Divisive issues remain challenges for GCS
Lou Marzeles
News Editor
While Christian faith continues to provide the foundation for education at the Goldendale Christian School (GCS), there are indications of interchanges of doubt, misunderstandings, miscommunication, and contradiction between parents of students and the school's board of directors. Some issues, at this writing, still have yet to be resolved, even though they have been in varied stages of discussion for the last several weeks.
This story was brought to The Sentinel when some parents concerned over goings-on at the school chose to report their issues directly to this publication. Over the last two months, extensive interviews with parents and the key officials of the board of directors have been conducted. They reveal what is, to this date, a lingering lack of resolution, despite repeated attempts to establish clarity between the conflicting perspectives.
Concern began when parents received a draft of suggested changes to the school's bylaws-a draft that was never intended for viewing beyond the board of directors and which was intentionally leaked to the parents. That draft proposed changes that, according to the parents who brought the matter to The Sentinel, suggested to them that an effort was being made by Grace Brethren Church, on whose premises the school resides, to take unilateral and doctrinal control of the school.
"That is so wrong," said Amy Niemela, one of the parents to first raise concern, in late July. "It's so important that the school remain totally non-denominational. That's what we wanted for our children, and now this church is trying to take it over."
"That's simply not true," countered the school's president of the board of directors, Guy Theriault, in a subsequent interview. "The parents got a hold of a draft of proposed bylaw changes that hadn't even yet been reviewed or approved by the board. They jumped to conclusions that just weren't accurate. And because it was a draft that was not a final consideration of what changes were really to be suggested, it had no business being put before the parents at that time."
Further revealing the degree of conflicting perceptions, there are two versions of the story of how the proposed bylaw changes came into parental possession. Theriault says they were delivered to the parents in a deliberate act of procedural violation by the school's principal, Guy Roberts-an act for which, along with several other cited violations, he was immediately dismissed. Some parents have claimed that they received the proposed changes from another source in the school office, though there is acknowledgment that, even if it came from such a source, the document was not acquired through approved procedural channels.
Roberts himself, however, has stated that it was he who made copies of the document, knowingly in violation of procedure, and brought it to the parents. "I stand up for the members of the school," he said. "They [the church staff] don't like that. They want to run things. The church was trying to do a coup, and I knew the parents had to know about it."
The proposed changes that wrought such concern primarily dealt with redefining membership in the school. The initial version of the bylaws held membership in a nondescript generality, saying that it was subject to acceptance and approval by the board of directors. Among other indicators, the first draft of proposed changes stipulated all members "will be born-again Christians" and "all members will give visible evidence of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit growing in their lives (Galatians 5:22-23)." Of the issues related to membership definition, it was chiefly these two criteria that led to sharp concern among most parents of children in the school. The perception was that the term "born-again Christian" was denominationally specific, a point corroborated in discussion with biblical scholar and pastor Dana Wilhelmsen in a separate interview regarding the theological connotations of the phrase.
"It's true that some denominations use that term in a very specific way," Wilhelmsen said, "although most Christian churches also consider the term to refer to Christ's admonition that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. But there are some denominations that hold it as a distinguishing characteristic from other denominations, meaning something very indigenous to their doctrine, as opposed to that of others. You'd have to take a look at the church that uses the term to see how they're holding it."
Parents concerned about the suggested definitions also wondered how it would be determined that members were giving "visible evidence of the fruit of the holy spirit," and who would make such determinations. "Who's to say who's doing that?" one asked. "It feels like it gives too much control to the board of directors, and if Grace Brethren really is trying to take control of the school, they could use that definition any way they want."
Pastor Gregory Howell of Grace Brethren categorically denies any desire by the church to take over the school. "I have no interest in doing such a thing," he said. "But you have to look at the fact that the school is on the church's property; the church leases the building to the school." The school pays a dollar a year for the use of the facility, which is available to the school during school hours only. The rest of the time it remains for the use of the church. "The school is certainly connected to the church," Howell said. "The school was set as non-denominational, and that's how it's intended to be."
Parental concern about the school led to a meeting with The Sentinel on July 23, at which some 20 parents and a few of their children expressed sharp and united misgivings about actions by the board of directors. Chief among those was the abrupt dismissal of all the school's teachers and volunteers after the draft document became circulated and the removal of Roberts as principal. The actions were seen as tangible evidence of Grace Brethren to control the school for itself.
"Mr. Roberts was our principal," one parent at the meeting said. "He stood up for us, and he did what he felt was right. We want him reinstated as principal."
Two children at the meeting expressed appreciation for their teachers who had been dismissed. The parents as a group viewed the dismissal of all teachers and volunteers as startling in its suddenness and absence of any explanation. The letters of dismissal, provided to The Sentinel, were terse and devoid of substantive background information. "You are hereby informed that your services at Goldendale Christian School are terminated as of the date of this letter," they began. "This letter is being sent in light of the recent leadership changes." The letter then told recipients that they must return their keys and that they could only enter GCS "to retrieve personal items while being escorted by either a GCSA Director or Community Grace Brethren Church staff member or overseer." All files, records, and materials were directed to be returned by arrangement with church staff. The letter closed with the statement that recipients could apply for a position at the school if they chose to do so.
