Portland Timbers & Thorns beat writer, @Oregonian // Past stops: @newberggraphic, @thebulletin // @Cronkite_ASU alum // 
RClarke@Oregonian.com.
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BREAKING: A staff member at Mabel Rush elementary school in Newberg showed up to work in Blackface on Friday, allegedly saying she was dressed as Rosa Parks and protesting a vaccine mandate for teachers.
Statement from @NewbergSchools on the latest racist incident:pic.twitter.com/J1HHc2X9wl
Just want to emphasize that the vaccine mandate applies to all school district staff, not just teachers. And staff can seek exemptions but those are granted in very rare circumstances (medical, religious). The district also notes this person as a “staff member.” Not a teacher.
FULL STORY: Lauren Pefferle, a special ed assistant at Mabel Rush elementary school in Newberg, OR, was the staffer who showed up to work in Blackface. More here from a fellow staffer at the school and response from a member of Newberg’s Black community:https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/522353-417465-newberg-school-staffer-shows-up-in-blackface-pwoff …
I’ll be on @TheStoryKGW tonight to discuss the Blackface incident at Mabel Rush elementary in Newberg, OR, and how the community is dealing with yet another ugly incident of racism.
Airs at 6 p.m. in the Portland area, and will be available in full on YouTube after.
One more thing: If you live in Oregon (and even if not), subscribe to your local paper. Pamplin covers communities large and small throughout the state. Everything on my Twitter feed over the past month-plus wouldn’t be possible without community support.https://www.pamplincirculation.com
Some of the other stuff going on in Newberg: 1. School board is attempting to ban BLM/Pride symbols: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/520524-415870-school-board-refuses-to-rescind-blm-pride-ban-pwoff … 2. It may have broken the law hiring a lawyer: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/519833-415272-school-board-defies-state-law-in-hiring-outside-counsel-pwoff … 3. A high school kid joined a "slave trade" Snapchat group: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/521795-416952-newberg-student-involved-in-slave-trade-snapchat-group …
4. Despite legal questions, school board still crafting political ban: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/521865-417011-political-legal-divide-deepens-on-newberg-school-board-pwoff … 5. Teachers upset about the distraction. One said she took down the American flag in her class: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/521647-416570-distractions-loom-as-school-year-begins … 6. A school board member faces a recall: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/521787-416949-recall-effort-launched-against-shannon-pwoff …
Newberg Superintendent Joe Morelock: “I am horrified, angry and ashamed this has happened, as is nearly every other staff member. This goes against everything I and the vast majority of NSD staff have believed and it is unfathomably offensive.”
.@NewbergSchools spokesman Gregg Koskela: “The thing I keep thinking about is our students and staff, and the stress they’re put under from all of the attention of this. If we had the ability to make racism go away, we’d do it in a heartbeat. Our job is to interrupt and respond.”
The activist group working to recall Newberg school board vice chair Brian Shannon — who has championed a policy that would ban Black Lives Matter displays and all other “political” symbols in local schools — made a statement on the Blackface incident at Mabel Rush elementary:pic.twitter.com/9maj8VtEVy
Newberg resident @ErinGMcCarthy1 shared a lengthy post on Facebook tonight in response to the latest racist incident at local schools.
She and her husband @JaybillMcCarthy helped build massive BLM and Pride flags on their property facing the high school: https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/142-news/520032-415441-volunteers-erect-blm-sign-next-to-pride-billboard-pwoff …pic.twitter.com/tLHeKsXcY2
Here’s tonight’s episode of @TheStoryKGW, where @HaggertyNews and I discuss the Newberg Blackface incident.
Dan connects the last month’s worth of stories to this inflection point, and points out the absurdity of it all. Show starts around the 15:00 mark.http://youtu.be/VH5M57IcICA
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