Two candidate forums are planned for voters to get to know candidates for the St. Helens school board May 6.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the school board positions the candidates are running for.

With three seats on the St. Helens school board up for grabs, voters will have two back-to-back opportunities to get to know the candidates.

In the upcoming election May 20, St. Helens will elect new school board members to serve in Positions 1, 4 and 3 — currently occupied by board members Kellie Jo Smith, Trinity Monahan and board Chair Mathieu Douglass, respectively. Douglass is the only candidate aiming for another term, having been appointed to his position in January. Board members Bill Amos and Melody Killens will remain on the board, as their terms don’t end until 2027.

The election comes during a tumultuous period for the St. Helens School District after two former St. Helens High School teachers were arrested for alleged sexual abuse of students and the former principal was arrested for alleged failure to report abuse cases to authorities. The arrests prompted student protests and the replacement of former Superintendent Scot Stockwell. Community members have steadily called for the current school board members to resign, adding to the weight of the upcoming vote.

With just over two weeks until Election Day, two candidate forums are planned to take place Tuesday evening, May 6:

St. Helens School District’s forum

From 4:45-5:45 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, the St. Helens School District will host a virtual candidate forum that will be livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel.

Originally planned as an in-person event, the school district’s forum will now be held online after community backlash about the expense of hiring a moderator from the Oregon School Boards Association, which would have cost the district $750.

“This adjustment was made in response to community feedback and in an effort to ensure accessibility, neutrality, and transparency,” the district said in a statement to families.

The shift to an online format lowered the cost of bringing in a moderator to $195, according to the school district.

To watch the candidate forum live, visit the district’s YouTube page at youtube.com/@shsdvideo6360/streams. The livestream will also be recorded for viewing at a later date.

Independent forum organized by school district candidates

Before the district’s forum was switched to an online format, all of the candidates except Douglass joined together to organize an independent forum in response to the expense of the district’s forum.

“We literally found out (about the district’s forum) when the community did, and when they said they hired someone, we all instantly felt like this was really something that could be done for free,” Rochelle Russell, who is running for Position 1 on the board, said.

The independent forum will begin 15 minutes after the district’s forum is set to end and will be hosted in person from 6-7:30 p.m. at the St. Helens Columbia Center auditorium, located in the same building as the library at 375 S. 18th St. in St. Helens. The forum will be moderated by local attorney David Rosengard, Russell said.

The cost to reserve the space at the Columbia Center was $65, Russell said, paid for by the candidates.

Who is attending which forum?

Because there was originally a time conflict with the two forums, many of the candidates planned to attend only the independent forum. Now that the district’s forum has been moved to a virtual format at an earlier time, some of the candidates will attend both.

The following candidates have confirmed they will attend the district’s forum:

• Mathieu Douglass, Position 1 candidate
• Rochelle Russell, Position 1 candidate
• Reni Nowling, Position 3 candidate
• Christine Smith-Reed, Position 3 candidate
• Reed Hjort, Position 4 candidate
• Nathan Tompkins, Position 4 candidate

These candidates have confirmed they will attend the independent forum:

• Rochelle Russell, Position 1 candidate
• Reni Nowling, Position 3 candidate
• Christine Smith-Reed, Position 3 candidate
• Reed Hjort, Position 4 candidate
• Nathan Tompkins, Position 4 candidate

Byron Brown, a candidate for Position 3, had a prior commitment scheduled at the same time as the forums and said he will not attend either forum.

Douglass said he will attend the independent forum if timing permits.