Two additional Springfield Public School administrators may sue the district, accusing board members of creating a hostile work environment and retaliating against them.
Chief Operations Officer Brett Yancey and Human Resources Director Dustin Reese filed a tort claim notice against board members Jonathan Light, Ken Kohl and Amber Langworthy in January. They added new board member Bob Brew to their complaint last month.
In Oregon, anyone seeking to sue a government must provide a written tort claim notice before actually filing a lawsuit. Neither Reese, nor Yancey, have filed their suit according to a search of court records on July 1.
The tort claim notice, according to documents obtained by Lookout Eugene-Springfield, accused school board members of a pattern of retaliation against the two men for filing complaints against them about policy, ethics and other alleged violations.
Springfield's former Superintendent Todd Hamilton, and Assistant Superintendent Dave Collins, filed similar claims against the district in December. Both have left their jobs and signed separation agreements with the district.
Tensions have been high between administrators, the board and the community all year, becoming significantly worse after teacher layoffs in January. The former board chair resigned a few weeks after that vote, citing harassment from the public and board dysfunction.
The only school board member not named in tort claim notice by a current, or former administrator is Nicole DeGraff. She announced in late May that she would resign on June 30. The board has not formally declared her seat vacant.
Outside of potential lawsuits, school board members and administrators are also facing investigations from other bodies.
Yancey and Reese are both named in an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the Springfield Education Association, which represents licensed staff. The union accused them and other district administrators of using the mid-year layoffs to derail labor negotiations. That case is still before the Oregon Employment Relations Board.
Every Springfield School Board member except Bob Brew, who didn’t join the board until March, is also being investigated by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for engaging in alleged “serial communications” and potential open meeting violations.
That complaint, reviewed by the commission last month, stemmed from a February meeting and communication where board members determined how they would narrow down candidates to replace Hamilton.
Board Member Amber Langworthy testified to ethics commissioners that board members were following legal advice during a chaotic, challenging time, and Jonathan Light was performing his duties as chair.
