Emotions ran high during a more than five-and-a-half-hour-long Medford School District board meeting Thursday at Oakdale Middle School. The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned just moments before 11 p.m.

While the meeting drew an initial audience of just under 100, fewer than a dozen remained beyond 10 p.m. The meeting kicked off with board member Michelle Atkinson making a motion to move agenda items — complaints filed by board member Michael Williams — to the end of the agenda.

Tensions between Williams and board members have been evident since last year when Williams spoke out over reassignment of Medford police School Resource Officer Josh Doney. Subsequent months have been marked by heated meetings and complaints filed against and by Williams due to varying exchanges.

North Medford High gymnasium

District Safety and Security Director Ron Havniear provided an update on the recently collapsed North Medford High School gymnasium.

Havniear urged the community to rely on district updates for the latest information versus social media rumors. Some of the more prevalent claims, Havniear said, include that the district added water to the roof prior to the collapse Feb. 11; drains clogged and prevented removal of melted snow; and that the district did not immediately call for crews to shore up the failing structure.

Havniear said none of those assertions were true.

Havniear reported that the district’s insurance would cover gym replacement and that decades of athletics memorabilia had been safely retrieved from the gym and stowed for safekeeping. Havniear said two-thirds of the building remains intact, and engineers will assess what parts of the structure are salvageable.

Board member apology and censure

Board member Jeff Kinsella offered an apology for what he referred to as his “hot mic moment” during which he muttered a profanity toward a district parent in a public meeting. The parent, Nathaniel Swan and his wife Taryne Saunders, both filed complaints in response to the incident.

Kinsella said his actions were a “visceral reaction to Nathaniel yelling at (board) Chair (Cynthia) Wright.” Kinsella noted of Swan, “His comments were about his right to say whatever he wanted, based on the First Amendment. I guess ironically you could say I was exercising my First Amendment rights also.”

Kinsella apologized to Swan, the board and the audience, and said he would “keep my mic off from now on.” The board voted unanimously to censure Kinsella for the remainder of his term, but no restrictions were implemented.

Citizen comment

During citizen comments, multiple audience members spoke on topics ranging from school pesticide use and vaping in schools to praise of the district’s handling of the gym collapse and improved attendance numbers.

Swan signed up to speak and told Kinsella, “An apology based on lies isn’t an apology at all. I never once raised my voice at that meeting, so there you go.”

Swan went on to voice frustration with handling of a criminal complaint against board member Williams over a pair of shears and sheathed knife Williams wears as part of his job as an agricultural inspector. District officials filed a criminal report, though the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office deemed that a crime had not been committed.

“You all tried to make him a felon. Can everyone here actually grasp that? A coordinated effort to try to ruin an innocent man’s life and his reputation and extort and bully him out of his position,” Swan asserted.

South Medford High School teacher Paul Cynar, a union grievance chair, voiced frustration with Kinsella’s apology and board treatment of Williams, noting, “Accountability means that somebody has integrity and will be held accountable for their actions.”

“Last year, I brought a complaint against Jeff Kinsella because he disparaged multiple members in this community and people I teach with in a way that was inappropriate. I asked for an apology and instead I was told by him through our board chair Cynthia Wright that he stands by his words,” Cynar said.

“Now, here we are again. On a hot mic, he says, ‘Go F yourself,’ to a community member. Yet you guys all believe that his apology now shows contrition.”

Cynar echoed Swan’s sentiments that Williams had been treated differently than other board members. “One of the interesting things that you learn when you learn about Black history is the ways in which policies and laws are used against the Black community,” he said.

“And let me be clear when I say this, I believe you are being racist,” Cynar said at the meeting. As Cynar spoke, Williams could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as he sat among fellow board members.

“I believe you are targeting a Black person in Southern Oregon,” Cynar continued. “And I don’t know why, but it sure looks like that and it’s not just me.

“When people I know sit and watch the board meetings and watch you call out a person on this board who clearly looks different, they mention to me, ‘Does anybody else realize he’s the only Black person in the room?’ Yes, it looks like that and yes, we can see the hypocrisy,” Cynar said.

“I want you to see that accountability means that you will actually hold people accountable in the same way.”

Williams’ complaints

The final two hours of the meeting were spent reviewing Williams’ complaints against Wright and Superintendent Bret Champion. By that late time, most in the audience had left.

Williams told the Rogue Valley Times this week he was attempting to address animosity and differential treatment he said he experienced from the board over the past year. He was censured for a complaint filed by Havniear in August over a previous exchange, and censured for an additional complaint district office staff and Champion filed in November over an October incident in Champion’s office.

Williams said restrictions placed on his activities as a board member were excessive and unfair, and he wanted them removed.

The restrictions resulting from the two censures included requiring that Williams be escorted on to school campuses and only correspond to board members through email.

Board members Thursday told Williams the restrictions were in place to prevent future occurrences and that Williams’ ability to do his board member duties were not impacted by the restrictions. Review of Williams’ two complaints prompted two hours of back and forth with no resolution and board members and Williams visibly frustrated.

In his complaint against Wright, according to copies obtained by the Times on Wednesday, Williams alleged that Wright threatened retaliation and attempted to pressure Williams to resign; failed to treat Williams with dignity and respect; collaborated with Champion to undermine Williams; and actively participated in creation of complaints against him, violating the expectation that the board functions as an independent oversight body.

In the complaint against Champion, also obtained by the Times, Williams alleges that the superintendent violated myriad “leadership and district culture” policies including that Champion failed to promote a climate of tolerance and civility; failed to establish proper board-superintendent relationships; failed to demonstrate mediation and conflict resolution skills; and participated in retaliation and harassment and abuse of authority.

Williams on Wednesday night released both statements in their entirety on social media.

Board members opted to substantiate part of Williams’ complaint against Wright pertaining to district policy BBF, requiring board members to treat others with dignity, respect and courtesy. Williams said Wright escalated conflict among board members and called his credibility into question in a letter to the community and during a TV media interview. Wright conceded that she “could have chosen better words.”

The board tabled discussion on Wright’s violation of another board policy and plans to discuss the matter at a future meeting.

During discussion of the complaint against Champion, the superintendent offered a brief statement, saying, “I have no need to belabor the point of a response because I have had the opportunity to write a response — write an original complaint — that you have all had available to you.

“We, as adults, need to leave this world behind and need to focus on our students; our students need us. And that’s what I have to say,” Champion said.

Williams told the board he intentionally had board member Suzanne Messer accompany him during the October meeting with Champion — which prompted two of three complaints — to lessen the chance of a confrontation. Williams admitted he became upset when Champion conceded a role in filing a complaint against him. Williams said he was upset and walked away when — both men concur — Champion ordered Williams to return to his office, at which point the conversation escalated.

The two men and board member Messer recalled the subsequent events differently in testimony Thursday night, with Williams stating that Champion blocked the door and put his finger in Williams’ face.

Champion said that he spoke calmly and stepped back from Williams.

Messer stated that both men raised their voices, but she noted that Champion made the first move to step back.

In between discussion of the complaint, board members seemed to have a variety of thoughts on how board matters should have been handled. Williams was chastised for not speaking on his own behalf, but said he was denied the chance to make a statement when he asked to do so. Williams said he had previously declined to speak on the advice of his lawyer.

The board ultimately voted to dismiss the complaint against Champion. Board member Lilia Caballero was not part of the vote because she left the meeting early, just after 10 p.m.

Audio of the meeting can be found on the district website.

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or bpollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.