Approximately 100 attendees, including school district staff and parents, filled the Mossyrock School District office on Monday, Oct. 19, for the district’s regular monthly board of directors meeting.
However, after just around 15 minutes, the meeting was adjourned after board members voted to table the meeting’s entire agenda, except for consent items, amid tensions between district staff and parents and interim Mossyrock Superintendent Dr. Effie Dean. Dean was hired in the interim leadership role in July on a one-year contract after the former superintendent left for another job.
Despite the adjournment, many stayed for over three hours, as school board members separated to hold individual, impromptu town hall-style meetings with attendees. The decision was made in order to avoid violating the state Open Public Meetings Act.
Tensions have been rising in the district since Dean placed Mossyrock Elementary School Principal Angela Bacon and Administrative Assistant Julie Cole on administrative leave. Many in attendance at Monday’s meeting were wearing shirts which said, “life is better with (Ms.) Bacon.”
Those tensions culminated Monday night with staff and parents demanding answers as to why Bacon and Cole had been placed on leave. The controversy was inflamed after a post was made on the school district’s official Facebook page last week announcing two employees had been placed on administrative leave. The post was deleted after people began commenting critically. It was then reposted without an option to comment the following day.
The Facebook post gave no other information other than stating the employees had been placed on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave and that, so far, no “determinations about whether any misconduct has occurred, and there are no concerns that anyone has been physically harmed. To preserve the integrity of the investigation, we will not discuss the substance of any allegation.”
The post also noted that at the upcoming Mossyrock School District Board of Directors meeting on Monday, verbal public comment would not be facilitated, with only written comments being accepted during the regular portion of the meeting. The post stated verbal comments would be accepted only after the school board completed its executive session, which is closed to the public.
It was signed “Respectfully, Mossyrock School Board of Directors.”
Heated tensions
Throughout the night, many called for the removal or resignation of Dean, along with Mossyrock School Board of Directors Chair Mitch Townsend, who is currently running for Lewis County auditor. One attendee, 4 Directions advocate and liaison Jeanine Washington, even went as far as to call for the entire school board to be recalled.
Washington works with Indigenous students in the region. She said she had come to Monday’s meeting to meet Dean, but was embarrassed by how she saw the meeting conducted, along with other issues.
“The stuff that you guys do here is total chaos. I’m ashamed of all of you, every one of you. And I told (Dean), ‘you’re not going to make it to July,’ and I questioned her about some things, because I get phone calls all over Washington. I get calls from different students, different schools, different people, and I had several and didn’t even know who this Townsend guy was,” Washington said.
She added she’d been contacted by parents who claimed Townsend made inappropriate sexual remarks. She asked him about that on Monday.
“I’ve had more than two parents tell me this, and just (talked) to him out back, and he goes, ‘That’s a right-out lie.’ OK, you’ve been lying this whole time, love, when are you gonna start telling the truth? So, if there’s any parents here, or if anybody here ever hears anything, you can get a hold of me,” Washington said. “Because I will not — I’m Native American — and I will not allow this to happen on my watch and here in Lewis County, period.”
On her business card, Washington’s mailing address was a P.O. box in Toledo.
Many others raised concerns about their own job security if they opposed the superintendent, along with how the situation was affecting their students, who were questioning why the employees were not present at school.
One teacher stated that without a teacher’s aide in her class right now, also known as a paraeducator, she has had trouble controlling students and has even been hit by them recently.
Dean responds
While Dean did not stay after the meeting was adjourned, The Chronicle reached out to her for comment on this story on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Dean said despite claims from teachers on Monday about being understaffed, that technically, the district was still overstaffed.
“But there’s a lot of undocumented leave, extra sub positions created to cover those absences, undocumented comp time, arriving late — I mean significantly late, not like you had a flat tire kind of thing — leaving early frequently, especially on the early-release Wednesdays," Dean said in a phone interview.
She said all of those issues were adding up to a Mossyrock School District budget deficit of “just under $400,000 a year.”
Upon assuming her position this past summer, she said she began looking into the issues and said they primarily were coming from Mossyrock Elementary School. Upon discovering this, Dean said she informed both law enforcement and the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, among other authorities.
“I have contacted the state auditor to meet with them, and say, ‘Hey, I know you have these concerns. I have found out where these irregularities are coming from and I’m just going to share this information with you,’” Dean said. “I don’t know where the line is with criminal (intent) and just, you know, management that needs to be tightened up.”
She stated she has been getting “push-back” from school district staff in trying to hold people accountable.
“That’s why they’re calling for my head. The board has encouraged me to keep moving forward with this,” Dean said.
Dean stated the school district’s insurance company was also conducting its own independent investigation concerning the issues. She said she intends to keep pursuing her goals.
“We’re not looking for anybody to be punished. It’s about correcting the behaviors and tightening things up,” Dean said. “As for myself, I believe that if I can’t move the district to a healthier point, then I probably need to finish my interim year and seek employment elsewhere.”
In an email on Tuesday, Dean added the issues she’s discovered did “not include the recent violations of the civility code on Facebook and text by many staff during the school day, insubordination, disrespect, intimidation and bullying of those who do not agree with them, intimidation of a witness and finally attempt to bribe an elected official. With all of the inconsistency and adult drama, the academics fall to the bottom of the list. The students of Mossyrock deserve better, as well as their tax-paying parents.”
Meeting and town hall discussions
At Monday’s meeting, members of the Morton Police Department confirmed there was an active investigation concerning the employees on administrative leave, but would not comment further.
