Questions swirl over graduation requirements at Why Not You Academy

The final days at Why Not You Academy were marked with questions about whether graduation requirements for students with disabilities were too lax and whether others received legally required special education services.

The state's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's special education division opened a formal inquiry into the Des Moines-based charter high school after a May 28 complaint alleged the school did not have a certificated special education teacher, raising concerns that students with disabilities might not have access to some special education services for the rest of the school year.

The complaint came from the school's special education teacher, who was abruptly placed on administrative leave May 28. That teacher was also concerned graduation requirements for those students were too relaxed, according to Katy Payne, an OSPI spokesperson.

The graduation concerns were about three students with individualized education plans, according to a June 10 letter OSPI sent to the school seeking documentation.

OSPI closed the inquiry last week - days after the June 11 graduation ceremony and one day before students' last day. The school is expected to shut down at the end of the academic year.

At the agency's request, the school provided documents indicating that in the final three weeks, students in special education classes were taught by an instructional assistant who was supervised by a certificated special education teacher, meeting state requirements.

The agency confirmed students who received special education services followed the same process as others to meet graduation requirements, and the school provided information that all students, including those with education plans, met requirements, according to a June 16 letter from OSPI.

The last-minute complaint and inquiry capped Why Not You Academy's tumultuous run, which included a delayed opening during the pandemic in 2021, leadership turnover and staff and student exodus amid complaints that the environment was toxic and chaotic. Just over 12% of students attended 90% or more of the school days in the 2024-25 school year. And last month, a former board director and staff member sued the school in King County Superior Court, alleging wrongful termination and retaliation for sharing alleged violations at the school, including staffing and safety problems.

The school was backed by former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and his Grammy Award-winning wife, entertainer Ciara.

It opened with one grade and just over 100 students. With 65 students last October, the board of directors voted in November to shut down because the low enrollment made the school "not financially or operationally viable."

Payne said OSPI took the concerns seriously given the school's impending closure, frequent staff turnover and past complaints about special education services that resulted in the school providing compensatory educational hours for students with disabilities.

The school's special education teacher and coordinator, Katrina Thulin, contacted OSPI after she was informed that she was being put on administrative leave pending an investigation into a complaint against her, said Thulin.

Earlier in May, Thulin also contacted the Washington Charter School Commission and the State Board of Education with concerns about whether students would meet state graduation requirements by the time they left school. She said she was concerned that students were getting too much help with their projects.

The school offered students the chance to complete a project as part of the state's performance-based pathway to meet graduation requirements after some failed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, Thulin said. Though the school had adopted the pathway last year, Thulin said students were not given directions until May. She was also concerned about whether the pathway would meet state graduation requirements and how students with education plans would be accommodated.

To meet graduation requirements in the performance-based pathway, projects must be aligned with students' High School and Beyond Plans. That could include assignments like a post-graduation plan or a research project on housing and budgeting.

Eric Moore, who started as the school's executive director last year and was put on administrative leave earlier in May, was also worried that some students who required special education services had failed state assessments because they didn't have accommodations and modifications when they were tested. He also shared Thulin's concerns that some students slated to graduate were not prepared for work and college.

Randy Spaulding, executive director of the State Board of Education, which sets the graduation pathway guidelines, said the agency reviewed some samples of students' work, but was unable to determine whether they met the graduation requirements. The board expects students to spend a semester on their projects in the performance-based pathway, he said.

Marcus Harden, executive director of the Washington Charter School Commission, which oversees most of the state's 16 publicly funded but privately run charter schools, said the commission met regularly with the school as it was winding down operations and on the special education and graduation issues.

The commission praised some of the performance pathway's components, but also raised flags in a May 18 memo about whether the school's plan was in concordance with state regulations and whether students with disabilities were getting too much help.

Sarah Lloyd, the commission's chief of community and leadership development, wrote the pathway included a "rigorous" research component, options directly connected to life skills that students need and an opportunity to redo projects.

But she warned that students' graduation could be jeopardized if the school didn't use the state's rubric and make other adjustments.

Lloyd asked the school to keep a record of all special education accommodations and gave examples of types of help that could cross the line.

Julie Kennedy, the vice chairperson of the school's board of directors, declined to comment or answer questions on the record about the state inquiry and graduation concerns. Lauren Ellis, the school's interim executive director, also did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

Thulin remains dissatisfied the OSPI inquiry closed without any action, saying the lack of public corrective action means similar issues could arise elsewhere in the future.

"I do not believe that those students were given the appropriate supports or accommodations," Thulin said Wednesday. "From the bottom of my heart, I want to believe that Why Not You did the appropriate thing and got those kids what they needed. … I believe this is one more time where a charter school is going to close and go quietly into the night because the oversight was too little, too late, and OSPI is washing their hands of it because Why Not You won't exist anyway."

Harden, who also served briefly as executive director at Why Not You, said the commission staff worked with the school to address the issues Lloyd raised.

"The people who have chosen to stay - both staff and families - have done that out of choice, because there were many opportunities to bail," Harden said. "It's why I feel confident that those folks have done right by them."

Thulin, who joined the staff this school year, said she feared the school had failed some of its students and was sending them into the world unprepared.

Before she left in May, only 26 students were attending daily, Thulin said. Seventeen were eligible for special education services, she added.

Those students have "notoriously been underserviced and underprovided for," not just at Why Not You, but nationwide, she said.

"If you have that many special (education) kids attending a school and the school is not appropriately supplying them with accommodations, instruction, and evidence-based design for curriculum, what does it look like for them to succeed in the real world?" she said. "The answer is they can't."

This story uses material from The Seattle Times archives.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 6:34 AM.