To the North Clackamas School District Board of Directors and District Administration:

We, the undersigned parents, guardians, staff members, and members of the North Clackamas School District community, are asking the District to take immediate and meaningful action regarding our concerns about Joni Clayton, the counselor at Happy Valley Elementary, and her continued student-facing role within the district.

Our concerns are not new. Families and staff members have raised concerns regarding Ms. Clayton over an extended period of time. At the beginning of this school year, staff members came together and submitted a unanimous letter expressing their concerns. Parents have also repeatedly communicated their concerns to school and district leadership.

Despite these concerns, families and staff have received responses that have felt generic and dismissive rather than demonstrating that the concerns have been meaningfully investigated or addressed.

The District repeatedly states that the safety and well-being of students is its highest priority. We believe those statements must be supported by meaningful action.

We are particularly concerned about documented and reported incidents involving Ms. Clayton that raise questions about her ability to safely and appropriately fulfill her responsibilities as a school counselor. Her position gives her direct access to our children and places her in a position of trust and responsibility within the school community. Given the nature of these concerns, we believe the District has a responsibility to take a closer look at the situation rather than simply dismissing or minimizing the concerns raised by families and staff.

We are asking North Clackamas School District to:

Conduct an immediate and appropriate safety and employment review regarding Joni Clayton and her continued role as a student-facing counselor at Happy Valley Elementary.
Evaluate whether her current position and level of access to students are consistent with the District’s responsibility to provide a safe environment for students.

Take appropriate interim measures to protect students while this review is conducted, if warranted by the circumstances.

Provide Happy Valley Elementary with a full-time counselor while this situation is being addressed. Students and staff have already gone without consistent counseling support for too long. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Clayton’s employment, the District has a responsibility to ensure that HVE students and staff have access to adequate counseling and support.

Meaningfully investigate the concerns raised by parents and staff, rather than responding with generalized or copy-and-pasted statements.

Provide families and staff with appropriate communication regarding the steps the District is taking to address these safety concerns, while respecting applicable employee privacy and confidentiality requirements.

We understand that the District may be limited in what it can publicly disclose regarding an employee’s personnel matters. We are not asking the District to violate anyone’s privacy or disclose confidential employment information.

We are asking the District to do its job as an educational institution and take reasonable steps to ensure the safety, well-being, and support of the children entrusted to its care.

The students and staff at Happy Valley Elementary should not continue to bear the consequences of an unresolved situation. They deserve consistent access to a qualified, full-time counselor and the support they need while the District addresses these concerns.

Parents should not have to repeatedly raise the same concerns before meaningful action is taken. Staff should not have to unanimously express concerns and receive a generic response. And students should not lose access to essential support because the District has failed to adequately address an ongoing situation.

We are asking North Clackamas School District to listen to the families and staff who are raising these concerns and take meaningful action to ensure that our children’s safety and well-being come first.