Stanwood-Camano supe to leave earlier than planned

STANWOOD — County sheriff’s deputies had to clear the room during a Stanwood-Camano School District board meeting after public frustration with the board boiled over Wednesday.

This tension was over Deborah Rumbaugh’s status as superintendent. Rumbaugh resigned last month, with a last day set for June 30, 2025. That timeline was shattered this week, as Rumbaugh is now out effective Jan. 1. It is a “mutual separation from service, not for cause” according to a district press release.

The severance agreement includes 15 months salary and benefits in monthly installments. Rumbaugh’s annual salary is $250,000.

The board heard comment from the public for about 30 minutes before making a decision on the separation agreement. The tone was mostly angry, expressing discontent with how the board has handled its business over the past year.

Following the comment, the board began discussing what exactly had happened to lead to Rumbaugh’s updated departure. The meeting got out of hand, with members of the community disrupting the meeting.

School board members Al Schreiber, Steve King and Betsy Foster left the room together. Board members Miranda Evans and Charlotte Murry stayed behind.

A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy then was asked to clear the room, which he did without incident.

The meeting eventually resumed, with the room empty, outside of school staff, the board and the deputy. Many members of the public remained and their voices could be heard from outside the meeting room.

Evans and Murry peppered Schreiber with questions and felt they hadn’t been given proper notice about the decision to name Deputy Superintendent Ryan Ovenell as interim superintendent, as well as Rumbaugh’s updated resignation.

Schreiber countered by saying they needed a decision Wednesday “because we have payroll coming up.”

“I don’t trust you. You don’t trust me. You hold all of the power,” Evans told Schreiber.

Evans was furious and left the meeting before the board voted on the updated resignation, which passed 3-0 with Murry abstaining. She said Thursday she felt like she wasn’t helping and needed to remove herself from the situation.

Evans said she asked questions in the meeting she’d already asked of Schreiber on a call ahead of the meeting. He eventually hung up on her, she said.

“I genuinely had no idea what in the world is happening,” Evans said in an interview Thursday.

She called the meeting “a disaster” and said it showed how dysfunctional the board is. Schreiber and the other board members didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The relationship between some board members and the superintendent has deteriorated over the past year, records released to The Daily Herald show. Last month, Evans said she was not surprised about the superintendent’s resignation, saying the board had created a “hostile work environment.”

Fellow board member Murry called the past year “hell,” referring to several incidents, including one where board members Foster and King made comments that drew rebuke from the Island County health department.

Rumbaugh took over as superintendent in July 2021. She previously worked in Highline Public Schools in King County.

The district’s headcount is about 5,000 students.

Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.