(The Center Square) – Longview School District Superintendent Karen Cloninger made an initial court appearance Friday following Thursday’s arrest in connection with an ongoing investigation involving alleged sexual assaults at Mark Morris High School.
Two students are accused of sexually assaulting fellow students in the varsity basketball locker room earlier this year.
Cloninger is charged with tampering with a witness, failure to report and obstructing a law enforcement investigation.
Longview Police said in a Facebook post that high school staff and Longview School District personnel were made aware of sexual misconduct allegations as early as late January.
“Superintendent Karen Cloninger was made aware of details involving multiple students, including allegations that one student was forcibly dragged into the Mark Morris High School varsity team room, pinned to the ground, and partially disrobed,” according to the police department post.
Police said school district employees raised concerns about the legal requirements to report sexual misconduct, but “investigators developed information alleging employees were directed by Cloninger to handle the matter internally and discourage further discussion regarding the incident.”
A local lawmaker spoke about his concern with The Center Square.
“It’s very disturbing,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, in a Friday interview. “I think this is a reflection of a school board that has adopted the mentality that we see from our statewide leaders that they’re in charge…. that they own these children. They don’t need to talk to parents. They can keep a lid on this, and that’s wrongheaded from the very beginning.”
“If the superintendent of public instruction says that there’s no consequences for him, if district superintendents adopt that philosophy, or the school board adopts that philosophy, there are real consequences. These are criminal charges, and this is a very big deal.”
Braun is challenging incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in District 3 and the Congresswoman emailed a statement to The Center Square about the Longview investigation and about her “yes” vote this week on House legislation concerning parental notification and school gender policies.
The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act (H.R. 2616) requires federally funded elementary and middle schools to obtain explicit parental consent before changing a student’s pronouns, name, or sex-based accommodations.
Schools that do not comply risk losing federal funding.
Gluesenkamp Perez was one of just nine Democrats to vote in support of the bill, along with every Republican.
“As a parent of a young child, I’m asked to sign off on small things in my kid’s school day, down to whether they get sunscreen at recess. A child’s name and sense of self are not small things. They are fundamental, and on something that important, I don’t believe parents should be cut out of the loop,” she said in her email.
“This bill requires schools to get a parent’s consent before changing an elementary or middle school student’s pronouns or name on school forms,” she wrote.
Katy Payne in the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction emailed a statement to TCS about the Longview investigation and the federal legislation threatening the withholding of funding to districts that keep parents out of the loop or support gender ideology at school.
“When OSPI investigates a certificated educator for alleged violations of the educator code of conduct, that investigation is not the same as a law enforcement investigation and does not end in charges. Our investigations are into whether a certificated educator should be disciplined against their certificate (e.g., have their certificate suspended, revoked, etc.). When educators are accused of criminal misconduct, law enforcement performs their own investigation, often before the misconduct even makes its way to OSPI,” wrote Payne.
“We are closely following this situation, and we appreciate the diligent efforts by law enforcement to protect student safety.”
On the question of federal funding, Payne at OSPI wrote:
“Washington state law has long safeguarded parent/guardian access to information about their students. There is no evidence that Washington schools are “keeping secrets from parents.” Our state laws fit within the scope of what’s allowable under federal law and we are responsible for following state law.”
According to KATU-TV, Cloninger’s bail was set at $5,000 Friday. The judge ordered her to refrain from contacting any students or witnesses in the case. Her arraignment date was set for June 10 at 9 a.m.
Patti Bowen, who was the executive director of business services, was asked by the school board to step in as acting superintendent. Cloninger was placed on administrative leave by the board.
“As a school district, we take our responsibility to protect the safety and care of our students very seriously. The allegations described by law enforcement are serious and troubling,” read a statement issued by Bowen on Friday.
“Our district remains committed to understanding the facts surrounding the alleged student and staff misconduct, cooperating with the ongoing investigation, following the law, and ultimately taking appropriate accountability action.”
