Connecting the Dots

Earlier this week, the Willamette Educational Service District (WESD) announced that Dr. Joe Morelock had just been named its next superintendent, replacing Dave Novotney, who is retiring. 

In some ways, this announcement might seem of little importance to Newberg voters, even though Newberg schools contract with WESD for some services. But when you connect all the dots, WESD’s decision to hire Morelock should give voters another compelling reason to reject the disinformation being spun out by the current board and their supporters. 

The school board’s constant refrain this year has been that Morelock left the district in shambles, and that he deserved to be fired in November 2021. That no-cause firing has cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was necessary, the board says, because Morelock was so bad. 

At the candidates’ forum in early April, Board Chair Dave Brown insisted that Morelock had to go, and that Novoteny, who stepped in as interim superintendent for Newberg schools, had told Brown that Morelock left a mess. 

Here’s part of Brown’s answer to this question: What are the key features of a good working agreement between the school board and the superintendent?

I would say I’ve worked under three superintendents in my time here and, uh, they’re all quite different. They are…uh…one was fired, Dr. Morelock. That’s true. I like Dr. Joe. Uh, I thought he was the wrong fit for this district. I still feel that way. Dr. Novotney came in, did a great job for us. Didn’t charge us one dime for 6 months to come in here and work. He runs Willamette ESD, which is in charge of 22 school districts. Uh, extremely professional lifetime career person. He was appalled at what he saw when he come to Newberg and saw some of the things that were happening. It was hard. We had to sit down and have a lot of long talks. I drove to Salem every week for months and uh..he he did everything he could to leave us in the spot to make a decision on the next superintendent. 

It’s possible that Brown heard Novotney say the district was in disarray; and that this assertion could cast blame on Morelock, justifying the expensive no-cause dismissal. 

A more likely interpretation of Novotney’s assessment of Newberg schools was that the board itself had caused the chaos, and Novotney volunteered as interim superintendent to avert a complete disaster. 

While Brown and other incumbents want voters to believe Novotney was “appalled” by what Morelock had done to the district, Morelock’s hiring at WESD suggests Novotney trusts Morelock’s ability to run a complex educational program overseeing 21 school districts. 

But don’t take our word for it. Let’s hear from Novotney himself. In a press release, Novotney said “Dr. Morelock is an exceptional leader whose dedication to equity-based leadership and experience in expanding educational opportunities for students is exactly what our students, families, and partner districts want to see in the next leader of WESD. He believes in the mission and vision of the WESD, and he has a proven track record that matches our core values. I’m confident that Dr. Morelock will lead the agency in an exciting direction and take the Willamette ESD to the next level.” 

This doesn’t sound like someone who would need to be fired because of incompetence, or because he’d ruined a district’s finances, or because he caused families to flee Newberg schools. 

Instead, Morelock’s ascendancy to this new role serves as a stunning reminder of the talent Newberg lost when its school board decided to fire Morelock, without cause or even a plan, sending the district into chaos. 

Brown wants us to believe that he alone has saved our schools, heroically driving all the way to Salem (!) once a week (!!!) to meet with Novotney and revive a sinking district.

The WESD announcement this week suggests an alternative narrative: that Morelock’s firing was one part of a cascade of failures that can only be righted when Brown and his co-conspirators lose their positions on May 16. 

Please vote for James Wolfer, Nancy Woodward, Sol Allen, Deb Bridges, and Jeremy Hayden for Newberg School Board.