ST. HELENS, Ore. (KATU) — Parents in the St. Helens School District tell KATU they are unhappy with how the district procured a third-party investigator to look into the district’s internal handling of abuse allegations. They’re less than thrilled about a lot of the announcements made by the district Friday.
Almost one month ago, a former math teacher and current choir teacher were both arrested by police on charges of abusing students.
Since the news broke, KATU has been trying to get answers to many questions including how much the district knew about the sexual abuse allegations against the teachers, especially after police arrested St. Helens principal Katy Wagner for allegedly not reporting allegations of sexual abuse to authorities. She’s pleaded not guilty.
Finally on Friday, the district’s new public relations consultant, Thomas DeLapp, apologized for how the district has been slow to respond. He explained that it was, in part, because of the leadership overhaul that’s unfolded since the two teachers were arrested for sexual abuse.
“This is a very small district. It doesn’t have a lot of bandwidth,” said DeLapp.
DeLapp announced an internal investigation into how allegations of sexual abuse were handled by the district.
“The investigation will determine what we knew, when we knew it, what we did about it, and when we should have known about it,” said DeLapp.
The district announced that they hired a former school superintendent, Dave Novotney, through its law firm to conduct that review. Parents say that they’re alarmed.
“The decision to have the district’s law firm, GHR, retain the investigator raises significant concerns about independence and transparency,” said Ashley Christner, a parent.
The district explained their decision on their website: “Mr. Novotney has served as an educator and school administrator in Oregon for 38 years and has conducted hundreds of investigations in his lengthy career as a school administrator in Oregon.”
Other community members were not pleased that the news conference was under 30 minutes.
“I think all the parents want more in town,” said Gina Stotts, a former St. Helens High School parent.
Also of concern to members of the community is the fact that the district didn’t have answers to every question asked by reporters, such as how much student attendance has been impacted after news breaking about the teacher arrests.
Some are upset that Acting Superintendent Steve Webb was not at the news conference, after he emphasized the need for transparency a week ago.
“He had commitments back up at his home. And he’s been spending, as you can imagine, long days, long hours,” said DeLapp.
“If he wants transparency for all of us, which is what we want, he should have been there to give us the answers that we need as a community,” said Cheyenne Leite, a former St. Helens High School student.
One parent says she has been so fed up with what she says is a lack of transparency, that’s in part why she’s choosing to take her daughter out of the district next year.
“Every time they give us more information, we are more upset with their choices,” Aventurine Doarn, a parent in the district.