After years of parent and staff complaints about Rainier View Elementary School’s leadership, the Seattle district removed the school’s principal, Anitra Jones, on Monday and transferred her to its central office.
The transfer, which the district described as “ a temporary assignment,” comes nearly a month after a March 6 School Board meeting when some parents and staff began a public pressure campaign to oust Jones. They described an “unsafe” environment at the South Seattle school that had created a “culture of fear and anxiety.” The school’s PTSA had also called for Jones’ immediate removal or for her to be put on leave as the district investigates the complaints.
It also followed several grievances filed by the Seattle Education Association on behalf of some of its members. The school’s PTSA also filed complaints to Seattle Public Schools, the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, in which the PTSA alleged disproportionate discipline practices at the school fell heavily on Black and brown students, as well as religious discrimination, failure to fulfill students’ individualized education plans, and misuse of Title 1 funds.
“I’m a little relieved, and I am a little surprised,” said Hala Mana’o, the school’s PTSA president, who said the group was still hearing “heartbreaking” experiences from families connected to the school. “But I am hoping that it’s a step toward a place where we all want to go. Let’s move forward …. Let’s be curious about investigating the experiences of people.”
The district announced Jones’ new assignment in an email to parents on Monday, days after it said it planned to hire an independent “reviewer” to look into the school’s practices. Some parents said the earlier announcement did not address their concerns and they questioned why Jones was still in charge while a review was underway.
Jones was not in school Monday, said Beverly Redmond, the district’s chief of staff and spokeswoman.
Jo Lute-Ervin, a former Rainier View teacher and principal at Kimball Elementary School, will fill in for Jones as the substitute principal this week.
“This temporary change does not indicate that SPS has confirmed any wrongdoing by Principal Jones,” according to the district’s email. “The change is meant to foster peace in the school community. Our aim is to ensure that any concerns at Rainier View can be reviewed objectively without distractions.”
Jones has said that she planned to respond publicly after the school district completes its process. But in a message to the school community on Friday, she said the stories were “outlandish.”
“There is more than one side to every story,” she said. “The first sounds true, until you hear the other side of the story. I ask for your patience.”
The district used careful wording to describe what it plans to do at the 200-student elementary, opting to use the word review rather than investigation.
“We termed it a review of the practices of the school, not necessarily an investigation,” Redmond said. “My reason for doing that is really wanting to make sure we have something, that if we needed to open an investigation it would be as a result of a review.”
Asked whether the review would go beyond Rainier View and include district employees at the central office and other departments who interacted with the parents, staff and families who had complained over several years, Redmond said, “We will follow that information to where it’s going to lead us. We are going to look at things related to Rainier View and its practices.”
In response to criticism, the district also added a new hourlong evening session on Tuesday for families to meet with district officials, including Superintendent Brent Jones, about their experiences. The new session will run from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The two earlier sessions are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Families will get an update on the scope of the review at the meetings.
The district also plans to survey students and families this week about their experiences at the school. A meeting for staff members will be announced before spring break, Redmond said.
Redmond said she hopes that the review will wrap up by the end of the school year.
Some of the complaints about the school and its principal date back years. Former teachers say high turnover meant that nonteaching staff frequently filled in as substitute teachers at the expense of their core duties. Others said they got low evaluation scores after questioning Jones. Members of the PTSA said the relationship with Jones had devolved to the point where they were not allowed to meet on campus. Parents said students were pulled out of class for disciplinary infractions and made to sit in the principal’s office without academic support.
Jones has been lauded for her leadership during her tenure at Rainier View. The Seattle Alliance for Education gave her the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence in 2018 for “closing opportunity gaps.” The Puget Sound Educational Service District also named Rainier View a “School of Distinction” in 2016.
Jones will work with the deputy superintendent of academics while assigned to the central office, said Redmond, who added that she did not yet know what Jones’ duties might include. Jones will continue to be paid her principal’s salary, Redmond said.
Mana’o said he would have preferred that Jones be placed in a position that did not require frequent interaction with the public.
“I hope that at the center of all of these things is the voices and experiences of our families and our teachers, as well as the actions of this administrator,” he said. “That’s at the core of this … The district has to work on the engagement with the community.”
Rainier View principal transferred after years of parent, staff complaints - The Seattle Times
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