DARRINGTON — The Darrington School Board fired Superintendent Larry Johnson this month in part because it believed he had a “less-than-professional relationship” with an employee and the alleged conduct “ultimately harmed the school district,” an official said Friday.
It has been nearly five months since Myra Lewis, 46, the district’s finance director, died after overdosing on cocaine at Johnson’s home in Darrington.
In a letter sent Friday to the staff of the Darrington School District, school board president Julie Kuntz said Johnson has appealed his firing and has requested a discharge hearing. Kuntz said she doesn’t expect the hearing to take place before the end of March.
The school district’s investigation, prompted by Lewis’ death, turned up evidence that Johnson, 58, apparently treated Lewis more as a close friend than an employee, documents show.
Among other things, investigators found 118 text messages sent between Johnson and Lewis in the six days before her death. The messages quoted in the district’s report do not focus on work matters.
Johnson referred questions about the investigation to his attorney, who could not be reached for comment.
The school district’s investigation of Johnson was separate from an investigation by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office that concluded in late November. Sheriff’s investigators said they found no evidence of foul play or of a crime in Lewis’ death.
An autopsy determined Lewis died after ingesting cocaine Oct. 8. Two weeks before she died, Lewis had completed outpatient treatment required by Island County district court for a 2009 drunk-driving conviction.
Details of the school district’s investigation were released late Friday in response to a public records request by The Herald.
Family and friends say Lewis and Johnson were close friends, documents show. Lewis’ sister Marcia McCabe told the district investigator that she thought Johnson was interested in having a romantic relationship with Lewis, but that Lewis was worried about the age difference, his marriage and the fact that he was her supervisor.
Johnson told the district’s investigator that he seldom exchanged text messages with Lewis. If the report is accurate, however, the pair exchanged 118 text messages in the final six days of Lewis’ life. That’s roughly 20 texts a day.
“That seems excessive,” Johnson is quoted in the report. “That’s more than I thought.”
The report quotes some of the text exchanges. Here’s part of a string from Oct. 2:
Johnson: “U alive I am just getting going.”
Lewis: “Got up at 10 wish to go back to sleep but have party. I’m kinda hurtn…”
Johnson: “Me too cazy (sic) girl”
On Oct. 7, a portion of an exchange includes:
Lewis: “I so hate disappointing u. I hope I didn’t… just had to be honest. Goodnight LJ.”
Johnson: “You don’t disappoint me u make me smile.”
He followed up with a “good night” text at 11:24 p.m.
When investigators asked Johnson about the text, he said he couldn’t remember how Lewis may have disappointed him.
At 5:40 p.m. on Oct. 8, a few hours before she collapsed and died, Lewis reportedly had this exchange with Johnson:
Lewis: “do I hear a quick sniff from afar? 🙂 Come have a drink!”
Johnson: “Just getting out of shower ha ha.”
Johnson told investigators he did not know what Lewis meant by “a quick sniff from afar.”
Johnson told district investigators that he accompanied Lewis to a dinner party that night. Later, they went to his cabin, where she asked to lie down.
Johnson asked her what was wrong. She reportedly said, “I’ve been using” and “put her finger to her nose in a snorting motion,” the report said.
Johnson told school district investigators he did not know where Lewis got the cocaine and that he did not see Lewis use cocaine. The day Lewis collapsed, Johnson reportedly asked for an attorney when a deputy asked the same questions, according to police reports.
The sheriff’s office searched Johnson’s home. No cocaine was found. The only apparent illegal drug there was a small amount of suspected marijuana found in a pill bottle that had contained a prescription for Johnson.
Johnson told school district investigators he had no idea where the pot came from. He said he sub-leased his cabin during the summer.
Some of the witnesses questioned said that Johnson’s strong friendship with Lewis had an impact on his monitoring of expenditures and general fiscal oversight of district finances, the report said.
In November, about a month after Lewis died, an official from the state’s regional educational service district went to Darrington to help the school district with its finances. On Lewis’ desk were five checks totaling $6,317, some dating back as far as 2007.
The official also found that the district’s bank accounts didn’t balance and problems with financial controls forced Darrington to return $61,000 in 2010 because of failure to pay close attention to grant spending, the report said.
Some time before Lewis’ death — the report isn’t clear when — a state auditor told Johnson that Lewis had too many tasks and areas of responsibility. Johnson told investigators that the tough economy required that he keep administrative costs down.
The school board voted 4-1 on Feb. 9 to have the district’s attorney prepare a letter of termination for Johnson.
In her letter to staff on Friday, Kuntz said the board also voted to terminate Johnson because he had failed to follow the law and evaluate the performance of a subordinate administrator.
The report identifies that employee as Darrington High School principal Dave Holmer. He is now interim superintendent. Johnson told investigators he started Holmer’s work evaluation but simply didn’t complete it.
Johnson’s annual salary is about $117,000. He remains on paid administrative leave while appealing the board’s decision to fire him. His employment contract with the school district had been set to expire in June, but over the summer the board extended it to 2013, Kuntz said.
Johnson has led the district since 2005.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Writer Eric Stevick contributed to this report.
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