Multnomah superintendent ousted, banned from building

Education Service District board hopes to replace Barbara Jorgensen by June 1

Multnomah County Education Service District's board is no longer allowing Superintendent Barbara Jorgensen in the building while it searches for her replacement.

The move came with an official vote Tuesday night, March 17, but the factors behind it have been brewing since last summer, say board members.

Bernie Giusto, former Multnomah County Sheriff and Multnomah ESD board chairman, says Jorgensen's ouster was a result of "leadership style, or lack there of."

The dissatisfaction with Jorgensen's leadership stemmed from the superintendents of the county's eight school districts: Portland, Centennial, Parkrose, David Douglas, Reynolds, Riverdale, Gresham-Barlow, and Corbett. The school districts provide about 90 percent of the budget for the ESD, Giusto says, and the superintendents had threatened to pull their contracts from the umbrella organization if Jorgensen were not removed.

Giusto says the decision was based on the unhappiness from the superintendents, who requested a meeting with the board three weeks ago at the Parkrose School District office.

"At that point we realized we needed to make a change," Giusto says. "It was in the interest of everybody to transistion the leadership of ESD."

That led to a cryptic March 5 press release stating that Jorgensen would henceforth be working from home.

"MESD today confirmed that Superintendent Barbara Jorgensen is currently working offsite, and will continue to work offsite for the indeterminate future. Out of respect for Superintendent Jorgensen's privacy, MESD is refraining from comment about this change," read the release.

On March 17, Jim Rose, Multnomah ESD's Chief Operating Officer and Director of Technology, was announced as interim superintendent. Rose has said he would not want to continue on as superintendent, according to a news release.

Jorgensen was promoted to superintendent in 2012 after former Superintendent Ron Hitchcock left suddenly, Giusto says. As Chief Program Officer, Jorgensen had been second-in-command.

"She was chosen for the job based on what we needed in the moment," Guisto says.

ESD board Vice Chair Nels Johnson says the decision to make a change wasn't personal.

"For the record, I think Barbara is a wonderful person and a wonderful ESD leader," Johnson says. But, he adds, the consensus among superintendents that she needed to go, "we have to take very seriously."

'Rough time for the agency'

Johnson adds that the Multnomah ESD has had a rough year. Indeed, the embattled agency had an extended bargaining contract process that finished up in February; Multnomah ESD special educator Brett Bigham, Oregon's 2014 Teacher of the Year, has lodged multiple complaints against the agency and Jorgensen over what he says is bias against his sexual orientation; and the alternative Alpha High School in Gresham is slated to be shut down at the end of the year due to low enrollment.

A spokeswoman for the district says none of these issues directly related to Jorgensen's departure.

"This is obviously a pretty tough time for the agency," Johnson, the board vice-chair, says, noting that the new superintendent will have a "real opportunity to correct the course and turn this ship around."

Johnson said the superintendent search would stay within the state because the district will need someone with experience with Oregon's "wacky" revenue system for schools. He says the hiring committee will "emphasize the ability to work collaboratively" in the search for its new superintendent.

Giusto says his "priorities are energetic leadership, and aptitude for leadership and building confidence in the people we are supposed to lead."

Jorgensen did not respond to requests for comment. A visit to the location of her Angel's Attic shop in Fairview showed an empty storefront in disarray. It is unclear if she still owns the shop.

Jorgensen has had a 30-year career in education, including 13 years as Multnomah ESD Special Education Director from 1994 to 2007.

Under the separation agreement, which has not yet been finalized, she will work from home for the next three months. Her salary is $147,420.

Education service districts allow school districts to team up to provide services such as early intervention, special education, nursing staff and technology.

Pamplin Media Group reporter Teresa Carson contributed to this report.


By Shasta Kearns Moore

Reporter