Longview superintendent's bail set at $5,000 after arrest

Bail was set on at $5,000 for suspended Longview School District Superintendent Karen Cloninger on Friday afternoon, a day after being arrested on suspicion of tampering with a witness, failure to report, and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

The charges stem from the Mark Morris High School sexual abuse allegations.

Cloninger's first appearance hearing

Suspended Longview School District Superintendent Karen Cloninger, sits next to her attorney, Jon McMullen of Vancouver, during her first appearance in court on Friday, May 22, in Kelso. Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder set her bail at $5,000 after she was arrested the day before.

Cloninger, 58, of Longview sat next to her attorney, Jon McMullen of Vancouver, wearing a green jail uniform.

Clark County prosecuting attorney Toby Krauel is representing the state; he is also the same prosecutor handling the two Mark Morris High School students arrested on suspicion of rape, among other criminal accusations.

Krauel said during the hearing that Clark County prosecuting attorney Megan Finch had been assigned the case as well; she is also part of the prosecution of the two Mark Morris High School student suspects.

Krauel not only asked for bail to be set at $5,000, but also that a no-contact order issued. Presiding Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Thad Scudder agreed, issuing a no-contact order barring her from any contact with Longview school students and the listed witnesses.

UPDATED: Longview superintendent arrested, charged with witness tampering

Longview School District Superintendent Karen Cloninger was arrested around 9:26 a.m. Thursday on charges of tampering with a witness, failure to report and obstructing a law enforcement officer, the Longview Police Department announced.

McMullen asked that his client be allowed to work at her office and said to Scudder, "We're gonna fight this."

Her next hearing is scheduled for June 10.

Outside of the Cowlitz County Jail, Mcullen told The Daily News that he did see the probable cause statement but that he hasn't talked with any of the people involved in the case yet.

"There are plenty of times in many cases where what is actually provided later is different than what we thought was going to be provided at the beginning, in terms of evidence," McMullen said.

Police report

According to the arrest documents, police allege that Mark Morris High School staff and district officials were made aware of possible sexual misconduct involving students as early as Jan. 29, and that Cloninger specifically was made aware of details involving two students the following day.

School employees are mandatory reporters, meaning state law requires them to report such suspicions.

The probable cause statement alleges that employees raised concerns about the district's responsibility to report the allegations, but Cloninger directed them to handle the matter internally and discourage discussion.

According to the arrest document, Cloninger received Title IX documents on Jan. 29 and on Feb. 2 associated with the suspension of students that included the information about one of the victims being forcibly dragged into the Mark Morris High School varsity team room.

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She allegedly withheld that information from law enforcement officers for over a month, despite being served with a search warrant, according to the document.

The primary investigators for the internal report were Mark Morris High School Principal Aaron Thomas Whitright and Assistant Principal Charles Paul Beckel, who forwarded the details to Cloninger and inquired about mandatory reporting - specifically asking whether they should alert law enforcement and possibly the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

That question was asked on more than one occasion, but they were told no, and instead directed to handle things quietly and in-house, according to the arrest document.

During a meeting after district spokesperson Rick Parrish opined they should contact the school district's attorney, Cloninger reportedly told him to stand down and then called him back, asking that the call be placed on speaker, so that the other people in the room, including Beckel and Whitright, could hear her say:

"We're not calling any attorney, because I'm not going to be told to do something I don't want to do." She followed that with, "Look guys, at this point social media has already got rumors going. Tell the kids on the team we don't want any more rumors, don't talk about this."

During another call put on speaker, Cloninger admonished staff not to "put anything in writing on this," and then directed Beckel and Whitright to tell the parents involved that they had investigated the matter and had taken "appropriate disciplinary steps," the document states.

Parrish had reportedly told Cloninger that hazing at the school could be systemic, according to the arrest document. The statement "visibly frustrated" Cloninger, who then lectured him on the definition of systemic.

Cloninger told him what occurred was not hazing, saying, "I don't want you using that word."

Both Beckel and Parrish are listed as victims in the arrest document.

The school district's own investigation

Meanwhile, Acting Superintendent Patti Bowen announced Friday that Longview School District has hired an additional outside investigator to review how Cloninger and other staff handled allegations of sexual assault at Mark Morris High School.

Longview police also intend to charge executive director of student services Andrew Schoonover, with failure to report and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, according to the Longview Police Department announcement Thursday.

Bowen added in a later statement sent Friday afternoon that three other employees connected to the Mark Morris investigation have also been placed on administrative leave.

"It's important to note that administrative leave is a nondisciplinary step that allows for careful, fair and impartial review of facts while protecting the integrity of the process," she wrote.

The other employees were not named, and she wrote that the district does not disclose details about personnel matters.

The two Mark Morris High School student defendants have hearing on July 7.

Staff writer Minka Atkinson contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 4:20 AM.