VALE — After discussing it for more than a month, the Adrian School District Board of Directors has filed a lawsuit against some of Oregon’s leadership, expressing its frustration with how the school has been able to educate students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Legal representation for the Adrian School Board filed a complaint Thursday, Sept. 17, against Colt Gill, director of the Oregon Department of Education, and Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, demanding the district be able to allow students to return to the classroom.

The complaint, filed by Butler & Looney PC, a Vale-based practice, claims “if the children are not immediately returned to in-person instruction, immediate and irreparable harm will be caused to the school district’s resources,” and “if the children are not immediately returned to in-person instruction, immediate and irreparable harm will be incurred by the students in the form of reduced quality of instruction.”

There have not been any dates scheduled following the complaint.

The pending lawsuit against the state was first announced on Aug. 13 by board member Jake Speelmon. He said the board was, at the time, seeking legal counsel with the ultimate goal to be the Adrian School Board of Directors suing ODE for “failing to allow (the board) to provide an adequate education to the students in (Adrian School District).”

This was mirrored in the opening allegation of the complaint that was filed Sept. 17.

“The Adrian, Oregon, School District is controlled by a board of elected, volunteer members who have been imbued with the responsibility of ensuring that the students of the Adrian School District receive a good and proper education, and thereby have a standing to bring a suit to ensure such education is available to the students.”

Further in the complaint, the school board claims that it would like to have students return to in-person instruction “pursuant to the Department of Education’s direction that every school district shall make that determination, that a statewide plan does not work for all schools, and that smaller communities could be examined to determine if a school may safely return to in-person instruction, even though county and state metrics have not been met.”

The points being made by the board are taken from the “Ready Schools, Safe Learners” guide that ODE released in parts throughout the summer. Adrian School District currently has about 295 students in total and the town of Adrian has fewer than 1,000 residents (meaning ODE is not releasing the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the town).