Many Show Support For Siletz School

The Lincoln County School District Board held a special public hearing on March 31 to examine the status and future of Siletz Valley Charter School, drawing a packed room of students, staff, tribal representatives, and community members who made an emotional case for keeping the school open and strengthening its partnership with the district.

Board members emphasized the district’s commitment to honoring tribal sovereignty and history before moving into the public hearing focused on Siletz Valley School.

The hearing was convened under Oregon charter school law to review a set of 12 compliance concerns identified over recent years. These include issues around academic achievement, student attendance, graduation tracking, discipline procedures, special education exclusionary discipline, facilities planning, budgeting and grants management, public meeting law compliance, and internal governance.

Acting superintendent of Siletz Valley School, Deborah Barnes, used her 30-minute presentation to argue that the school has taken the concerns seriously and made substantial progress. “We come before you today on behalf of Siletz Valley School with a deep sense of responsibility and a genuine sense of optimism,” Barnes said. She described the school’s mission as providing “a safe, welcoming and high quality educational environment where every student has the opportunity to thrive,” and stressed that this mission has guided every step of their improvement work.

Barnes walked through each of the 12 items the district flagged. She said the school now has an updated multilingual learner plan, is in full compliance with teacher licensure requirements, has bylaws publicly posted, and has created a comprehensive facilities plan. An RFP for the first major facilities project is scheduled to go before the Siletz Valley board on April 2, with hopes of using construction excise tax funds to begin work.

On academics, Barnes acknowledged that 73 percent of students are currently below benchmark on certain measures, but said the data also shows year-over-year growth, especially in reading. “When you look at the sheet that I put for the 23 to 26 Star data, it shows a year group, and for our reading scores, those have consistently gone up each year,” she said. In response, Title I staff are providing daily targeted support.

Math scores, she admitted, are “not where I would like them to be,” which led the school to bring in the Teacher Development Group, a state-approved professional development provider. Writing instruction is also being strengthened through work with the local education service district. On attendance, Barnes said the current regular attender rate is in the mid-40 percent range and gradually improving. The school has launched weekly attendance meetings, new tracking tools adapted for a four-day school week, incentive systems, and a “warrior wall” displaying weekly attendance by grade level. She emphasized a shift in tone toward welcoming students back instead of shaming them for absences: “We’re really glad that you’re here,” she said, describing the new approach.

The school is also working with multiple partners, including the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Lincoln County School District, and outside programs to support attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism. Ninth-grade-on-track efforts include planners for students to track attendance, behavior, and grades, with a plan to expand that system to all grades and build college and career readiness over time.

Discipline practices and equity in outcomes were another focus. Barnes acknowledged that leadership and staff turnover in recent years has made consistent implementation difficult, but she said the current team is working closely with district staff and the ESD to align practices and use new real-time data tools in Synergy. The school has begun shifting from out-of-school to in-school suspensions to protect attendance and increase opportunities for restorative work with students.

“Some things are going to fall through because we don’t know what we don’t know,” Barnes said, pointing to past turnover in superintendents, office staff, and the charter board. She said she has treated the compliance reports from the district and the Oregon School Boards Association as a checklist: “We have a new commitment to our school to make sure that these continue. To me, this isn’t a completed kind of a task. This is an ongoing.”

After the board’s round of detailed questions on facilities funding, academics, attendance, graduation, and discipline, the hearing shifted to public testimony that underscored the deep cultural and emotional connection many have to the school. Ronnie Logan, who works in Siletz Tribal Behavioral Health, shared data showing extensive support from tribal programs, including more than a thousand hours of staff time logged in the building and dozens of documented mental health encounters with students.

She described a new support room on campus staffed by tribal personnel that has seen heavy use since October, providing decompression space and access to mental health professionals in a school that otherwise lacks its own counselor. “This has been a huge support for the students in the building. It’s been highly utilized,” Logan said, adding that tribal departments from culture to natural resources, elders, and council members are regularly present at the school.

Several teachers spoke passionately about the unique academic and cultural programming at Siletz Valley School. Longtime secondary science teacher Corey Smith said she has outlasted three superintendents and argued that the current hearing is “a result of mismanagement and core leadership” in past years, not a reflection of the work that students and staff are doing today. She highlighted college-credit courses, financial literacy, and indigenous ecological and agricultural programs that connect students’ learning directly to community wellness and real-world skills. Smith said the school is a gateway for students to see future careers and opportunities they might not otherwise imagine.

Students themselves delivered some of the most powerful testimony. One junior described how the school’s cultural classes in drumming, carving, and traditional games helped students to reconnect to their heritage and improve grades and attendance. Another student described facing discrimination at other schools and said Siletz Valley is the only place where he feels truly safe and supported. He described classmates and staff as his family and said losing the school would be devastating. Parents and tribal leaders urged the board not to let past administrative failures erase what the school means to the community.

As the hearing closed, Board Chair Peter Vince acknowledged the passion and resolve of the Siletz community, saying their “warrior pride” and commitment are obvious. He reiterated that every Lincoln County student, including those at Siletz Valley School, is part of the district’s mission. Vince outlined the next steps: the Oregon School Boards Association will complete a new audit of Siletz Valley School, with results shared with both the district and the charter.

The Lincoln County School Board plans to review the charter agreement and consider options for the school’s future at its April 14 meeting. Any decision on continuation or changes to the charter will flow from that review and the latest audit by the Oregon School Board Association (OSBA). For now, Siletz Valley Charter School’s future remains undecided, but the hearing made one thing clear: the school is at the center of educational, cultural, and community life for many Siletz families, and they intend to keep fighting for it.