This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.
Siletz Valley School could close in June for not complying with its charter agreement.
The school must show by next month that they have addressed 12 areas of concern brought by the Lincoln County School District – everything from having a plan for English language learners to accurately reporting its finances.
In addition, Siletz Valley School superintendent Lenora Hall, who has been working there for just six months, has been placed on administrative leave so the district can investigate complaints against her. School board members say they are confident in principal Debra Barnes’ ability to get their school back in compliance, but they are running out of time.
Siletz Valley School will learn April 14 if their efforts to comply with the charter agreement were enough to stop its closure.
Siletz Valley School was founded as a charter school in 2003 after the Lincoln County School District closed the building. The charter operates independently with its own board and a budget primarily funded from state and federal money and tribal grants. Many of the K-12 school’s 188 students are members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
The school is a source of pride for the 1,200 person town. It has an esteemed culinary program, classes that blend indigenous wisdom, tradition and language into learning and a community that cares deeply about the success of its students. But it is no stranger to struggle.
The school is dead last in state testing scores out of Oregon’s 1,200 schools and has gone through several years of unstable leadership. In 2023, the school made headlines when the former superintendent was fired for her treatment of students who protested when the school did not observe Indigenous Peoples Day as a holiday.
Then last May, Siletz’s class of 2025 spent their last weeks trying to figure out what had happened to their school. Facing a budget deficit, staff layoffs, a misstep in applying for a tribal grant and mounting complaints, superintendent/principal Ginger Redlinger stepped down. Then in June, four board members resigned and a nearly fresh slate of officers took their place.
The school’s lack of consistent leadership prompted a warning letter in July from Lincoln County School District superintendent Majalise Tolan, outlining 10 areas of concern related to the school’s charter agreement. Now, the concerns have increased to 12 and the school is seeing more turbulence in leadership.
School board leaders are hopeful about getting into compliance and have faith in their interim superintendent, but unlike their previous challenges this time there’s a deadline, putting the 188 students, 29 staff and 16 teachers in a state of emergency.
What’s this letter?
Turnover in leadership prompted Tolan to issue a letter over compliance concerns in July. The school district has always had collaborative leadership and the school has consistently worked on compliance issues, Tolan told the Lincoln Chronicle, but then leadership would change and create continuity issues.
The letter outlined several issues from creating board bylaws to developing a plan to increase attendance. Then,Tolan sent another letter Jan. 30 outlining requirements for the school to meet within 60 days or their charter agreement would be terminated.
The latest letter outlines 12 issues Siletz Valley School must address including:
- Creating an English language learners plan;
- Making sure all teachers are up to date with their licenses;
- Updating board bylaws;
- Implementing a long-term facility maintenance plan;
- Delivering required reporting for grants and programs on time;
- Reviewing benchmarks from local assessments with LCSD quarterly;
- Developing a plan to increase attendance;
- Monitoring and accurately reporting graduation rates;
- Timely financial reporting;
- Following Oregon Public Meetings Law by publishing timely meeting notices, posting minutes and recordings;
- Following consistent discipline procedures; and
- Making sure all administrators attend special education trainings.
While Siletz Valley School has shown progress in putting together plans, meeting with school district officials and working to update their processes and procedures, Lincoln County School District leaders still aren’t confident in Siletz’s leadership and capabilities to meet the requirements.
“The lack of consistent leadership brought uncertainty to the ongoing ability of SVS to maintain compliance in the following areas based on the Oregon School Board Association’s 2023 report and recent LCSD findings,” Tolan said in her January letter.
That was before Hall was put on leave and Barnes named interim superintendent.
After meeting several times with district staff about federal and state grants, Tolan’s latest letter said required reporting continues to be untimely and administrators need repeated reminders.
“Although Title I quarterly progress report needs are up-to-date, other deliverables and required reporting on other pass-through funds are unsatisfactory, LCSD confidence is lacking on budget understanding at the building level,” Tolan wrote.
In attempting to address the issues, Tolan said Siletz’s efforts were considered “unsatisfactory” in several areas.
