Crook County School Board requesting superintendent retain athletic director after student protest.

PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) -- A massive crowd that stuffed the Crook County Middle School cafeteria erupted in applause and rose to their feet.

Hundreds in the room and hundreds more across the hall in the gymnasium used for overflow seating had just heard what they had hoped to hear.

“I move that the board request that the superintendent retain the service of Rob Bonner as athletic director,” School Board Vice Chair Scott Cooper said with force.

The motion and vote that caused the explosion of jubilation and relief came on the heels of some confusing moments due to how little the board could legally say about a parent complaint against Bonner and the process leading up to that meeting.

The board had simply voted not to move forward with step four of a four-step process of addressing parent complaints against a staff member. That meant that whatever had been decided in step three, at the superintendent level, would stand and that the board would not take on the complaint or hold any hearings on it.

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