pennlive 
ADRIAN, Oregon – Kevin Purnell was fired Monday as superintendent of the Adrian School District just one week after students returned to school.
The Adrian School Board, convening in an emotionally charged special meeting, voted 4-1 Monday evening to terminate Purnell after meeting in an executive, or closed door, session for less than half an hour to consider the matter.
The board provided no public explanation for its surprise decision to oust a superintendent who has been on the job for three years and in the district for 14 years. But critics and supporters of Purnell’s stance on mask mandates made clear it was a pivotal issue in his fissure with the board.
Board Chair Eddie Kincade said after the meeting that the decision was because of Purnell’s failure to follow board directives. He declined to elaborate.
Kincade and board members Bobby Davis, Ryan Martin and Quinten Shenk voted for the motion to terminate Purnell, while Eric White opposed it. They took the vote without comment.
After the board emerged from executive session and held the vote, Purnell gave an emotional speech to an emotional crowd.
He said that he had at times failed to communicate well and that board members had at times failed to communicate in a civil manner.
“Ultimately, I feel that I have lost my way, and it began to consume me,” Purnell said. “I have become tired. Tired of disappointing myself, my family, my friends, my colleagues.”
The conflicts Kincade and Purnell alluded to emerged amid rising COVID-19 cases in Malheur County and continued opposition to government-mandated mask-wearing in Adrian. Purnell has said he is not in favor of Gov. Kate Brown’s mandates, but he was described in comments by Adrian residents as a “rule follower” who would enforce them anyway.
The board has not named an interim superintendent.
Adrian taxpayers will pay $52,500 plus health insurance costs owed to Purnell under his contract over the next six months.
Purnell has been an educator for 37 years and an administrator for 19.
Before coming to Adrian, he held a variety of roles – including superintendent, high school principal, geometry teacher and volleyball coach – during 18 years in Prairie City, Oregon.
Monday night saw Purnell energetically defended by the community he has served.
“I know firsthand that Mr. Purnell is one of the best superintendents in the county, and it breaks my heart that we are in this position,” said Nickie Shira, Malheur Education Service District STEM coordinator and Adrian 2040 founder. “It’s sad that it has come to this. But beyond mask mandates, there’s a lot to running the school, to leading the staff and being an administrator. And Mr. Purnell is a man of integrity and ethical leadership.”
Local small businessman Eric Ellis said, “We say that an outcome of education at Adrian is to produce good citizens. To achieve that, our children must be led by honorable and moral leaders. Dismissing Mr. Purnell would send the exact opposite message – that we want only educational leaders who lead when it is convenient and non-controversial, and in accordance with the short-term passions of the vocal minority.”
The subject of masking, backed by medical experts as a proven public health measure but opposed by some as government infringement on rights, came up during public comments to the board.
“I’m a senior this year at Adrian and I don’t really care what it takes,” said Elizabeth Nielson, Associated Student Body president. “Being online in school was not good. And if it means doing something I don’t want to do, because I don’t want to wear a mask, I’ll do what it takes” to attend school in person.
Across Oregon, school boards have been angered by Brown’s mandates, including the requirement that everyone in a school building wear a mask. Two other local superintendents, Alisha McBride in Vale and Darren Johnson in Nyssa, have publicly come out against the mask order since it was announced in July, but their districts have been complying.
“We have a shared priority to reliably return students to full-time, in-person school this year,” said the state’s schools chief, Colt Gill. “Face coverings are proven to slow the spread of COVID-19. I say this knowing that face coverings aren’t the argument. Personal freedom is the argument. But, with personal freedom comes responsibility, not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors.”
— Liliana Frankel, Malheur Enterprise, liliana@malheurenterprise.com
In the military, we were taught to not follow an “ILLEGAL ORDER”. Gov Kate Brown issued an un-constitutional directive. It’s about time we start pushing back. Thank you School Board!