School board chief: Cloninger was led away in handcuffs and is on paid administrative leave

Superintendent booked on allegations of witness tampering, failure to report abuse and making false statement; Schoonover also faces charges

Ed note: This is the second major update to today’s story about the arrest of the Longview school superintendent on allegations that she interfered with the police investigation into the district’s handling of abuse allegations at Mark Morris Hight School. The previous versions are available here and here.

Longview School Superintendent Karen Cloninger was arrested at the school district office and led away in handcuffs through a side door Thursday morning and has been placed on paid administrative leave.

School Board President Don Wiitala said Cloninger will remain on the payroll. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty of charges that emerged from a police investigation into the district’s handling of sex and hazing assault allegations among varsity basketball players at Mark High School.

The superintendent, who is finishing her second year at the helm of the district, is accused of tampering with a witness, failure to report and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Cloninger, 58, remained in custody at the Cowlitz County Jail Thursday evening. She may appear in court Friday morning for formal charging. She was booked at 9:43 a.m. Thursday.

Tampering with a witness is a felony. The other charges are gross misdemeanors.

Cloninger’s arrest is particularly disturbing because the allegations are for crimes of commission — deliberate acts intended to thwart a search for truth.

In a phone interview Thursday evening, Wiitala expressed some dissatisfaction at the way police arrested Cloninger, but he did not comment on the allegations or school personnel’s response to the arrest. Three officers were still on the scene when he arrived at the disrtict office, he said. Cloninger already had been taken away.

Police said charges also are forthcoming against Andrew Schoonover, executive director of student services for Longview Public Schools, alleging failure to report and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. He was not booked into jail Thursday.

Wiitala said it is up to Patti Bowen, the district’s longtime executive director of business services, to decide how to address Schoonover’s status. The school board appointed Bowen as interim superintendent during an emergency Thursday afternoon meeting.

All district employees answer to the superintendent, while the superintendent is the only staffer answerable to the school board.

Bowen released a statement at 5:30 p.m. Thursday stating that “we take our responsibility to protect the safety and care of our students very seriously. The allegations described by law enforcement are serious and troubling.

”Our district remains committed to understanding the facts surrounding the alleged student and staff misconduct, cooperating with the ongoing investigation, following the law, and ultimately taking appropriate accountability action,” the statement said.

Bowen said the district has limited leeway to comment due to the pending court proceedings and continuing police investigation. She said the district will “remain focused on our work to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for our students.”

Wiitala said he understands the district will have to rebuild the public’s confidence.

“We will definitely have a plan and we will have to put it together. But what happens if (Cloninger) is found innocent? What happens if she resigns? There are a lot of scenarios that can happen. Until those things happen, developing a plan would be pretty hard to develop.”

He said he was so disgusted by the allegations of abuse that he could not read the police report in one sitting. But he cautioned that social media is distorting some of the facts, though he did not attempt to excuse or to exonerate Cloninger of any accused wrongdoing.

“People’s understanding of things will change as they learn more about the case,” Wiitala said, without venturing a prediction. Many details about “who knew what and when” about the alleged abuse are still being parsed out, he said.

I asked him if the public will view the board as complicit in any of Cloninger's alleged failures and alleged attempts to thwart investigators.

He said some people may draw that conclusion, but he denied any board attempt to direct Cloninger’s handling of the case. The assault allegations did not come up often in his weekly meetings with the superintendent: “It was not a hot topic,” Wiitala said. The board never discussed the case with her during executive sessions, he added.

“We still have a school year year to finish. We will continue educating and taking care of our kids. Everyone will have their opinions (about the case). We are going to keep on running the district like we are supposed to and deal with this situation as it unfolds.”

He said he has not been interviewed by police investigators.

Cloninger’s arrest may invigorate an effort to recall all five Longview School Board members over the Mark Morris case, the leader of that effort said.

“The board should have placed (Cloninger) on administrative leave in February,” when the allegations of ongoing hazing and sex abuse on the varsity basketball team first became public, Sean Turpin of Longview said in a phone interview Thursday.

Wiitala’s support for Cloninger up to this point “just reinforces that he is out of touch with what is going on with the school district,” said Turpin, a food safety inspector.

