WOODBURN, Ore. — Dr. Joe Morelock, the former superintendent of the Newberg School District who was fired without cause in November, has been hired as the new superintendent of the Woodburn School District.
The Woodburn school board announced the news in a press release on Thursday. Morelock will take over the position effective July 1, and will draw a salary of $175,000.
Morelock was one of 18 applicants, according to the press release, and was one of two finalists who met with district staff, students and community members before the board made its choice last week.
Morelock is fluent in Spanish, the board noted, and "has a passion and dedication to bilingualism and looks forward to investing in Woodburn's already extensive dual language programs."
Morelock previously worked in the Canby and Lake Oswego school districts. He left Lake Oswego in 2018 to take the top job in Newberg, initially in an interim capacity and then permanently starting in 2019.
The Newberg school board abruptly fired Morelock without cause at its Nov. 9 meeting. The 4-3 vote that drew strong objections from the three dissenting members, who argued the process had been rushed and lacking in public transparency.
It was one of a series of controversial decisions from the board last year including a ban on LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter signs on district campuses, which was later replaced by a ban on all political displays.
Morelock at one point told the board he would not enforce the first version of the ban, believing it to be unconstitutional.
At the Nov. 9 meeting, the board had been scheduled to review a decision Morelock made in late October to allow a teacher's poster to remain in place despite complaints that it violated the updated ban. That item was tabled without a decision being made, and Morelock was separately fired later in the meeting.
Board chair Dave Brown and vice-chair Brian Shannon were both subjected to recall elections earlier this year, with opponents citing the decision to fire Morelock as one of the primary complaints. The recall election drew record-high turnout, and both members prevailed by margins of about 52% to 48%.