Oregon school board chair resigns, superintendent and principal on leave over sex abuse arrests

ST. HELENS, Ore. (AP) — A school district in northwest Oregon has put its superintendent and high school principal on leave, accepted the school board chair's resignation and temporarily canceled classes in response to an uproar over the arrests of a teacher and former teacher on sexual abuse charges.

The St. Helens Police Department said in a statement that officers this week arrested one current and one retired St. Helens High School teacher on allegations of sexually abusing students. Police said the arrests came after a two-month investigation.

The district canceled classes and after-school events on Thursday and Friday following demonstrations at the school during which students called for St. Helens School District Superintendent Scot Stockwell, High School Principal Katy Wagner and all school board members to resign or be removed.

Wagner has since been placed on paid leave and Board Chair Ryan Scholl resigned from his position, district officials said in a post on social media Friday. Stockwell was placed on paid leave during a school board meeting Friday afternoon, news outlets reported.

Protesting parents and students told Oregon Public Broadcasting that their anger stemmed from the appearance that school officials knew about and failed to act on allegations against the teachers for years.

Choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, is facing seven counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse involving six students, according to police. Stearns pleaded not guilty to the charges in Columbia County Circuit Court on Wednesday, KATU-TV reported.

Recently retired math teacher Mark Collins, 64, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to two counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sex abuse. The allegations against Collins involve three students, police said.

Attempts by The Associated Press to find contact information for Stearns and Collins on Friday were unsuccessful, and no attorneys were listed for them in jail records.

St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue told the media outlet Friday that his department subpoenaed the district in October and found historical reports made by students detailing allegations against the teachers. State law requires school districts to inform law enforcement or state officials about such reports, Hogue said.

“There were multiple historical reports made to high school administration from 2019 to 2023 and this also corroborated the victim statements that (detectives) had previously received,” he said.

Columbia County District Attorney Joshua Pond said Friday his office is investigating whether the district broke any laws by not forwarding the reports to law enforcement.

St. Helens is a small city located about 28 miles (45 kilometers) northwest of Portland, Oregon, along the Columbia River.

St. Helens High School 9th grader Alayna Mathieson holds a sign reading “Why so silent?” during a demonstration near St. Helens High School on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, after the indictment and arrest of two teachers on sex abuse charges. (Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named Karoline Leavitt, his campaign press secretary, to serve as his White House press secretary.

Leavitt, 27, currently a spokesperson for Trump's transition, would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Previously that distinction went to Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the position in 1969 in Richard Nixon’s administration.

“Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as White House Press Secretary,” Trump said in a statement. "Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we Make America Great Again.”

Leavitt replied in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Thank you, President Trump, for believing in me. I am humbled and honored. Let's MAGA,” the acronym for “Make America Great Again.”

The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps.

Trump disrupted those norms in his first term, preferring to serve as his own chief spokesperson. While he was president from 2017 to 2021, Trump had four press secretaries but frequently preferred to engage directly with the public, from his rallies, social media posts and his own briefings.

At a news conference this past August, Trump was asked if he’d have regular press briefings in his new administration. He told reporters, “I will give you total access and you’ll have a lot of press briefings and you’ll have, uh, from me.”

When it came to a press secretary, he said: “Probably they’ll do something. If it’s not daily, it’s going to be a lot. You’ll have more than you want.”

Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, is seen as a staunch and camera-ready advocate for Trump who is quick on her feet and delivers aggressive defenses of the Republican in television interviews.

She worked as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.

During Trump’s first term in office, Leavitt worked in the White House press office. She then became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to serve as his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump’s first press secretaries, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, were known for quarreling with reporters. Another, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing. Her successor, Kayleigh McEnany, often lectured the news media during her appearances in the White House press briefing room.

FILE - Karoline Leavitt speaks to the news media across the street from Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)