Outgoing Beaverton school board member Susan Greenberg to undergo third-party investigation. (Submitted by Susan Greenberg)

Beaverton school board member Susan Greenberg is the second to be subject to a third-party investigation regarding her public viewpoints on the Israel-Palestine war and its local impacts.

Following at least seven complaints made in late May, the school board voted 4-2 on Thursday evening, June 12, to send the matter to an unnamed investigator after meeting in a close-door executive session. Greenberg recused herself was not in attendance during either portion of the meeting.

Greenberg’s investigation stems from multiple complaints about her opinion piece that referenced an April workshop, “Teaching Palestine,” sponsored by the Beaverton Education Association. While not district sponsored, the workshop was supported by the teachers union. 

Greenberg alleged in the letter that the teachers union “has increasingly overstepped its proper role by attempting to inject divisive one-sided political viewpoints into our curriculum.”

“I just want to thank the board for taking the time to consider and to share your thoughts,” Chair Karen Perez-Da Silva said before the vote. “I want our community to know that we take complaints and formal complaints seriously. We are looking into the complaints and how the facts of those complaints go with our policies.” 

Voting in favor of an investigation were Perez-Da Silva and board members Melissa Potter, Sunita Garg and Justice Rajee. Voting against an investigation were board members Ugonna Enyinnaya and Tammy Carpenter, who is also the subject of a third-party investigation for her online presence. 

“At the current moment, under the current policies, if a complaint comes in, we have to respond to it,” Garg said before the vote. 

“In a case like this, a complaint has come in, it is a serious complaint and we need to take it seriously,” Potter said. “Our policy is that if there is a complaint against a board member, we can and we may ask a third party to examine the situation and determine if board policy was not followed or if board policy was followed.” 

“We have to respond to it respectfully and make sure we are doing it correctly and not making a wrong decision against a board member,” Potter said.

Enyinnaya, in voting against an investigation, defended Greenberg’s rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“It is essential that we remain steadfast in our commitment to protect the fundamental rights of our citizens, including the right to free speech,” Enyinnaya said. “Using taxpayer dollars to fund a third-party investigation into school board members’ personal rights to free speech would be a misallocation of resources, especially during a time when our school district is facing a shortfall in the budget.” 

Carpenter, another no vote June 12, also stressed free speech. 

“I do not believe we should be policing our colleagues’ free speech,” Carpenter said. “While multiple members of our community let me know directly that they were very upset by director Greenberg’s op-ed, and it is not an op-ed that I would write, I respect the right of director Greenberg to do so.” 

Carpenter is also the subject of a third-party investigation into her social media posts calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East and for Israel to “stop the genocide.”