Before its early adjournment, the meeting started off with a statement by school board member Shad Hail concerning the actions of another board member, Jason Cole — a former teacher in Mossyrock who is married to Julie Cole and still teaches in the neighboring Onalaska School District.
Hail alleged that Jason Cole had illegally contacted him to talk about Mossyrock School District business ahead of the meeting. He stated that his “integrity is not for sale, and nothing will move the needle of my commitment to this district.”
He added he believed an “improper attempt to influence, bribe or intimidate a public official” had occurred.
Jason Cole responded and stated, given the situation with Julie already on administrative leave, he had been in contact with a lawyer concerning the situation and was advised the school district could be subject to a lawsuit concerning how the situation has been handled so far.
“While I was at the attorney’s office, I thought I’d reach out to Shad and let him know we might be in trouble,” Jason said. “So yeah, I did the human thing, and he takes it as coercion, but I took it as a heads up, and I’ll stand by all the words I said because they’re all true. I’m publicly disclosing that I sent a text to Shad Hail trying to ask him to be reasonable, and I appreciate he’s going to stand by his morals and his conviction, because I think they fall in line with us.”
Following his statement, Townsend simply responded with, “wow.”
Jason Cole added because he is married to Julie Cole, he would still be recusing himself from any school board discussions concerning her being placed on administrative leave.
After several meeting attendees raised legal concerns about not being allowed to make verbal public comment, which Townsend rebutted, and then the approval of the meeting’s consent agenda, school board member Teresa Ekdahl-Johnson motioned to table the entire rest of the meeting’s agenda, which included discussion of an AI policy, the hiring of paraeducators, accepting a coach’s resignation and more.
The motion was seconded and approved, and following the adjournment, Dean left the room. The school board then broke out into their separate impromptu town hall-style meetings.
In the main meeting room, Jason Cole remained, along with Ekdahl-Johnson, who read a statement she had prepared to read into the record during the regular meeting.
“I know this has been a difficult and uncertain time for many people in our district. I respect the staff members who are standing in solidarity with their colleagues on administrative leave, and I recognize that people may have different perspectives on the circumstances surrounding this situation. At the same time, I believe we all share a responsibility to ensure that students remain at the center of our decisions, and they continue to feel safe, supported and focused on learning,” Ekdahl-Johnson said. “I look forward to the completion of the independent investigation, and to reviewing the objective findings when they become available. I understand that waiting for answers can be frustrating and unsettling for both parents and staff. I hope that the investigation can be completed as promptly as possible, while allowing the process to be thorough, fair and impartial.”
She added she originally ran for her school board position to fight for more transparency. She said she would not make any decisions based on “assumptions, rumors or incomplete information.”
As they began taking questions, specifically concerning who made the decision to place Bacon and Julie Cole on administrative leave, Jason Cole stated he had not been consulted on the matter by Dean.
“However, some of you were told, by the superintendent, that we were consulted. I have no idea if (Ekdahl-Johnson) was because we don’t talk about it, and I couldn’t be consulted on Julie, because she’s my wife. But I could certainly have been consulted about the principal, and I never, ever had that opportunity,” Jason Cole said. “So when it’s signed, ‘Board of Directors,’ that’s one man (Townsend). We gave him too much power, and that’s our fault. We should’ve shut him down a long time ago.”
Some also took issue with the tabling of the entire meeting’s regular agenda, as they were in need of the paraeducators whose hirings were originally up for consideration Monday.
In a separate room, Townsend addressed the issue of who made the decision to announce Bacon and Julie Cole being placed on administrative leave on Facebook, with attendees stating that action had made them lose trust in the board of directors.
“That statement was not written by (Dean). It was written by the school board,” Townsend said.
A few minutes later, Townsend added after multiple parents had reached out asking about the absence of Bacon and Julie Cole, the Facebook announcement was made after a recommendation from the school district’s attorney, meant to assure the public that there was no danger to children.
“I’m not a lawyer, so that’s what they’re contracted for, so I have to take the advice of the attorney in that case,” Townsend said.
After attendees disagreed with him on the need for the announcement to be made on Facebook, Townsend replied, “so the attorney screwed up. So we’ll take a look at that.”
Townsend also fielded questions as to why Dean was hired, with him stating she was chosen by the board originally to address financial matters in the district following recent hits the school district received in a state audit.
After hearing concerns from attendees that Dean — even before employees were placed on administrative leave — seemed somewhat hard to connect with and distant, Townsend conceded that the board should have prioritized ensuring the new superintendent was more personable and more in line with how small districts like Mossyrock operate.
“Maybe she’s just not ‘small town-ish’ enough,” he added.
Townsend spent time talking about other goals he has for the Mossyrock School District, such as implementing the AI policy and modernizing the district, but acknowledged his own position as chair may be in jeopardy.
“I got a couple more weeks where I’m stressed to the max, and then I’m going to lean in everywhere I can. If I get kicked off the board, which is an entirely distinct possibility, or have to resign, I’m still going to do everything I can. I’ve made a commitment to this institution, and I’m taking responsibility when things don’t go right,” Townsend said.
Despite Dean maintaining there were no understaffing issues at the school, Townsend acknowledged the calls from teachers for the need to hire more parateachers.
He proposed calling for a special meeting later in the week for the school board to vote on the hiring of the parateachers, though no announcement had been made as to the special meeting’s time and date as of Wednesday afternoon.
