October 2, 2024 Meeting

Board Members Present: Chair Kris Howatt, Shawn Farrens, Mayra Gómez, Cathy Keathley, Blake Petersen, and Holly Riegelmann

Superintendent and District Leadership Team Update

Superintendent Hiu expressed his appreciation to our administrators as the District celebrates School Administrators Month. He congratulated substitute teacher Norman Paul Chambers for being named Educstaff’s Oregon Substitute of the Year and shared that he attended the Oregon statewide Educators Equity Summit. 

Superintendent Hiu also shared a statement on the Gresham High School incident that took place September 20 when student brought a gun to school:

On September 20 at Gresham High School, thanks to a community member, school administration was alerted that there may be a student on campus with a gun on their person.

I want to express my thanks and appreciation to the building administration and the campus monitor(s) for their work to swiftly identify the student and take the student to a secure location. Thanks to their courage and commitment, we were able to avert a very challenging situation and a possible tragedy. 

I also want to thank the Gresham Police Department for their quick response and handling of the situation. 

We also owe a debt of gratitude to the staff of Gresham High School because during that situation everyone kept calm and we were able to navigate the situation. 

We also want to thank our community and let you know that the safety incident at the school is something that we continue to keep working through and we want to make sure that students and staff are safe. We are always looking for ways to improve our processes and procedures. 

In closing, by working together we can maintain a safe school environment. If you do become aware of a threat to a school, please call the SafeOregon Tipline at 844-472-3367 or report the threat online at www.safeoregon.com. 

Thank you for working with us to keep our students, staff, and community safe.

-Superintendent James Hiu

Superintendent Hiu also announced that the District would hold a School Safety Summit which will take place on October 29, from 6 to 8 pm at Gordon Russell Middle School.

Citizens’ Requests of the Board

Several students, staff, and community members submitted public comments to the school board and spoke at the meeting. A majority were focused on safety concerns at Gresham High School.

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