Prineville, Ore. – Amid several issues of controversy surrounding the Crook County School District, its’ superintendent, as well as the district’s elected board, Board Member Cheyenne Edgerly resigned effective yesterday, according to a statement provided by Edgerly to the Prineville Review this afternoon.
Much of the existing controversy arose from reporting by the Prineville Review following the discovery that the Crook County School Board violated Oregon’s public meetings law — specifically provisions relating to executive sessions — when it held a session related to a complaint involving Athletic Director Rob Bonner.
Subsequent responses to our earlier public records requests also revealed that the district had likely engaged in a repeated pattern of violations in holding illegal executive sessions reviewing the performance of employees or considering disciplinary action. Board member Scott Cooper has repeatedly explained that their actions were due to guidance from legal counsel and also claimed the sessions complied since they followed a separate internal district policy.
Cooper’s claims were rebuffed by officials with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which oversees the state’s ethics and public meeting laws.
Edgerly expressed respect for the views of those in the community while going on to explain her decision to resign was due to threats against her and her family in recent weeks.
“I respect the views of this community, even if they differ from my own personal views. More importantly, I respect the rule of law. I refuse to sweep under the rug complaints ignored by the previous board. In my opinion, when you have former board members and the woke mob leading a slander campaign based on allegations, you have to wonder what they are hiding? Our focus for education should be on our students, not on the agendas driven by those who profit from the system. In my opinion, the most dangerous place for children is the current version of public education.” wrote Edgerly.
“Based upon the threats and the vitriol against me and my family, I feel it is time to resign my position on the Crook County School Board- effective immediately.”
Many proponents pointed to Edgerly as the source of the investigations against Bonner, including his reported removal by Superintendant Melissa Skinner. While claims had originally alleged that Skinner’s decision to remove Bonner happened after the school board’s Dec. 9th meeting, it was later reported to the Prineville Review by several sources, including those who spoke on the condition of anonymity, that Bonner’s intended removal by Skinner actually happened earlier and was allegedly due to a separate investigation conducted into reported ethics violations involving school athletics and ties to private business interests.
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The board’s review of a complaint against Bonner reportedly stemmed from an earlier issue related to his alleged mishandling of a complaint involving former volleyball coach Jessica Mumm who resigned in early 2024.
The Prineville Review has not yet been unable to corroborate any of those reports.
During this week’s earlier school board meeting it was revealed that Skinner had requested to initiate a mutual termination process. The board voted in favor of the process, appointing board member Steve Holiday to handle the negotiations with Skinner. The board then immediately voted to place Skinner on a non-disciplinary paid administrative leave, placing Assistant Superintendant Joel Hoff as the Acting Superintendant.
Edgerly had released an earlier statement this week that also stated:
“I am saddened that the board refused to hire a third party investigator (law firm or law enforcement officer- outside of the area) after the board’s statement that they want transparency. Parents and students’ rights are violated when districts hire within the ‘Good Ol’ Boy club’, and hire investigators that are tied to the school system.”
Shortly after Edgerly provided her resignation statement, the Crook County School District also responded to another public record request from the Prineville Review seeking disclosure of the recording of its executive session on Dec. 9th.
Our request stated: “Pursuant to Oregon Public Records Law, I hereby request production of the school board’s December 9th, 2024, meeting recording. The meeting recording was of an executive session which was declared under ORS 192.660(2)(b). As this meeting did not meet the requirements for an executive session under ORS 192.660(2)(b), it is subject to release under the public records law. Please produce the audio recording of this meeting, and if also any video.”
The Crook County School District acknowledges receipt of your public records request dated December 30, 2024″ said Tammie Parker, Executive Assistant to the Superintendant and School Board.
“The District is not the custodian of any records responsive to your request,” said Parker. The response did not provide any additional details on who may be the custodian, but generally, this response is a formal way under the records law to say the record does not exist.
Shortly after initial publication the district confirmed that it did indeed have written minutes for the executive session and would respond to this publication in accordance with the records law.
The response raises even more questions, as while executive session minutes (including recordings) are not generally subject to disclosure under the meetings law (if the session was lawful), the district is still required under ORS 192.650(2) to produce minutes for such a meeting.
We promptly followed up with the district and its elected board to confirm if this meant they did not produce minutes as required, and that we wanted to ensure our request was also understood to include written minutes if they had not continued to audio record. The Prineville Review had also taken an audio recording which we subsequently released shortly after the Dec. 16th public board meeting, the meeting where Bonner had forced the board to hold its review of the complaint against him in open session.
The district’s elected board is now down to three of five members, following the resignation last month of Jessica Brumble after her hiring as the district’s new transportation manager. One of the complaints brought against Skinner involves ethics questions regarding the hiring of Brumble while she was still sitting on the board that appointed Skinner.
This is a developing story you can count on us to keep you updated on.
