Colfax school board challengers related to year’s tough decisions

Three of the four open seats on the Colfax school board now have challengers. Barbara Morgan has filed against school board president Brian Becker, Eric Doering has filed against board member Rob Smith and Kirby Dailey has filed against board member Laura Johnson.

Board member Kathy Wride is the only member running unopposed. Deadline to file for election was June 10.

Both Morgan and Doering are related to teachers at the Colfax school district. Morgan is the mother of high school band teacher and football coach Mike Morgan, and Doering is the husband of Sue Doering, high school volleyball coach and P.E. teacher.

Elections supervisor Debbie Hooper said there are no state laws pertaining to elections that prevent elected officials from serving on boards that govern their spouses or relatives as paid staff.

Hooper said the decision to allow Morgan and Doering onto the school board will be up to the school board and the superintendent.

“There’s no RCW pertaining to the election’s end of it,” said Hooper.

Both Morgan and Doering told the Gazette that, if elected, they plan on recusing themselves from any school votes that pertain to their family on staff at the district.

Supt. Michael Morgan quoted several state laws, including RCW 28.A.330.240, that outline what a board member can and can’t vote on if they have a relative or spouse on staff.

Some of those items included performance evaluations, discipline, employment contracts or setting working conditions.

“From a conflict of interest standpoint, they can’t vote on items that could directly create personal gain,” said Supt. Morgan, adding board members can be elected if the related employee is already on staff at the district.

In addition to the Feb. 2010 levy failure and rerun, Colfax school board members have weathered other storms over the last two years. A teacher contract deadlock, a request by some teachers to turn out Supt. Morgan and declining state revenue which has led to staff layoffs have all been on the board’s plate.

Barbara Morgan said she is running to promote transparency and communication.

She is married to Ed Morgan, former long time school administrator who at one time served as superintendent at Palouse High School. Morgan said her main concern in running for the school board is to help bring more communication and transparency among the board, superintendent, staff and community.

Morgan said she plans to run an enthusiastic campaign against Becker, whom she doesn’t know in person.

“Having worked with boards in the past, I understand the unity of the community and the board has to be there as well as the superintendent,” Morgan added.

Becker said he was glad more people had filed to serve on the school board. As far as goals for his next term, he said he wanted to continue to promote quality learning.

“We’ve seen some good increases in test results for the past couple years. I’d like to continue to work on ways to keep the success going,” he said.

Becker is finishing his first four-year term on the board.

“We’ve had our struggles but we’ve also had success along the way as well. So I feel like I learned a lot but there is still a lot more to learn and do for the school,” he said.

Eric Doering, the husband of high school volleyball coach Sue Doering, is running against board member Rob Smith.

Doering said he is running to improve what he labels “staff morale.”

“I have more concern with staff morale. Some of the stuff that’s been going on is unprecedented at least in my experience with the district. That in some way is of equal importance,” Doering said. “I think we need to see some turnaround there.”

He added that didn’t mean he wanted to see the superintendent leave the district.

“I think we just need some new voices involved in the conversation,” Doering said.

Sue Doering last November was the faculty member who asked the board at a public session not to renew the superintendent’s contract for another two years. She said she represented as many as 30 staff members. Standing next to her was Mike Morgan who later said he was one of the supporters of the request.

Board members at the next board meeting, Nov. 15, went ahead and renewed Supt. Michael Morgan’s contract.

As far as a conflict of interest is concerned, Eric Doering said he plans on recusing himself from any board votes that would impact his wife.

“That’s just a given,” he said.

Smith, who is finishing his first full term of four years, said he was glad Doering and the other challengers had decided to file.

“It’s always good for people to have a choice, and Eric is a good guy,” Smith said.

Smith, like board member Laura Johnson, said he was focused on working on the budget through the recession and school cuts.

“That’s going to be the tough issue- figuring out how to balance staffing and balance the budget,” Smith said. He added he keeps in touch with the community opinion through his dental practice in Colfax and membership in the Rotary Club.

In an interview with the Gazette last week, board member Laura Johnson said her goals for the next term will be to work diligently on the school budget through the recession. Also last week, challenger Kirby Dailey said his goals, if elected, would be to promote transparency and open communication among the board, district administration, community and staff.