Everett Community College appeals public meetings ruling

Published 2:02 pm Thursday, January 15, 2026

EVERETT — Everett Community College filed an appeal challenging a Snohomish County judge’s ruling last year that ordered the college’s board of trustees to hold a vote before closing its Early Learning Center.

The college notified the courts of its intention to appeal in July 2025. After requesting a number of deadline extensions, the college submitted its arguments through a court filing, known as an appellate brief, on Tuesday.

The original ruling came in June 2025 when a Snohomish County Superior Court judge, Patrick Moriarty, ruled that the college’s board of trustees was required to hold a public meeting and vote to close its Early Learning Center, a child care facility the college operated, and said that the college circumvented the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.

That came after a parent at the college, Aleena Richie, sued the college earlier that month, alleging that the institution violated the law when administrative staff had decided to close the Early Learning Center without a board vote or opportunity for public comment.

In the Tuesday filing, the college argued to the Washington State Court of Appeals that the Snohomish County judge’s ruling was made in error, and that operations at the institution would “grind to a halt” if every decision made by the president under delegated authority would require board ratification.

Everett Community College spokesperson Jenny Marin said the institution expects the appeal to be addressed by the courts this spring, but could not comment further. The state attorney general’s office, which is representing the school, referred a request for comment to the college.

Samantha Sommerman, the Everett attorney who represents Richie in the case and whose child attended the Early Learning Center, said the college appealed the decision as a way to reduce transparency in its decision making.

“They closed the school, they didn’t open anything up in its place. Turns out they had been trying to close this school for a long time, regardless of the grant cuts, and the community suffers,” Sommerman said in an interview Thursday. “Then, they try to appeal to undo any attempts at accountability for things like this in the future.”

Everett Community College previously said it would work to lease the facility formerly used by the Early Learning Center to a third-party child care provider. As of Wednesday, the college had no update on the search for a provider, Marin said.

In the original hearing in June 2025, Judge Moriarty ruled that duties delegated to a president for a decision as meaningful as the closure of the Early Learning Center should also include public input and notice. The college argued in its appeal that would produce “absurd results,” and that state law gives the board discretion to delegate duties to the president.

In 2023, the college’s board of trustees passed a resolution delegating broad powers to the college’s president, Chemene Crawford, over administrative functions at the college, including, among other actions, terminating classified and exempt employees.

The appeal also argued that the Open Public Meetings Act applies to public agencies like governing bodies, but the college’s administrative staff, including its president, are not the institution’s governing body, it argued, and the law does not require public meetings for administrative decisions.

“Here, the plain meaning of the statutory term ‘governing body’ extends to the Board of Trustees, but not the President, as the definition plainly does not include an individual agency administrator,” the appellate brief reads.

Sommerman said she would address the appeal’s arguments in court.

The Early Learning Center, which opened in 1990, was an early education facility — regarded as one of the best in the state — serving 71 children, mostly from student-parents and parents with lower incomes. It operated on-site at Everett Community College. Administrative staff at the college decided in March 2025 that they would close the center and announced their decision in May, citing a lack of available funding. The decision drew backlash from parents utilizing the center and staff at the college.

The college had tried to close the Early Learning Center in 2021, also citing financial challenges, but reversed course after public pushback. Snohomish County and the City of Everett provided relief funding to the center soon after, but some of those appropriations had begun to run dry in 2025, according to college officials.

The child care industry in Snohomish County is “under immense strain,” a June 2025 report from the Early Learning Leadership Council of Snohomish County read. Many parents can’t afford care, even if they find an open slot. Providers are facing tight margins, low pay for workers and high employee turnover.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.