PRINEVILLE, OR -- The Crook County School Board swore in three members Wednesday night. New member Jessica Brumble is the board chair. She along with Jennifer Knight, the vice chair, Cheyenne Edgerly, and Steve Holliday, who was appointed last month, are beginning their 4-year terms.

The first item for the new board was appointing an interim superintendent to replace Dr. Sara Johnson who resigned following the election of the three new members.

Board member Scott Cooper recommended Assistant Superintendent Dr. Joel Hoff, “Under policy which gives the board the authority to make a temporary appointment we would appoint Joel to be the interim and acting superintendent.” Dr. Hoff was conditionally approved and that position will be reviewed at August’s meeting.

Hiring a new superintendent is the top task for the board. The board will form a committee to find a Search Firm to aid in the process, and are also considering conducting the hiring themselves. Edgerly says the committee must have an understanding of the school district, “I would definitely like to open it up to some retired teachers, and some people that have been in the district that could really have like an inside view.”

Board member Scott Cooper outlined a proposal for the make-up of the selection committee, “… consisting of 1 retired teacher, and 1 current parent to be nominated by the superintendent and approved by the board chair.” That committee would also include 2 school board members, and 2 school administration staff.

Crook County School District released the following statement after the conclusion of the board meeting:

The three newly-elected members say they’re committed to greater transparency and parent involvement as they begin their terms of office. They provided a list of priorities for how they plan to lead:

We’ll work together to provide consistent leadership and policy decisions to ensure our students, educators, and parents have what they need to accomplish the work of learning.

We will respect all elements of our community and work toward being inclusive in our decision-making process.

We will respect the rights of parents to be heard and involved in the education of their children.

We will support our teachers, our staff, and the administrators in their roles and responsibilities as they seek to educate the children of our community.

We will follow the laws of our State and the policies set by this Board in a fair, equal, and consistent manner.

We will focus on the task of educating our students, not on promoting ideologies that divide our community and seek to devalue any individual.

We will always negotiate in good faith as we attempt to find new vehicles to help our children be educated and prepared for the demands of the 21st century.

We will seek to be transparent and communicate with our community as best we can.