School board will seek successor for Zone 5 seat after Powell resigns

The seven-member Newberg-Dundee school board is a member short after the recent announcement that Renee Powell has vacated her Zone 5 seat.

The board, comprised of volunteers that receive no compensation, has begun soliciting applications for Powell’s replacement and expects to name a successor in June or July. Powell resigned her seat May 14, according to the district. A reason for her departure was not stated.

Powell was elected in May 2021 with the backing of the conservative Save Our Schools political action committee, which was determined to change the complexion of the formerly progressive school board. She was successful at the polls, defeating the incumbent and joining Trevor DeHart, Dave Brown and Brian Shannon in forming a conservative block that soon made national headlines by rewriting district policy to ban Gay Pride and Black Lives Matter signs in local classrooms.

Although the move was later overturned by the courts, which found it unconstitutional, it represented the first of many actions taken by the board that were responded to by lawsuits that continue to this day.

The Zone 5 that Powell represented encompasses a block of land that runs from East First Street to South Main Street, then east along East First Street to the intersection of South Everest Road, then south along South Everest Road to the Willamette River and the southern boundary of the school district, where it meets Chehalem Creek. It continues northwesterly along the creek to Dayton Avenue, then north along South Main Street and back to East First Street. A map of the zone is available at tinyurl.com/yxjj5mj9 .

In order to qualify for appointment to the board, applicants must be registered voters and must have resided within Zone 5 for a minimum of one year preceding the appointment, a release from the district said. However, “if there are no qualified candidates from Zone 5 the board will consider applications from within other zones within the district.”

The appointment is to fulfill Powell’s term until June 30, 2025. Applicants should send a letter to board secretary Tabitha Renne at Newberg-Dundee Public Schools District Office, 714 E. Sixth St., Newberg 97132 or solicit an application by emailing her at rennet@newberg.k12.or.us. Applications must be returned by June 5.

For more information, email Renne or call her at 503-554-5041.