Erin Barstad, who was arrested following a domestic incident late Tuesday evening, Aug, 6, notified The New Era late Wednesday that she had submitted a letter stating her resignation from the School Board a week before the incident occurred.
The letter, dated July 28, is addressed to School Board Chairman Floyd Neuschwander and states: “Please accept this as official notice of my resignation. I wish you all the best. My last day at Sweet Home School Board will be 7-28-25.”
Barstad also said that the District Attorney’s Office had reduced the charges stemming from the domestic conflict in her home to a single count of interfering with making a report. A review of Linn County Circuit Court records substantiates that an initial charge of fourth-degree assault has been dropped.
Barstad also disputed the interference charge, which in Oregon generally means that a subject is intentionally preventing or hindering another person from making a report by phone or similar communication equipment to a law enforcement agency.
“I didn’t even take the phone,” she said of the incident. A police report had stated that officers responded at 11:54 p.m. to a call from Daniel Conn, stating that he wanted a woman removed from the home. According to police, a female, whom investigators determined was Barstad, took the phone and told a Sweet Home police dispatcher to disregard the call.
“He handed me the phone,” Barstad said, adding that Conn “attested to that” to officers.
She said she would speak to why she decided to resign from the School Board at a later date.