IONE – New Ione Superintendent Bryn Browning will be required to live in and be active in the Ione community to fulfill her job requirements as set by the school board.

To this end, Browning will live in a home specifically set aside near the school for her and her family.

“The Principal’s House,” as it has come to be known over the years, has long served as a home for teachers and principals in Ione.

Candidates for the superintendent position were told early on in the application process they would be expected to live in the community.

In fact the application brochure from the district says the superintendent “will be visible at literally everything that happens in the Ione Schools and the Ione community.”

School Board member Anne Morter said the board wanted someone who was as committed to the community as they were to the school.

“We had an expectation they would live in the district,” Morter said.

Gene Evens, director of communications with the Oregon Department of Education, said there is no specific law saying a school board can require a superintendent to live in one community or another.

“It’s just a matter of contract between the school board and the superintendent,” Evans said.

Evans also said it’s common for school districts to make it a requirement for employees to live in the same community where they teach.

Ione’s interim superintendent ,George Murdock, said historically it has never been an issue because superintendents always lived in the communities where they work. Over the last few decades, however, housing issues have made it more and more difficult, so many districts are beginning to make residency a requirement.

“It’s a growing trend among school districts,” Murdock said.

Browning will move into the home with her family this summer.

Ione Schools Principal Dick Allen lived in the house for more than a decade before he bought another home in town.

Allen said the house has been kept up well over the years but its main drawback is the fact that it is so small.

The 1,200 square foot home has three small bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Still, Ione City Clerk Melissa Ross said the housing situation in town makes the Principal’s House a prime piece of property.

“Rentals usually don’t stay open for too long,” Ross said.

The district charges rent for the house, but the money goes into a fund set aside specifically for property maintenance.

—

Brook Griffin can be reached at 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1309, bgriffin@eastoregonian.com