By Trisha Walker
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER — Hood River County School District (HRCSD) Superintendent Bill Newton began the Jan. 28 board meeting by acknowledging tension and unrest locally and nationally, and addressed the Jan. 16 student-led walkout that has garnered both community interest and criticism.
He noted students’ “instantaneous access” to national news and how, like many others in the community, may feel a call to action. Approximately 500 Hood River Valley High School (HRVHS) students participated in the walkout.
When large-scale walkouts occur, the district’s role isn’t to stop it, but to “maintain safety, uphold expectations, and treat the moment as an opportunity for civic learning,” he said.
Some complaints have revolved around profanity written in chalk during the protest, with messages aimed at federal agents. Newton said the graffiti was removed that afternoon.
“While we support the right to advocate, we do not condone language that undermines the civil environment of our schools,” he said. “Moving forward, we will take proactive steps to better guide these moments. Our goal is to ensure that when students choose to stand up for their beliefs, they do so with an understanding that effective advocacy carries a responsibility to the broader community. We want our students to be heard, but we also want them to be leaders who lead with dignity.”
Unmodified opinion
The board received good news from Kyle Janiki, certified public accountant (CPA), Clear Trails CPAs, and HRCSD’s audit manager, on the district’s 2024-2025 audit report: an unmodified, or “clean,” opinion, on its financial statement and federal awards audits.
“Once again, a good audit — no surprises,” Chief Financial Officer Mark DeMoss later said. “It tells you that the information we’re presenting is true and you can rely on it, that we’re doing our jobs.” He thanked staff for “an incredible amount of hard work.”
One material weakness was found on the Oregon Minimum Standards audit. “It’s a somewhat obscure finding related to when you book a multi-year lease, which we did on a three year lease on copiers and devices, we are also now required in our financial statements and the government statements to record the full value of both the expenditure as well as an offsetting revenue for the value of that lease in the year that it was booked,” he explained. “This was a transaction that actually goes back, I think it was signed two years ago now.”
The corrective action, which was presented for board approval, is to ensure that entry be booked correctly, he said.
The annual audits are required by the State of Oregon.
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