The case has given rise to calls for firings and resignations and allegations that the district fails to prevent bullying and assaults and tried to cover up the alleged sexual assaults.

In response to my public records requests, the district reported this week that it had no record of any disciplinary action taken against district staff as a result of the abuse allegations.

“This investigation required a significant amount of time, coordination, and evidence review,” Police Chief Robert Huhta said in a written statement. “We understand the significance this case has in our community and the concern it has created for students, families, staff, and the broader public.”

Cloninger has been accused of destroying public records related to this case on her work cell phone, and the district has come under attack for allegedly failing to report the abuse to police or child protective services officials in a timely way. Under the law, school officials are “mandatory reporters” who must disclose suspected abuse of a child within 48 hours. Proof is not necessary.

Despite public concerns about how the abuse was handled, the school board on April 13 quietly approved a new, three-year contract for Cloninger at her current annual salary of $221,195. Her contract was part of the board’s consent agenda, in which one vote approves multiple items.

However, consent agendas are generally reserved for routine items and are not debated or discussed. The state open meetings law says consent agendas are for items “that appear to be noncontroversial.”

Cloninger’s contract renewal almost certainly would have been a hot topic. Wiitala disagreed.

“It was not controversial to me,” he said.

Turpin, a former school board candidate, last month filed a suit against the Longview School District for allegedly failing to disclose records under the state Open Public Records Act. The records request were in support of Turpin’s recall effort.

Recalling public officials in Washington is laborious and legally difficult. Recalls cannot be pursued just over policy disagreements.

A recall starts when a registered voter submits a formal, typed petition containing detailed charges. A Superior Court judge then holds a hearing to determine if the alleged acts constitute malfeasance, misfeasance, or a violation of the oath of office. Petitioners then have up to 180 days to collect signatures equal to 25% of the total votes cast in the last election for that office. Then an election is held, to be decided by a simple majority.

Turpin said a formal recall petition still is under preparation.

Here is the rest of Thursday’s police statement:

“According to the probable cause statement, detectives developed information that Mark Morris High School staff and district leadership were made aware of allegations involving physical and sexual misconduct involving students as early as Jan. 29, 2026. Detectives further allege Superintendent Karen Cloninger was made aware of details involving multiple students, including allegations that one student was forcibly dragged into the Mark Morris High School varsity team room, pinned to the ground, and partially disrobed.

“The probable cause statement further alleges Longview Police Department leadership directly contacted Cloninger on Feb. 5, 2026, after reports began circulating on social media and asked whether law enforcement assistance was needed. Detectives allege law enforcement was informed the matter had been investigated by the Longview School District and handled internally.

“LPD began an official investigation after a parent contacted law enforcement directly on Feb. 9, 2026, to report a sexual assault. During the investigation, detectives also developed probable cause related to mandatory reporting requirements, information provided to law enforcement, and records and communications obtained through multiple search warrants.

“Detectives further allege employees raised internal concerns regarding mandatory reporting obligations and whether law enforcement should be contacted. According to the probable cause statement, investigators developed information alleging employees were directed by Cloninger to handle the matter internally and discourage further discussion regarding the incident.

“Keeping children safe is a shared community responsibility,” continued Chief Huhta. “I want to thank our detectives for the professionalism, diligence, and care they have shown throughout this investigation. Our responsibility is to follow the facts, conduct thorough investigations, protect the integrity of the process, and present information through the legal system appropriately.”

“The investigation remains active and ongoing. Detectives continue reviewing evidence and following additional investigative leads. Additional arrests or charges remain possible as the investigation progresses.

“Due to the active nature of the investigation and anticipated court proceedings, neither the City of Longview nor the Longview Police Department will be providing interviews or responding to media inquiries at this time.”

Two Mark Mark Morris varsity basketball players, both juveniles, have pleaded not guilty to 11 criminal counts, including three counts of second-degree rape and five counts of unlawful imprisonment. Clark County prosecutors are handling the case.

Abuse centered on a room off the boy’s locker room.

One of the alleged victims — dubbed John Doe 1 in court documents — told investigators on February 9 that he’d been sexually assaulted five or six times during the course of the basketball season, starting around Thanksgiving. The three other alleged victims — referred to John Does 2, 3 and 4 in court documents — reported single-incident cases of assault, all of them in late January.

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