Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Lower Columbia Currents, which reports news and opinion about Southwest Washington. It is published, reported and written by award-winning journalist Andre Stepankowsky. Learn more by visiting the Lower Columbia Currents Substack.
Longview School Superintendent Karen Cloninger blocked school employees from reporting suspected sex and physical abuse among some members of the Mark Morris varsity basketball team and ordered them to handle the allegations “quietly and internally,” according to court documents made available Friday.
The documents suggest that Cloninger bullied and belittled staff in attempts to keep word of the assault from spreading.
Mark Morris Principal Aaron Whitright and Vice President Paul Beckel investigated reports of the abuse and had reported their findings to Cloninger as early as Jan. 29, according to a police probable cause statement filed in Cowlitz Superior Court.
Whitright and Beckel “relayed the details to Karen and asked about mandatory reporting on more than one occasion and were told ‘no’ and instead told to handle things quietly and internally.
“They were in turn directed to contact parents and the community and tell them to stop spreading rumors and that the issue had been handled appropriately, even though it had not been. Karen stifled multiple employees from doing the right thing and reporting to law enforcement and told them to stand down, their behavior was off putting, and that if they did not handle things ‘right’ their careers could be over,” according to the single-spaced, five-page document.
The statement sheds light on the origins of the controversial Feb. 8 letter that Whitright e-mailed to the Mark Morris School community, which stated that “the false rumors and speculation of what occurred are harmful to our students and undermine the feeling of safety in our school.”
It was immediately pilloried as a whitewash job and prompted a handful of students to address the school board and protest along 15th Avenue outside the high school.
In another late development Friday, interim Longview School Superintendent Patti Bowen reported that three additional employees have been placed on paid administrative leave, effective immediately, over the Mark Morris case. She did not disclose their names or explain the reasons for the move.
In all, five district employees are now on paid leave over the case.
“As a standard practice, we do not disclose the details of personnel matters; however, given the unique circumstances, we are sharing limited information. It’s important to note that administrative leave is a nondisciplinary step that allows for careful, fair and impartial review of facts while protecting the integrity of the process,” Bowen wrote.
Cloninger, 58, looked tired and worn when she appeared in Cowlitz Superior Court Friday afternoon in green jail clothing. Longview police booked her at the Cowlitz County Jail Thursday morning on allegations of tampering with a witness, failure to report child abuse and obstructing an officer.
Witness tampering is a felony; the other alleged offenses are gross misdemeanors.
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder set bail at $5,000 and ordered that Cloninger have no contact with school staff or students once she is released.
Scudder set a June 10 date for an arraignment, at which time the superintendent will be formally charged and enter a plea. Her attorney, Jonny McMullen, of Vancouver, said Cloninger will fight the charges.
Despite her appearance, Cloninger “is doing as well as could be expected,” McMullen said.
He said he has not had time to talk with witnesses and sources interviewed by police and did not want to say much about the case against his client.
He said Cloninger will not speak to the press until after the case ends.
McMullen said he had 30 years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer. He declined to reveal what he is charging to defend Cloninger but said his fees are tailored to the circumstances of each case.
In an earlier development Friday, Bowen (the acting superintendent) announced the district has hired an additional outside investigator. The investigator will “review and produce findings regarding the actions of Dr. Cloninger and other staff related to the handling of allegations of student and staff misconduct at Mark Morris High School.”
The review “will determine whether the involved employees followed the law and district policy and procedure. Information gathered will be used to determine accountability actions,” Bowen said by e-mail.
Police have investigated the alleged abuse but also whether district personnel failed their “mandatory reporter” obligation to report suspected child abuse to police or to the child protective service agency.
The investigator is Jill Smith of Simmons Sweeney Freimund Smith Tardif law group. Her website says Smith investigates school discrimination and conducts investigations for schools and other public and private employers.
Bowen did not report how much the district will pay Smith, nor did she discuss whether and how Smith’s work might dovetail with that of police and the courts.
Cloninger and Andrew Schoonover, executive director of student services, will remain on paid administrative leave during the ongoing investigation and legal proceedings. Schoonover is accused of failure to report child abuse and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. He has not been booked into the jail.
The district already had hired a $350-an-hour Seattle-area law firm to review its policies and procedures for protecting students in the wake of the alleged student assaults at Mark Morris. A report is due at the end of the school year, according to the district.
Two Mark Morris varsity basketball players, both juveniles, have pleaded not guilty to 11 criminal counts, including three counts of second-degree rape and five counts of unlawful imprisonment. Clark County prosecutors are handling the case.
Abuse centered on a room off the boy’s locker room.
One of the alleged victims — dubbed John Doe 1 in court documents — told police investigators on Feb. 9 that he’d been sexually assaulted five or six times during the course of the basketball season, starting around Thanksgiving.
The three other alleged victims — referred to John Does 2, 3 and 4 in court documents — reported single-incident cases of assault, all of them in late January.
The probable cause statement describes a key meeting that took place on Feb. 4 among district spokesman Rick Parrish, Whitright and Beckel.
Parrish, with his attorney present, told police that Cloninger ordered him to the meeting to develop “messaging” about the allegations. After speaking with Whitright and Beckel , Parrish learned that the assault allegations “seemed much worse” than Cloninger had related to him. He called her and complained that he’d been “blindsided” and recommended that the district contact a lawyer. Cloninger told him to stand down and said she would call back.
What followed is alleged strong-arm tactics.
Cloninger, speaking to Parrish, Whitright and Beckel by speaker phone, then told them (as Parrish recalled it):
“‘Look guys, we’re not going to put anything in writing on this.’ … She then directed Aaron and Paul to call the parents involved and relay to them that they had done an investigation and had taken appropriate disciplinary steps (the alleged student abusers were suspended from the basketball team.). She then told them, ‘We’re not calling any attorney, because I am not going to be told to do something I don’t want to do.’ She followed that with, ‘Look, guys, at this point social media has already got rumors going. Tell the kids on the team we don’t want any more rumors. Don’t talk about this.’ She then followed that by saying, ‘Aaron, you better figure this out, because this is a career killer.’ Rick explained that Aaron stood up and physically kicked the desk out of frustration.”
Parrish, according to the probable cause statement, told police that over the following days he felt “very uneasy about the school’s investigation, the transparency of the information and the way it was being … dismissed by Karen each time he mentioned anything.”
Parrish said tension arose between him and Cloninger. She made it clear she was upset that he shared information for the police investigation and began treating him like an “enemy.” Parrish, who is retiring in July, told investigators he feared he would lose his job.
Beckel confirmed the substance of Parrish’s report about the Feb. 4 meeting, though without Parrish’s conversational recollections. He told police he and Whitright had kept Cloninger and Schoonover informed of their investigation every step of the way.
Beckel told investigators he met with Schoonover on Feb. 2 and told him “he felt emergency removal of the suspect students should take place, a ‘standing meeting’ should take place and a letter or communication to the parents and/or staff should take place.” He was told “no” to all the suggestions.
Other highlights from the probable cause statement:
• Police Chief Robert Huhta and Captain Brandon McNew reached out to Cloninger to inquire about the rumors of abuse circulating on social media and whether police needed to be involved. Cloninger told them “there had been an incident that had been investigated and handled internally.” It was only after victim ”John Doe 1” and his family came to police on Feb. 9 that the agency became aware of the nature and extent of the assaults and began to investigate.
• Police had access to extensive notes that Beckel kept during his investigation of the assaults.
• Beckel told investigators the Mark Morris school police officer had not been made privy to his notes or details of the internal investigation into the assault allegations. This is an important point because it could bear on whether the district in at least a small way notified authorities of the suspected abuse.
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