The St. Helens School District has selected a new, permanent superintendent.

Koreen Barreras-Brown was chosen to move forward in the superintendent selection process after a May 14 interview with a committee of students, staff and community members. Members of the committee unanimously voted to recommend hiring Barreras-Brown, school board member Bill Amos said ahead of the board’s vote to enter into contract negotiations with the candidate.

She was officially welcomed to the district in a release May 19, signaling approved negotiations.

“I am honored to join the St. Helens community and look forward to working alongside students, staff, and families to create exceptional environments where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered,” Barreras-Brown said in a release. “Together, we will continue to build inclusive, equitable, and high-achieving schools for all.”

Barreras-Brown was the superintendent of the Colton School District from 2016-2021, when she resigned due to the long commute she had from her home at the time. The Colton School District is nearly five times smaller than the St. Helens School District, serving 604 students as of the fall of the 2024-25 school year compared to St. Helens’ 2,806 students.

Most recently, Barreras-Brown was employed as the chief academic officer of the Reynolds School District, but was let go in 2024 due to budget shortages that prompted the district to cut staff.

Barreras-Brown also previously served as the president of the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators’ Equity Board, which provides counsel on COSA activities through the lens of equity, diversity and inclusion.

In 2021, Barreras-Brown faced scrutiny from the Colton School District community over the decision to stop referring to female athletes in the district as “Lady Vikings” — a feminized version of the Colton High School mascot — and instead refer to all student athletes as “Vikings.”

The decision to drop “Lady” from the moniker was made in order to comply with federal Title IX regulations, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational settings, Barreras-Brown told the Canby Herald, a sister publication of the Spotlight.

“We are the Vikings, and the term ‘Lady Vikings’ is not equitable toward all (Colton High School) athletes and students,” a 2021 statement from the Colton School District read. “We are an inclusive school district. All of our students are Vikings, no matter the athletic team on which they play.”