A three-hour Medford School Board meeting Thursday brought over an hour’s worth of citizen comment. Nearly two dozen people signed up to speak, delivering a mix of praise and criticism for district leadership, with one teacher introducing complaints against two board members.

Board meetings have been heavily attended in recent months after board member Michael Williams spoke out in July over the reassignment of South Medford High School Resource Officer Josh Doney.

Medford police and school district officials portrayed Doney’s departure as routine, though school board members later voiced concerns about the former SRO’s job performance. Williams said the reassignment had to do with Doney clashing with district security director Ron Havniear over how the district handled students expelled for bringing guns to school.

The Medford teacher’s union voiced support for Williams on Aug. 9 and said it was “closely following the situation involving Officer Doney and School Board Member Michael Williams,” and that it was “concerned with lack of consistency and transparency in the Medford School District’s (MSD) messaging.” The district later announced a complaint filed against an unnamed board member — presumed to be Williams — and the board voted during an Aug. 27 special meeting to investigate that board member.

During an Aug. 30 retreat, board members deliberated over whether to allow the public to attend future board meetings in person or via Zoom instead. Board member Michelle Atkinson and Superintendent Bret Champion said they felt unsafe during an Aug. 27 meeting, and board Chair Cynthia Wright and board member Jeff Kinsella voiced frustration with the behavior of teachers in attendance.

On Thursday, former district employee Coda Stokes voiced concerns via Zoom about “the shift in tone during last year’s board meetings and some of the social narratives around MSD as a whole.” Stokes said a trend was noticed “towards rhetoric that was more than passionate, it was divisive, and it was harmful.”

“Personal vendettas and unchecked anger don’t solve problems. They just create more. … To be clear, we are thankful to have a superintendent who cares deeply about this community and is unwavering in his commitment to doing what is right for students,” Stokes said.

Medford resident Christy Clark made a statement on behalf of “a group of parents” of a “combined 50 former or current district students.” Clark called Champion the “epitome of a fantastic leader.”

“The priority he has placed on student safety is among the best in our nation. We were one of the first districts in Oregon to open back up during the pandemic because of Dr. Champion’s leadership and Ron Havniear’s expertise and care,” Clark said.

“I am so tired of hearing about the former SRO that was let go. He did not meet the safety standards and expectations set. Reassigning him was what was best for our students, safety, and it’s time to move on. … We’re tired of radical extremism in our community that is disrupting the board meetings. It’s time to be productive again.

“We are tired of a board member who’s causing so much conflict, chaos and disruption within the board,” Clark said. “You were all elected to make meaningful progress for our students, not to engage in contention and furthering personal agendas.”

Medford resident Russ Couch criticized recent discussions about community input and told the board that audience members were, in fact, “engaged, informed parents, teachers and members of this community who will vote to elect principled candidates to the school board who will fulfill their oath of office, protect our children and preserve the future of our community.”

“Both Michael Williams and Officer Josh Doney have only had the best interest of students, teachers and parents in mind. Did the school district leadership look at or suggest that the district transition away from school resource officers? If so, who initiated the conversation and for what reason?” Couch asked.

“Parents and taxpayers alike should know what is going on in our schools, and the public input, face to face, with the school district leadership is fundamental and constitutional,” he said.

Sheryl Zimmerer, executive director of Logos Public Charter School, said she had worked with three different administrators of the district and that “Dr. Brett Champion has truly been the best of them all.”

Danielle Craig, a district parent and former spokesperson for the district, said she had been “paying close attention to what happens in the district since 2010,” a period spanning 14 years and three superintendents, she noted. Craig said the district had “become a model for school districts nationwide, under the leadership of Dr. Champion.”

“The only reason I’m speaking today,” she said, “is because I’m afraid if we don’t move forward with Dr. Champion, we will be moving backwards.”

District parent Summer Wolarik expressed “deep sadness and disappointment regarding the direction our district is heading under current leadership,” which she said prioritized “their own interests over those of our children.”

“Let’s talk about accountability. Bret Champion, the superintendent, is the highest paid in Oregon, yet our test scores remain among the lowest. This discrepancy is baffling and unacceptable,” Wolarik claimed at the meeting.

Dee Anne Everson, CEO of United Way of Jackson County, said her agency was a “proud partner” of the district. Everson said she was “very concerned about the rumors, stories and vitriol” about the district and board, and called Champion, a board member for her agency, “the first superintendent I had met in my 30 years of working here that centered children in the conversation about schools.”

Nathaniel Swan, a district parent, told board members they were “way out of touch.”

“You had five officers here the other night: three plain clothes and two uniformed officers, cameras everywhere. What do you think is gonna happen here? What would make you guys feel safer? A sniper? Bulletproof glass? I mean, you’ve never felt this unsafe before, right? You couldn’t talk to anyone in the crowd afterwards,” Swan said.

“How about you position the officers right here next to the board to protect you,” he said. “This was all so ridiculous and dramatic. It sounds like a bunch of people afraid of confrontation and mean words. … You guys are reaping what you’ve sewn together, and I’m here for it.

“The public doesn’t trust this overpaid, top-heavy administration that abuses its power. The people are becoming fed up.”

Swan ended his statement by calling for Champion’s resignation “immediately.”

Julie Berry, a district alumni and former administrator for Ruch School, said Champion’s “vision and courage have been unmatched by any other superintendent in this district.”

“Safety has and always will be Medford School District’s No. 1 priority, and it is more than just a mantra under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Champion, which includes Ron Havniear and his safety team,” she said.

Medford pastor and district parent Kym McKandes voiced concerns about divisiveness and audience “cheerleading” for various employees or board members.

“Instead of discussing discord and division, can we discuss the diversity of our school’s faculty? Instead of discussing discord and division, can we talk about more safety strategies?” he asked.

“This board has been voted in to be a voice of the community, and the moment that the community is no longer heard, that’s the moment that there needs to be new members of the board that will listen,” McKandes said. “A broken clock is correct twice a day, and this district and school board have done some good things, but the clock is broken, and we need strategies to fix it.”

Medford resident Linda McFadden told the board that district enrollment was “declining because of the way you treat people” and due to safety concerns in the district.

“You lost me at equity and inclusion. I’m so sick of this verbiage. And if you guys want to talk about equity and inclusion, and you want to really take this seriously, I suggest you start with yourselves,” she said.

Paul Cynar, a social studies teacher at South Medford High School and grievance chair for the teacher’s union, spoke in an unofficial capacity to “express how deeply unsatisfied and offended the majority of teachers who attended the special session on 8-27 are, and with the comments made by Jeff Kinsella and Cynthia Wright during the board retreat on 8-30.”

Cynar said comments made during recent meetings found community members calling the professionalism of district teachers into question “due to the unfair and false picture painted by the board.” Cynar emailed the board demanding a public apology and said he was told by Wright that “board members stand by their comments.”

“When given the chance to retract or even qualify their statements, the board refused to do so. And while I tried to communicate with the board, board Chair Wright impugned my character by lying to the rest of the board about the nature and content of a private conversation which she sought with me and we held on 9-10,” Cynar said.

“For these reasons … I would like to submit the following formal complaints against board member Kinsella, board Chair Wright, as well as the additional complaint against board Chair Wright, to the vice chair, (Kendall) Ferguson.”

Later portions of the meeting included discussion of safety enhancements at district schools, a proposed cell phone policy — for which a community engagement process will launch Oct. 7 — and rules governing board member visits to schools.

District officials said Monday that Cynar’s complaint would be addressed at a future board meeting, per board policy.