MARYSVILLE — A closed-door meeting earlier this week between two Marysville School Board members and embattled school district superintendent Linda Whitehead has fueled speculation that her departure is imminent.
School board president Vicki Gates confirmed that she and board member Michael Kundu had a discussion with Whitehead about her job status on Tuesday.
"We met with Linda and said, ‘You indicated you were interested in negotiating a separation from the district,’ " Gates said. "Can you give us your attorney’s name and phone number so we might have it so the board might share it with an attorney if that’s the direction we decide to take?"
The school board would have to hire its own attorney for those negotiations, and that has not been done, Gates said.
"The bottom line is, things are happening," Kundu said.
Whitehead, who has a three-year-contract, declined a request for comment.
"She doesn’t feel it is appropriate to make a comment at this time, and that is based on not knowing legally what will happen," school district spokeswoman Judy Parker said.
Whitehead called separate meetings Thursday, first with school principals and later with central office staff, to brief them on recent events.
Some who were at the meetings said she confirmed Tuesday’s conversation with Gates and Kundu about her possible departure.
Whitehead also said she knew nothing about the truth of a comment made by a parent at one of the schools that she was to be fired on Tuesday. Gates and Kundu said later that such a vote is not planned for Tuesday’s meeting.
Whitehead also told staff that she is under contract until June 2006 and is hard at work every day.
The superintendent has been under fire for months. The district endured the longest teachers strike in state history in the fall, but still doesn’t have contracts with its teachers and some other employees.
Enrollment has dropped sharply from a year ago in the aftermath of the strike and the slumping local economy. As a result, the district faces a $2 million shortfall from the $82.25 million budget adopted in August.
Teachers passed a no-confidence vote against Whitehead two years ago, and the president of the 650-member teachers union said sentiment hasn’t changed. A critical state audit of district finances brought more public outcry.
Whitehead enjoyed strong school board support until November, when voters swept out all three incumbents who were up for re-election. The three new board members were critical of district leadership during their campaigns.
Kundu said his perception has not changed since he was elected.
"I don’t feel that Linda is qualified in the role that she is in," he said. "The relationship is not a healthy one. There are no indications it will become a healthy one."
Kundu said Whitehead didn’t complete paperwork in a timely manner, including a recent contract for hiring a special assistant who will review district finances and operations. He also pointed to a recent directive by the board to Whitehead asking that she send an apology to educational assistants about the process used in recent layoff announcements.
"I would characterize some of what she is doing as approaching the definition of insubordination," he said.
Board members Helen Mount and Ron Young remain solidly behind Whitehead. Both say she has taken major strides in trying to improve student achievement and turn around the district’s finances.
Whitehead’s contract was extended as one of the last actions of the previous board. Her salary is more than $130,000 a year. It includes medical benefits, $400 a month to be invested in a tax-sheltered annuity or under a deferred compensation plan, and either a $400 a month car allowance or $300 a month to defray a car lease.
In Washington, school district superintendents generally are given three-year contracts, which are then extended annually, and they are rarely fired because of contract language that requires legal cause. Whitehead’s contract has "discharge for cause" language.
More typically, if there are conflicts between a school board and a superintendent, there are buyouts, or contracts aren’t extended.
"I have been told by one board member that she was going to meet with Dr. Whitehead to inform her that the consensus of the new board members is to change direction and leadership," Young said.
Young said he did not know if that meant a buyout, termination or reassignment.
Young said he wants to make sure the board follows state open public meetings laws in any action it takes.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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