"That's really what we were saying," said Theriault of the letter. "We wanted a clean slate, in light of what had happened, but we weren't saying that we didn't want any of the teachers. We wanted them to reapply for their positions."
Soon after the dismissals, some parents drafted a petition eventually signed by most of the parents, calling for the removal of a particular board member and a broader definition of memberships. The parents understood that their petition sufficiently constituted actionable authority for immediate execution. Theriault dismissed the petition as procedurally non-binding. He pointed out that a general meeting of the school's membership was to be held on Aug. 1, at which time he wanted all the conflicting views to be fully addressed. He refused to address concerns before that time, a stand that exacerbated concern by parents who called him to try to obtain an explanation of the firing of teachers and volunteers.
The dismissal of teachers also led Davida Roberts, wife of the discharged principal and an official at the school, to notify the Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction of the action. Her report resulted in a letter back to Roberts from the Superintendent's office "confirming the closure of Goldendale Christian School" based on loss of certified staff at the school. When Theriault was called for comment on the letter, he was unaware of it. He subsequently contacted the Superintendent's office and secured a reversal of the office's notice of closure of the school. "We had only one certified teacher on staff," Theriault explained, "and it was our intention to have teachers to reapply for their positions, so we never anticipated losing that certified teacher."
The general membership meeting on Aug. 1 was not a public event, and discussion directly from the meeting is not free to be disclosed. Comment on the meeting was made by some parents subsequently to The Sentinel, however, and one particular point remains unresolved at this time.
"Guy Theriault told us very specifically at the meeting that any parent who chose to remove their child from the school would get a full refund of all money paid in advance," said Aimee Waddel. "But when I asked for a full refund, I was told that I couldn't get it all back." Waddel said she contacted Theriault for explanation and said she was told that the comment about full refund was not accurate. She said she and other parents are pursuing legal channels to retrieve their money.
Reports from some parents who attended the membership meeting suggest that they felt the entire situation at GCS resulted from gross misunderstandings and misrepresentation of some facts. In light of this, they felt that the matter had come to clarity, and they were ready to move past the turmoil.
Classes at GCS started Sept. 4.
Gotts concedes election race to Taylor
Lou Marzeles
News Editor
Despite John Gotts' second-place finish in the primary elections for Legislative District 15 state representative, the candidate says he's finished with the race.
"I'm conceding the race to Dave," Gotts says, speaking of Republican incumbent David Taylor. "I've talked with my advisors, and they're telling me it's just about impossible to beat him. The Republican Party is very well organized in the county. And besides all that, I have other commitments I want to continue to pursue. And Dave is a solid guy."
Gotts says he talked with Rep. Taylor before deciding what to do about his own candidacy. The two had what he calls a constructive conversation, and he left confident that Taylor would well serve the interests of the county.
"He's the incumbent, even though he was appointed," Gotts told The Sentinel. "And Dave agrees with me about the key issues facing us. He feels that the youth of the area especially have lost hope. There aren't enough living-wage jobs. We need a new approach. And Dave will be doing the right thing."
Besides the challenge of unseating a Republican incumbent, Gotts cites his business interests in California that have kept him there for long stretches. "They're really flourishing," he says. "And they actually might constitute a conflict of interest if I were to be elected. I'd be in the position of potentially soliciting municipalities back here for business considerations while I'd represent them as a legislator, and that's too strong a conflict of interest."
Gotts also mentions wanting adequate time for personal relationships as a primary motive for dropping out of the race.
"The bottom line," he says, "is that I'd be running a losing race against a guy who will do right by the people he represents. That's just not the best use of my time."
PUD sends notices of planned outages
Klickitat PUD has sent letters to its customers informing them of planned electrical outages coming this and next week.
The outages will affect service throughout much of Klickitat County, including Goldendale. Power will be off for brief stretches of time. The first outage will start on this Saturday at 10 p.m. and is expected to last until approximately 11 p.m. It will be followed by another outage the next morning, September 13, from 5 a.m. until approximately 8 a.m.
Then, in two more weeks, there will be another planned power outage on Saturday, September 26, from 10 p.m until approximately 11 p.m. and then again the next morning, September 27, from 5 a.m. until approximately 8 a.m.
The main reason for these outages is that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will be performing critical maintenance to substations that serve Klickitat PUD, and power must be "switched" to alternative circuits while certain substations are undergoing maintenance. This outage affects all customers in the towns and surrounding areas of Goldendale, Blockhouse, Centerville, Klickitat, Wahkiacus, and Wishram. Customers in Wishram and Klickitat may experience a shorter outage in the morning hours compared to other customers, given their location in proximity to certain equipment.
Unless they have received PUD's letter announcing the outages, customers from the Goodnoe Substation including locations on the Bickleton Highway, Old Mountain Road, Hoctor Road, and nearby roads are not expected to be impacted by these planned outages.
PUD's letter advises that the planned outages are based on best available information and that power could come back on at any time without prior notice. If more information is desired, call 773-7632 or (800) 548-8358 and ask for the Operations Department. |
