11/25/19

To: Silver Falls School Board and District Administration

We, the undersigned patrons of the Silver Falls School District, pursuant to District Policy KL-AR hereby
register the following formal complaint against Board Directors Shelly Nealon, Jennifer Traeger,
Jonathan Edmonds, Janet Allanach and Lori McLaughlin.

Public documents recently provided by the district expose conduct by these individuals which violate,
one or more district policies as more specifically identified below by the policy title and code reference
published in the Silver Falls Board Governance Policy manual, the Board Superintendent Working
Agreement, the Superintendent Employment Contract, Agreement for Confidentiality Covenants in
Hiring, State of Oregon Public Meeting Laws, State of Oregon Public Records Laws and State of Oregon
Executive Session Laws. Violations include, among other things, pursing personal vendettas against
district staff by conspiring among each other and with individual members of the public to influence
employment, utilizing personal email and text messaging for board business to conceal communications
from the public, failing to fully cooperate and comply with repeated lawful requests for those
communications.

These violations demonstrate a persistent disregard for Silver Falls School District established standards
requiring our elected officials to be fair, transparent and ethical; and they put our district at great risk of
falling into dysfunction that will disrupt student achievement for years to come.

Improper Conduct and Policy Violations are as follows:

Shelly Nealon

Conduct Identified:
 Discussing board business w/ board members elect and/or members of the public (Exhibits 1,
12, 13, 17a, 17b, 18, 23)
 Discussing the evaluation of the superintendent with board members elect and/or members of
the public (Exhibit 2)
 Making inappropriate comments about other board members to members of the public
(Exhibits 3, 18)
 Making inappropriate comments about the superintendent (Exhibit 11)
 Making inappropriate comments about and an inappropriate evaluation of an administrator
(Exhibit 21b)
 Discussing the employment of the superintendent with board members elect and/or members
of the public (Exhibits 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 18)
 Working with board members elect and/or members of the public to further specific agenda
(Exhibits 7, 9)
 Acting alone on behalf of the board without proper board direction (Exhibit 19, 21b)
 Sharing confidential information to be discussed in Executive Session (Exhibits 10a, 10b)
 Discussing confidential staff hiring information (Exhibits 16a, 16b)
 Inappropriate conduct & concern for policy violations identified by Superintendent (Exhibit 20)
Policy Violations:
 BBF – Board Member Standards of Conduct
 BCD – Board-Superintendent Relationship
 CCG – Licensed Evaluation – Administrators
 Board Superintendent Working Agreement
 Superintendent Employment Contract
 Executive Session Laws
 Confidentiality Covenant for Hiring

Jennifer Traeger

Conduct Identified:
 Discussing board business with members of the public (Exhibit 21a)
 Discussing the employment of the superintendent with board members elect, members of the
public and with a fellow board member outside the context of a board meeting (Exhibits 21a,
21b)
 Working with board members elect and/or members of the public to further specific agenda
(Exhibit 21a)
 Inappropriate forwarding of information (Exhibit 24)

Policy Violations:
 BBF – Board Member Standards of Conduct
 BCD – Board-Superintendent Relationship
 Board Superintendent Working Agreement
 Superintendent Employment Contract

Jonathan Edmonds

Conduct Identified:
 Discussing Board business with members of the public (Exhibit 22)
 Discussing the employment of the superintendent with members of the public (Exhibit 22)

Policy Violations:
 BBF – Board Member Standards of Conduct
 BCD – Board-Superintendent Relationship
 Board Superintendent Working Agreement
 Superintendent Employment Contract
Janet Allanach

Conduct Identified:
 Inappropriate discussion of board business with an acting board member (Exhibits 1, 12)
 Inappropriate discussion regarding the evaluation and employment of the superintendent with
an acting board member, board member elect and members of the public (Exhibits 2, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 14, 15)

Policy Violations:
 BBF – Board Member Standards of Conduct
 BCD – Board-Superintendent Relationship
 Board Superintendent Working Agreement
 Superintendent Employment Contract

Lori McLaughlin

Conduct Identified:
 Inappropriate discussion regarding the evaluation and employment of the superintendent with
an acting board member, board member elect and members of the public (Exhibits 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
14, 15)
 Making disparaging comments about the Silver Falls School District (Exhibit 4)
 Making inappropriate comments about the superintendent (Exhibit 9)
 Inappropriate discussion of board business with an acting board member (Exhibit 12)

