At the April 11, 2023, board meeting, Director Trevor DeHart used his comment time to provide appropriation for the board’s work in turning around what he saw as a failing district. According to DeHart, signs of the district being in a “great place” are everywhere: from the new construction, thanks to a bond (that passed when Joe Morelock was superintendent); to an improved system of communication and “healthier budget”; to enrollment numbers that are up, reflecting a flourishing district.
At least two times in his brief comments, DeHart said “if you’re honest with yourself,” suggesting that critics of the board need to look at the facts on the ground and see that the data proves the district’s positive trajectory.
If you’re honest with yourself, though, you’ll see that DeHart is not telling the truth, not about the budget, not about the improved communications, and not about the data. In fact, according to the data, the district is losing students almost as quickly as employees.
Here’s the truth about enrollment numbers:
DeHart and others will note that the district exceeded its projection numbers by 200 students this past fall. But projecting student enrollment relies on prognostication, and doesn’t reflect the reality: that students are leaving the district at a rapid rate. Some props to Superintendent Phillips for correcting DeHart in the April 11 meeting, saying that those numbers only showed that the district exceeded projected numbers.
What he didn’t say, and what DeHart didn’t seem to realize, is that between September 2022 and January 2023, at least 97 students left the district. (These numbers were uncovered in a FOIA request.)
You can get a better sense of what this means by looking at the same time period for different years:
9/17-1/18: -36
9/18-1/19: -29
9/19-1/20: +29
9/20-1/21: -26
9/21 – 1/22: -96
9/22-1/23: -97
Since the current board has taken charge, first semester leave numbers have almost tripled. (It’s interesting to note, too, that in the year before the pandemic, Newberg gained 29 students in its first semester.)
It would be easy to excuse these numbers by insisting that things are bad everywhere; board supporters have been quick to say that the pandemic caused students to leave the schools, not only here, but elsewhere. And while the numbers don’t bear this out, it seems problematic–even hypocritical–to fire Morelock during Covid for what they argued was his failed leadership, but then assert that things were hard everywhere. If that truly was the case, what was the real reason for firing the superintendent?
The first-semester enrollment numbers, and DeHart’s insistence that the data shows a healthy district, reflects a troubling pattern: information that might prove damning to the board is hidden, or misrepresented, or misused, forcing citizens to submit FOIA requests to find out answers. Or to become data analysts, to understand numbers that don’t really make sense. Or to feel as if they’re being gaslighted by a governing board to which they’ve entrusted the well-being of the people they value most: their children.
If you’re honest with yourself, none of this makes sense.
Newberg Neighbors for a Better Community 