Parents Protest Penitentiary Crew

WAITSBURG – Nearly two dozen parents – more than board chairman Ross Hamann said he'd seen in attendance in his 12 years on the board – showed up at the Sept. 16 Waitsburg school board meeting to voice concerns about work crews from the Washington State Penitentiary performing work on the school grounds.

The public comment session of the meeting was moved from the small Preston Hall Board Room to a larger classroom to accommodate the crowd.

Parent Melanie Gagnon initiated the discussion by saying she would like a letter sent home with parents, a notice in the newspaper, and a Q&A session with Dept. of Corrections Lt. Jarrod Sumerlin, regarding the contract the school district entered into with the Department of Corrections last month.

"I think every parent has a right to know what is going on and to be able to ask questions," she said.

Parent Jamie Gleason asked if the board could explain what they had in mind. "Do you have something you can share with us? Is this something I even need to be concerned about? Is it something that is going to happen? Is it just an idea? Can you give us some background on what's going on?" she said.

"Nothing has happened yet. There hasn't been a single inmate on our property," Hamann said. "The board was simply putting forward an option that they have additional resources and this type of labor is very economical to use, in the right case. You have to enter into an agreement in order to be able to utilize an inmate crew. At this stage nothing is moving forward."

Gagnon said she was confused because she had spoken with Lt. Sumerlin that day and he said the crew had been scheduled to start work on Thursday of the prior week.

Superintendent Carol Clarke said that an initial work date had been set for the prior Thursday, but was cancelled on Tuesday or Wednesday. Board members appeared surprised to learn that work had been slated.

"So they were scheduled to come to work here last Thursday without any notification to any parent, is that correct?" said Gagnon.

"That is why it was cancelled. Because there was no notification," said Clarke.

A large percentage of those in attendance have connections to the justice system, including several corrections officers, a sheriff's deputy, a court clerk, a dispatcher, and an attorney. All spoke strongly against the proposed use of penitentiary crew members on the school grounds.

Corrections officers expressed concern that crew members could recognize their children's names and use the child to retaliate against the officers.

"I see these guys, I argue with these guys. They should not be around our kids," said one corrections officer. "This is a small community and we interact negatively with the inmates. And you're going to have them around our kids? That's just horrible."

Several audience members said there was no way that one guard could keep track of seven to ten inmates.

Former prosecutor and current defense attorney Julie Karl said she has children in Waitsburg and purposely worked as a prosecutor in Dayton so that her children didn't have her career choice become an issue for them.

Karl said her father worked with Habitat for Humanity and that the program was jeopardized after it brought in prison work crews.

"They (inmates) told their buddies where they were and they were sticking dope underneath rocks for them to pick up – they can't supervise well enough," she said. "They bring one inmate to court, and there are three armed guards with assault rifles standing there over that one inmate that may or may not be all that particularly dangerous.

"To get to prison, it's not a one-shot deal. It means you have multiple offenses that have led you to this path . . . it is significant criminal history that gets you to that point. That's what concerns me if these folks are on the school grounds.

"If they're on the football field mowing the yard and there are no kids around, I don't have so much of an issue with that. But my understanding is that it could be anywhere on the school grounds," she said.

Columbia County Superior Court Chief Deputy Clerk Jessica Atwood, who has two children attending school in Waitsburg, said inmates on the grounds compromise the school as a safe place.

"School is supposed to be a safe environment for our children. I don't want to have to tell my child, 'See that person there in the orange suit? Stay away, don't talk to them, if they approach you run and scream.' That's insane.

"They're supposed to be here to learn and be safe and they look at the adults in the school as safe people. And we are going to bring people here that are not? I have a huge concern with this," she said.

One parent said that it didn't make sense that parents had to have background checks to volunteer in the classroom, yet inmates could work on the school grounds.

Another parent, a dispatcher, used recently convicted Waitsburg resident Tysen Beckner as an example that even minimum security inmates could be more dangerous than they appear.

"He (Beckner) had sex offenses against him that were then dropped. How many other inmates are going to have something that was dropped as well?"

Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Don Foley agreed. "I am specifically trained as a forensic interviewer of children and I've seen a lot of cases where we'll nail them for burglary and drop the sex offense so the victim doesn't have to testify in court and be put through the grueling process of having a defense attorney attack them.

"It happens more often than those of us here would like to know. . . If one guy just once gets access and we could have prevented that – well that just scares me," he said.

"In defense of the board, this is a tough position to be in," Hamann said. "We have to run the school and we try to make the best decision we can with the information that's provided at the time. We hear you – there's no doubt about it. We have an open mind, we've heard what you have to say.

"Perhaps we should have been a little more careful to say, 'Let's vet this with the community a little closer.' With that I personally apologize for not bringing you in sooner. Our intent is not to cause this kind of concern with the community," he added.

In response to public comment, the board amended the agenda to include an action item to void the DOC contract. Later in the meeting the board voted unanimously to end the contract.

Several times during the meeting, parents asked the board exactly where and when the crew was planned to be utilized and what it was that the district needed help with. They repeatedly expressed a willingness to volunteer and/or fundraise and brainstormed alternatives to using the penitentiary crew.

"It's been asked a number of times and it hasn't been answered," said parent Amber Hubbard. "There's still work that needs to be done and the community is willing to come together and help financially and physically. We keep asking what work needs done, and I haven't heard any answers yet."

Board member Greg Zuger suggested that the topic of what work the district needs help with be added as a discussion item to the October agenda.

Meeting minutes from the August meeting weren't made public prior to their approval at the Sept. 16 meeting, but those minutes included the following under New Business:

Department of Corrections Contract – Motion by Marilyn Johnson, second by Randy Pearson to enter into a two day a week contract with the D.O.C. minimum security work release crew to perform lawn care services. It was reported that DOC contractual services have been used by the Prescott School District last year and many have commented on their quality work. Having reduced custodial staff by one FTE a few years ago, it has been difficult for the remaining staff to maintain their level of service particularly during lawn mowing season. The DOC services would be for the months of May through October. The agreement would be on a trial basis. Motion carried.

In a follow up interview with The Times, Superintendent Clarke said she did not recall notifying any of the board members that a date had been scheduled for the DOC crew to begin work. She had assumed that once the motion was passed, she wasn't required to seek additional approval to bring a crew in.

"The DOC work crew was to do grounds maintenance for the District," she said. "They were to remain outside the school buildings as their responsibilities would be to mow and edge the grounds around the buildings and at the athletic complex.

"When a person contacted me about their concerns with the use of the DOC work crew I immediately had the scheduled work cancelled as I realized there had been no communication to the community as regards their presence on district grounds," Clarke said.

A conversation by The Times with penitentiary personnel supported Clarke's statements.

"We don't have a problem with the penitentiary or the prisoners," said Gagnon. "They did everything right. The problem was the school's lack of communication with parents about something this important. This probably could have been worked out, if given the opportunity."