
Four year graduation rate: 86.3%
#33
Oregon City Senior High
Oregon City School District
Enrollment: 2117
Economically disadvantaged: 34%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 90.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 63%
Met or exceeded science standards: 76.7%
Four year graduation rate: 83%
#31
Silverton High
Silver Falls School District
Enrollment: 1179
Economically disadvantaged: 41%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 86.1%
Met or exceeded math standards: 74.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 71.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 72.1 %
Four year graduation rate: 77.7%
#29
Bend Senior High
Bend-LaPine School District
Enrollment: 1527
Economically disadvantaged: 40%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 88.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 65.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 75.6%
Four year graduation rate: 78.7%
#28
Tualatin High
Tigard-Tualatin School District
Enrollment: 1714
Economically disadvantaged: 27%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.2%
Met or exceeded math standards: 76.7%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 62.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 71.4%
Four year graduation rate: 84.4%
#27
Mountain View Senior High
Bend-LaPine School District
Enrollment: 1283
Economically disadvantaged: 42%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 93.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 82%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 75.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 76.1%
Four year graduation rate: 78.3%
Photo Credit: Vince Kusters via Compfight cc
#26
Tigard High
Tigard-Tualatin School District
Enrollment: 1835
Economically disadvantaged: 32%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 83.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 64.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 67.7%
Four year graduation rate: 80.8%
#23
Sprague High
Salem-Keizer School District
Enrollment: 1608
Economically disadvantaged: 32%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 86.2%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 72.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 79.6%
Four year graduation rate: 82.2%
Photo Credit: Jirka Matousek via Compfight cc
#22
Wilsonville High
West Linn-Wilsonville School District
Enrollment: 1093
Economically disadvantaged: 24%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 74.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 74.2%
Met or exceeded science standards: 71.3%
Four year graduation rate: 85%
#21
West Albany High
Greater Albany Public School District
Enrollment: 1317
Economically disadvantaged: 28%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 87.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 75%
Met or exceeded science standards: 84.9%
Four year graduation rate: 93.6%
Photo Credit: jonas maaloe via Compfight cc
#20
Clackamas High
North Clackamas School District
Enrollment: 2230
Economically disadvantaged: 29%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.7%
Met or exceeded math standards: 85.7%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 80.5%
Met or exceeded science standards: 74.2%
Four year graduation rate: 85.5%
#19
Pacific High
Port Orford-Langlois School District
Enrollment: 90
Economically disadvantaged: 53%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 90.9%
Met or exceeded math standards: 59.1%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 77.3%
Met or exceeded science standards: 68.2%
Four year graduation rate: 78.3%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#15
Summit High
Bend-LaPine School District
Enrollment: 1344
Economically disadvantaged: 22%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 93.3%
Met or exceeded math standards: 74.6%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 73.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 73.6%
Four year graduation rate: 88.3%
Photo Credit: frankjuarez via Compfight cc
#12
Cleveland High
Portland School District
Enrollment: 1457
Economically disadvantaged: 29%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.6%
Met or exceeded math standards: 80.2%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 81.4%
Met or exceeded science standards: 59.7%
Four year graduation rate: 76.2%
Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#10
Wilson High
Portland School District
Enrollment: 1185
Economically disadvantaged: 22%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 91.8%
Met or exceeded math standards: 80.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 82.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 63.8%
Four year graduation rate: 84.4%
Photo Credit: KristinNador via Compfight cc
#8
Crescent Valley High
Corvallis School District
Enrollment: 965
Economically disadvantaged: 23%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 85.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 78.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 77.8%
Four year graduation rate: 70.1%
Photo Credit: Visitor7 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#7
West Linn High
West Linn-Wilsonville School District
Enrollment: 1514
Economically disadvantaged: 10%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 87.9%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 85.8%
Met or exceeded science standards: 83.2%
Four year graduation rate: 93.2%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#6
Riverdale High
Riverdale School District
Enrollment: 242
Economically disadvantaged: <6%*
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 89.8%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 74.6%
Met or exceeded science standards: 74.6%
Four year graduation rate: 94.2%
*numbers less than 6% are represented by an asterisk in the Oregon Department of Education data.
#5
School of Science & Technology
Beaverton School District
Enrollment: 167
Economically disadvantaged: 20%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 86%
Met or exceeded science standards: 63.9%
Four year graduation rate: 81.1%
#4
Lincoln High
Portland School District
Enrollment: 1471
Economically disadvantaged: 12%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 92.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 85.3%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 88.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 79.9%
Four year graduation rate: 89.3%
Photo Credit: Tedder - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
#2
South Eugene High
Eugene School District
Enrollment: 1321
Economically disadvantaged: 24%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 91.6%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 84.9%
Met or exceeded science standards: 89.2%
Four year graduation rate: 79.4%
Photo Credit: katalicia1 via Compfight cc
#1
Lake Oswego Senior High
Lake Oswego School District
Enrollment: 1224
Economically disadvantaged: 6%
Met or exceeded reading standards: 97.5%
Met or exceeded math standards: 92.4%
Met or exceeded writing standards: 89.1%
Met or exceeded science standards: 87.7%
Four year graduation rate: 89.5%
Photo Credit: KristinNador via Compfight cc
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