Some two dozen protesters, a mixture of Sweet Home School District staff and local residents, lined the sidewalk in front of the Sweet Home School District administration building Monday despite the fact that a School Board meeting called to dismiss Supt. Terry Martin had been canceled earlier in the day.
The special session agenda was posted Friday, July 18, although it was not sent to local media, as is the usual practice with School Board meetings. Agenda items included the swearing-in of School Board Member Amanda Carter, who was not present for the board’s regular meeting on July 14. It also included an executive session in which board members were to “consider the termination of the superintendent’s contract.”
The current School Board is made up of three members who have served half of their four-year terms – Floyd Neuschwander (Cascadia), who was elected chair on July 14, Dale Keene (At Large) and Jenna Northern (Crawfordsville). Three newly elected members were sworn in at the July 14 meeting: Mike Adams, who retained his At Large seat, and newcomers Dustin Nichol (Holley) and Rachel Maynard (At Large).
Word spread over the weekend via social media and several people contacted The New Era, asking about or commenting on the development. The plan for a protest was being circulated early Monday.
Midway through the afternoon on Monday, July 21, an announcement appeared on the district’s website announcing that the meeting had been canceled.
Knowledgeable sources said Martin is on vacation in Alaska, where he worked before moving to Sweet Home.
Martin was principal at Nikolaevsk Elementary-High School in Nikolaevsk, Alaska, from 2001 to 2004. He was then principal at the Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska from 2004 to 2011, and principal at Marshall School in Marshall, Alaska, for one year after that. He then served as director of human resources at the Northwest Arctic Borough School District from 2014 to 2020, before becoming principal at Sweet Home Junior High School in the fall of 2020.
Martin took on the role of acting superintendent on May 2, 2022, after then-Supt. Lisa Riggs took a leave of absence beginning on that date. Riggs officially resigned from the role of superintendent on June 30, 2022, after serving roughly six months in the position. On Nov. 14, 2022, School Board members unanimously voted to make Martin’s position permanent.
“Terry has done a good job of stepping in in a positive way that has helped unify our district,” said then-Board Chairman Mike Reynolds at the time. “Morale is way up. The board feels that we are willing to take a chance and have him lead the district forward, and has faith that he will do so. He’s doing a great job.”