A conservative activist is beginning her leadership of a rural Central Oregon school district by suing it.
Cheyenne Edgerly was elected to the Crook County school board in May. She’s part of a new, allied majority that will be sworn into office in July.
On Monday, Edgerly and others filed a lawsuit against the district and Jessica Ritter, the chair of its governing board who will soon leave office. In response, a judge issued a temporary restraining order stalling the current board from appointing a member to its ranks this month, before the new conservative members assume power.
The lawsuit is the latest conflict entangling the leaders of Crook County schools. This month, Superintendent Sara Johnson announced she would quit, saying the recently elected board did not share her mission or vision for leadership. On May 25, school board member Gwen Carr resigned, citing health issues. This created the contested vacancy.
This week’s 49-page complaint says school leaders violated their own policies by rushing the process to fill the open seat.
Edgerly, who has a history of anti-LGBTQ+ activism, was part of a slate of candidates that swept three seats in the May 16 election. Their campaigns pressed for more parental rights over school curricula, with political ads accusing the current board of inviting “the sexualization of our kids into our schools.”
The complaint includes other plaintiffs — Jennifer Stevens, Jessica Lay and Michal Custer — who all applied for the open board seat. They are represented by attorney Vance Day, a former Marion County judge who was suspended from the bench in 2018 over his refusal to marry same-sex couples.
Crook County Circuit Court Judge Annette Hillman ordered the school district to appear at a June 22 hearing to make its case for lifting the restraining order.
