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Board of Education hires independent investigator for Whitehurst matter
9/21/2017Today the Portland Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve the contract that authorizes outside legal counsel Amy Joseph Pedersen of Stoel Rives to engage Bob Weaver and Joy Ellis of the law firm Garvey Schubert Barer to lead the investigation into the Mitch Whitehurst matter and provide recommendations to strengthen district policies, practice and procedures for employee complaints and misconduct as it relates to students. Norm Frink, retired Multnomah County Chief Deputy District Attorney with over 35 years as a public prosecutor and experience in the Portland region, will also be on the team.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students is a paramount priority,” Board Chair Julia Brim-Edwards said. “We believe that this team - with their expertise in internal investigations, education and Oregon laws and procedures - is the right team to provide an independent and comprehensive review of this matter to identify system and personnel failures and inform what we must do to ensure that students are safe and staff and community who work with our students are accountable for student safety.
The Board directed the investigation to answer critical questions relating to Whitehurst and whether PPS staff were aware of concerns about his misconduct with students, but did not take appropriate action to address them. The Board is also seeking an extensive review of district policies, labor and grant contracts, and other procedures and practices for addressing personnel complaints as they relate to conduct with students.
Weaver served as the Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Oregon before going into private law practice in 1989. Since then, he has focused on complex civil and criminal matters and conducting investigations like this is one of his specialties.
Ellis has over 20 years of experience as an attorney specializing in employment law and is considered an authority on education law. She also has extensive experience in conducting internal investigations and will support him in this work.
Norm Frink will serve on the investigative team with a focus on issues that primarily relate to the law enforcement aspects of the case and any subsequent recommendations.
“Our students are entitled to a safe learning environment and complaints must be addressed promptly and appropriately. If there are weaknesses in our policies or procedures, we will fix them,” continued Brim-Edwards. “We have selected Mr. Weaver, Ms. Ellis and Mr. Frink because of their reputations for integrity and professionalism and expertise in investigations and issues relevant to this case. We know that they will get to the bottom of what happened and provide us with an accurate and complete report to guide our reforms.”
The Board stated that this investigation is a priority with the goal to have it completed with recommendations to PPS leadership by the end of the year.
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