Tolan wrote that while efforts to create a plan to boost attendance had been created, it had not yet been implemented and that there was a lack of progress that Tolan described as “unsatisfactory.”
Tolan also expressed concern in the stability of leadership and described a “lack of follow through” from the schools’ administration. She extended support to Siletz by offering the help of retired assistant superintendent Susan Van Liew for eight hours a month.
“It is unclear if any administrators are directly responsible for any part of implementing the plan or if the SVS School Board is aware of the lack of progress towards improvement that is directly impacting the ability of the SVS charter school to remain open under LCSD,” Tolan wrote.
If Siletz Valley School does not meet the requirements, including submitting documentation, attending mandated meetings and meeting imposed deadlines, their charter agreement could be terminated and force a closure of the school June 30.
Getting into compliance
Before she was put on leave, Hall addressed the Lincoln County School District board March 10 and said a lot of work had been done since the meetings at the end of last year to address Tolan’s concerns and to show that work has been done since the January letter.
Hall has only been in Siletz for six months. She previously served as a principal in Brookings and Hoopa, Calif. and as a superintendent in the Taholah School District in northwest Washington. Hall is a member of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and has experience leading tribal schools.
She came into the school with an ambitious list of tasks and ideas for improvements, including efforts to bring up test scores. But for a school that has already seen much upheaval in leadership, trust isn’t easily won.
During her March 10 presentation, Hall explained progress the school had made including the different committees, meetings and plans to address attendance issues and financial reporting.
“I just wanted to let you know that this is taken very seriously, and we have done our due diligence,” Hall said. “And so I hope you make the right decision when, when you come on April 14, wherever that is, and we’re up to par.”
Hall also responded to Tolan’s letter explaining that the school was either in compliance or working towards compliance in each area. Of the 12 areas of concern, Hall had written “in compliance. No action required” for eight of the issues in a March 9 response to the district.
But since then, Siletz has seen another round of turmoil.
Instability
On Tuesday, Siletz Valley School board read aloud Tolan’s letter and Hall’s responses, addressing the work the school had done to reach compliance. School board members were hopeful about the work being done and felt like no one was willing to give up. But the weight of a possible school closure was not lost on them.
Rumors have percolated on social media and in the hallways and many community members asking if the school is still open.
“Our school has gone through a lot,” said board chair Jenifer Metcalf. “A lot of people are asking about closing the school and that isn’t the language we are using. We are getting in compliance. We have 188 students and those children have families and homes … we do great things, let’s celebrate our kids.”
Metcalf thanked the Lincoln County School District for holding Siletz Valley School accountable while still offering a hand of support to help it reach compliance.
After holding an executive (closed) session Tuesday night, the board voted to have Barnes take the position of interim superintendent while Hall was on administrative leave while there is a complaint investigation.
Although the timing seems less than ideal, board members say they are confident in Barnes’ leadership because she has institutional knowledge and served as the interim superintendent before. When Tolan’s first letter of noncompliance appeared in July, it was under Barnes’ leadership in which the issues began to get addressed. Also, the board was also entirely new last July and since then has gained more understanding of their role and the work administrators have been doing, Metcalf said.
“We are confident she is capable as acting superintendent and has already been ahead of this process,” Metcalf said.
What happens next?
What happens next mostly rests with the Lincoln County School District board.
The district has contracted with Oregon School Boards Association for a Siletz compliance evaluation that will be reviewed by board members individually, Tolan told the Chronicle.
Tolan thought it was best to let a third party help determine whether Siletz Valley School was fulfilling its charter requirements because of emotions surrounding the school, she told the board at its March 10 meeting.
After receiving the OSBA evaluation, school board members will issue a decision at their April 14 meeting. If the charter agreement is revoked, the closure would take place June 30.
Siletz Valley School will also receive the OSBA’s report prior to the meeting and can appeal any decision to the Oregon Department of Education.
If Siletz Valley School were to close, Tolan told the Chronicle that the district and the Siletz board would work with communities, families, staff, and students to develop a transition plan for the 2026-2027 school year.
Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org