Policy Violations:
 BBF – Board Member Standards of Conduct
 BCD – Board-Superintendent Relationship
 Board Superintendent Working Agreement
 Superintendent Employment Contract

Requested Action:

 The severity and amount of violations by Director Nealon demonstrate a deliberate and
continual disregard for board policy and for the well-being of the Silver Falls School Board and
District. Therefore, we request her immediate resignation as Director, Zone 5 of the Silver Falls
School Board.
 Based on conduct, policy violations and for the future protection of the District, we ask for
immediate censure of Directors Traeger, Edmonds, Allanach and McLaughlin by the Silver Falls
School Board. We also request further training for each of them regarding roles and
responsibilities of a board member, board member – superintendent relationships and
appropriate board member communication skills. Specifically for Directors Allanach and
McLaughlin,we acknowledge that the above policy violations occurred before assuming their
official positions on the board. However, given their board-elect member status and their past
leadership experiences, they should have understood this behavior to be inappropriate.
  Based on the evidence presented in this complaint and from statements made by board
members to members of the public, we believe overall trust in our current board has been
compromised. The recent public information requests cited in this complaint contain incomplete
email conversations and transcripts of texts rather than actual screenshots, suggesting the
redaction of pertinent information. Furthermore, information from Executive Session meetings
has made its way into the public domain. Therefore, we ask for the Silver Falls School Board to
request a thorough Third-Party review and investigation into board member conduct. Should
this investigation uncover additional occurrences of improper conduct and/or policy violations,
we ask for the immediate resignation of those board members involved.

Thank you for your timely attention to this matter and we request resolution of this complaint based on
the timeline dictated by policy KL-AR.

Sincerely,

Jacob Clotfelter, Tami Clotfelter, Damon Johnson, Alex Johnson, Aaron Luthi, Anna Luthi, Curt Henckel,
Aaron Koch, Jennipher Koch, Leslie Martin, Courtney Goode, Megan Cox, Wally Lierman, Lora Lierman,
Michael Harrington, Claudine Harrington , Katie Gardner, Tim Gardner, Ken Hector, Darby Hector, Tim
Roth, Becky Roth, Morry Jones, Cindy Jones, Leroy Kaufman, Lesli Kaufman, Wes Butler, Deborah Butler,
Judi Porter, Thom Grayson, Brooke Devault, Carol Williams, Michael Williams, William Luthi, Kristine
Luthi, Richard Schmidt, Juliann Schmidt, Dru Van Riper, Madeline Jorgenson, Jennifer Cameron, Sandy
Sprauer , Jon Sprauer, Troy Eberle, Heidi Eberle , Mark Roth, Lisa Roth, Jesse Rue, Leah Rue, Stephen
Versteeg, Connie Johnson, Andy Schacher, Liz Schacher, Cheryl Molstad, Rhonda Bellando , Melanie
Butterfield, Mark Tribbett, Anne-Marie Tribbett, Sarah Kuenzi, Daniel Marcoe, Amber Tjaarda, Jeff
Guzman, Julie Guzman, Patrick Schaecher, Nancy Schaecher, Michelle Bochsler, Paul Beutler, Patti
Beutler, Felix Meraz, Esmerelda Meraz, Brad Dettwyler, Christine Dettwyler, Darcie Otter, Lorin Stanley,
Mike Roth, Darren Caughman, Rachelle Caughman, Kurt Metzger, Koreen Metzger, Ken Tschiegg,
Rebecaa Tschiegg, Patrick Zurbrugg, Crystal Zurbrugg, Steve Neilson, Justin Kuenzi, Ingrid Kuenzi, Jodi
Drescher, Linda Anderson, Miranda Roth, Neil Jorgenson, Kevin Palmer, Valarie Martinson, Howard
Shetler, Rosie Shetler, Julie Yount, James Martinson, Tim Schurter, Lisa Schurter, Susan Conmy, Gary
Conmy, Lydianne Metzger, Sam Moser, Troy Kuenzi, Sherri Kuenzi, Jim Roth, Jodi Roth, Dean Sinn, Heidi
Sinn, Nelson Kuenzi, Edward Clements, Celeste Clements, Paul Brown, Julie Brown