ST. HELENS, Ore. (KOIN) — While parents of the St. Helens community are continuing to advocate for child safety amid an ongoing sex abuse investigation with the school district, a listening session has inspired hope for some that their concerns will be taken seriously.
The St. Helens School District has been the subject of parent protests ever since two teachers at St. Helens High School were accused in court of sexual abuse last month. The principal, Katy Wagner, was also arrested and accused of not reporting the alleged abuse to authorities.
Last week, the school district revealed a total of 10 district staff members have now been placed on paid administrative leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct or a failure to report it.
These investigations are still ongoing and no one has been found guilty, yet, in either a criminal case or an internal school investigation, since the scandal broke out. However, St. Helens High School appointed a new acting principal, Dr. Charlotte Ellis, after Wagner's arrest.
Superintendent Scot Stockwell was also placed on leave, alongside Wagner and the other staff members. In his place, the school board selected Dr. Steve Webb — a former superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools — as the new interim St. Helens School District superintendent.
Under Webb's leadership, the St. Helens School District organized multiple listening sessions with community members, the first of which was on Tuesday night at St. Helens High School.
Webb said the listening session was designed to allow community members to voice what concerns they wanted the district to know. The second reason was to hear ideas about how the district can create a safe school culture.
The listening session consisted of a 45-minute table talk, then five minutes of gathering the ideas and finally a 15-minute share-out.
Aventurine Doarn is a parent who has been active for weeks during demonstrations in reaction to the sex scandal, fighting on behalf of the children. She told KOIN 6 News this listening session may mean things are looking up.
"It was very calm, very quiet, a lot of voices were heard. A lot of notes were taken. And we, the parents, have been told that it's going to go straight for the board, our concerns, and that they're going to come up with a plan of action based on these concerns. So, we'll see how it goes," Doarn said.
Other parents said that while they still have some reservations, they are somewhat cautiously optimistic things are headed in the right direction.
"Any time parents and students can get together and talk about what's been happening is a welcome and healing opportunity," said Sarah Young, another St. Helens parent.
Parents brought up concerns like holding teachers accountable and helping kids report inappropriate behavior without being pushed away by school leaders.
"My hope is — after the holidays — is that people will have more time and bandwidth and maybe take a break during the holidays and heal, so they don't get worn out and just come back ready to fight," Young said.
Webb said that if any of the allegations against staff prove to be true, employees will be held accountable and swift action will be taken. He also vowed that the district will share its findings of the investigation, so long as the law allows.
"The children of this community deserve nothing but the very best," Webb said. "I'm absolutely committed to ensuring that the input received today helps inform the action, and I expect you to hold us accountable for that."
"It'll be interesting to see what kind of an impact he can actually make for us, and how much he's actually able to hear us parents and get that rolling," Doarn said.
Another listening session is happening at St. Helens Middle School on Wednesday night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
