Nika Bartoo-Smith
Underscore Native News + ICT
NEWPORT, Oregon — Dozens gathered outside the Lincoln County School District offices on Tuesday afternoon, half an hour before a public hearing, urging the district not to revoke the school charter agreement, but instead keep the Siletz Valley School open.
After the district denied their request to drum inside the building, a group of students from Siletz Valley School drummed just outside, sharing songs as their community came together to show support for the school.
The hearing, requested by Siletz Valley School Acting Superintendent Debra Barnes, is to address the 12 compliance issues presented to the charter school that is now facing closure.
Students held signs with messages that included: “Protect Native Education,” “Don’t Let History Repeat,” and “Culture Over Cost.”
“[At Siletz Valley School] I can learn my culture, as I didn’t get to learn my culture growing up, and now I get to it makes me feel more powerful being Native and just being me,” said Mayci Rilatos, citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, an eighth grader at Siletz Valley School. “And especially since this is the only cultural school, we need this school. We can’t go anywhere else, or we’ll just get more whitewashed. We won’t know our language, we won’t know our culture, none of that. So I’m very glad that we’re here today and just hopefully our school stays open.”
As the meeting’s start time drew closer, the drum’s sound faded, and dozens headed inside. More than 60 people squeezed into the small meeting room at the Lincoln County School District Teaching and Learning Center, and even more headed to an overflow room where the public hearing was live-streamed.
Compliance issues
The Siletz Valley School is a K-12 charter school that was founded in 2003 after the Lincoln County School District closed the building. As a charter school, it is overseen by a five-member school board. The school’s budget is funded by state, federal and tribal grants. Over 65 percent of the school, with 189 students enrolled, is Indigenous, many of whom are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, according to Barnes.
On July 21, 2025, Dr. Majalise Tolan, superintendent for the Lincoln County School District, sent a notice to Siletz Valley School, stating that the school was out of compliance with its lease agreement, state charter laws and needed to fulfill a list of 10 requirements by the first week of the school year.
Then, on January 30, 2026, another letter addressed the original 10 compliance issues, along with two more.
The compliance issues outlined include the need for an English Language Learners program, ensuring teachers are up to date with licensure requirements, updating board bylaws, creating a plan to increase attendance rates and more.
These letters came in the midst of ongoing changes with school leadership, part of what prompted the letter. The original July letter was sent under interim superintendent Barnes. The second letter was sent under Siletz Valley School Superintendent Leora Hall, who held her role for just six months before being placed on administrative leave while the district investigates complaints against her.
In March, Barnes stepped back into the acting superintendent role.
She is hopeful and committed to addressing the 12 areas of concern within the letter so as to keep the doors of the school open, a school she sees as vital to the community.
The hearing
The first hour and a half of the Lincoln County School Board meeting on March 31 was taken up by the public hearing.
Thirty minutes was allocated for Barnes, acting superintendent for Siletz Valley Schools, to present to the board, along with time added to answer board questions. She spent one third of her time going through the compliance concerns and left the other two-thirds for students, teachers and community members to say some words.
At the beginning of the hearing, board member Dr. Natalie Schaefer recused herself due to her working relationship with Siletz Valley School, as the executive director of Yakona Nature Preserve and Learning Center.
Once everyone took their seats, the public hearing began with a land acknowledgment read by the school board. Siletz Valley School requested to have students read the acknowledgement, but the board declined, according to Siletz Valley School teachers.
Barnes addressed each of the 12 compliance concerns.
“At the heart of Siletz Valley School is a clear and enduring mission to provide a safe, welcoming and high quality educational environment where every student has the opportunity to thrive,” Barnes told the board. “That mission continues to guide every decision we make. Over the past eight months, we have taken important and necessary steps to address compliance findings identified by our state education partners and the Lincoln County School District.”
As the hearing wore on, Barnes also left time within her half hour for six teachers, community members and students to present to the board. Two others shared during the public comment period that followed.
The fate of Siletz Valley School now sits in the hands of the non-Native Lincoln County School Board.
Addressing the board, Savannah VanDaam, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and a junior at Siletz Valley School, shared about what the school has meant to her and her family. She talked about the support from teachers who go above and beyond, along with the importance of learning about her culture while at school. She and her younger brother transferred from a school in the Lincoln County School District five years ago, where they had a very different experience.
“My little brother attended Toledo with me. At the time, he was there, he had a braid. He always liked his hair in a braid and being long. Within Siletz, it was always smiled upon and just normal,” VanDaam told the board. “As he went to Toledo, though, things were different. Kids would call him a girl, say he wasn’t normal for having long hair as a boy. This made my brother want to cut his beautiful long hair. This broke my heart. So then we went to Siletz immediately. He was supported. He was among other little boys who also had their hair in a braid, he felt better about himself and that he was included.”
More than half a dozen people also shared about what the school has meant to them, urging the board to keep the school open and give leadership a chance to address the compliance issues without forcing the students to go to school elsewhere.
Barnes and Jenifer Metcalf, Siletz Valley School board chair, also thanked the board for bringing forward these issues and helping provide resources to get into compliance.
“As Indian people, we’ve already been removed,” Metcalf, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, said. “We don’t need to see that again in this lifetime.”
Tiffany Stewart, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and a parent of a Siletz Valley School seventh grader, turned to the audience teary-eyed as she spoke, thanking the Siletz Valley School teachers for the impact they’ve had.
“You changed my son. You helped my family,” Stewart said.
One high school student who addressed the board wept as he described how the Siletz Valley School has become his family. After being bullied at another school for being gay, Siletz Valley School has provided a space where he feels comfortable being himself.
AJ Mallozzi, who works at the Oregon State University in the pre-college department, said she works with students from over 15 districts across the state. Siletz Valley School students hold a special place in her heart.
“They do not deserve this. I can’t believe you’re making them miss doing work, miss school, making the teachers show up here,” Mallozzi said, before turning around to address the students directly. “And I want you guys to hear me. You’re smart, you’re really smart, and you don’t deserve this.”
As she continued, outlining the huge impact that Siletz Valley School has on the students and families they work with, as well as the greater community.
“Through my partnership with Siletz, we have become better at Oregon State University by understanding how Indigenous science can be woven within STEM topics,” Mallozzi said. “Our work with Siletz Valley School is making the entire state of Oregon better.”
Now, the Lincoln County School Board and Siletz Valley School are waiting to hear back from the Oregon School Board Association, which will submit its independent audit to each party.
At the April 14 Lincoln County School Board meeting, board members will issue a decision on whether or not they will revoke Siletz Valley School’s charter agreement.
This story is co-published by Underscore Native News and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest.