Kennewick school leaders accused of failing students and ‘fear-mongering’

A Tri-Cities judge is being asked to send Kennewick middle and high schools students back into classrooms before February.

Six attorneys representing 11 parents filed the appeal Friday in Benton County Superior Court.

The 13-page notice of appeal claims the Kennewick School Board is shirking its responsibility to educate children without basing it on science.

It argued that the scientific evidence supports returning to classrooms and that online instruction falls short of a student’s right to an education under the state constitution.

“The current pandemic has no end in sight and requires a shifting approach to day-to-day operations in schools, not a full-stop shutdown and further fear-mongering,” says the appeal.

“The recent decisions and actions of the board are not in keeping with the board’s statutory duty as they do not ensure quality in education ... and they are not providing students in the Kennewick School District with the opportunity to achieve skills requisite to learning.”

The appeal cites a 1971 state law that allows anyone who feels wronged by a school official’s decision to take the case to Superior Court.

The attorneys, some of whom are parents, are Michelle Alexander, Jennifer Azure, George Cicotte, Timothy Dickerson, Dennis Hanson and Scott Vermeer.

The appeals said the parents they represent feel their children have been hurt by the board’s decision to move the in-person learning date for secondary schools from Nov. 2 to Feb. 2.

Kennewick elementary school students already have returned to partial on-site classes.

Among other issues, board President Dawn Adams and board member Diane Sundvik raised concerns at a board meeting about parents, teachers and administrators who were not taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and who had facilitated student parties.

Adams, Sundvik and board member Ron Mabry voted to delay the return of the middle and high school students. Board members Heather Kintzley and Mike Connors opposed the delay.

The move has led to parent and student protest rallies at the Kennewick administration building, while others have spoken out online backing the delay, saying the COVID-19 rates are too high to bring older students back.

Months of preparation

The appeal points out that the school district spent months preparing to open and was given the OK to move forward by the Benton-Franklin Health District’s Dr. Amy Person.

Dr. Person sent a letter to school districts on Sept. 14 saying schools in Benton County could open as early as Oct. 1 because new cases were on a downward trend. After that letter, the Kennewick board decided to bring students back beginning Oct. 12.

Since then, positive COVID cases in Benton County have been rising and are predicted to be as high as 183 cases per 100,000 over the two weeks ending Oct. 26.

The Washington state Department of Health has set fewer than 75 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks as a goal for allowing some limited in-person learning for most K-12 students. Dr. Person has said 200 new cases per 100,000 could be OK if schools follow strict safety precautions.

She also has pointed out that private schools have not seen outbreaks, and that distance learning is not healthy for many children.

The appeal argues that school district officials have said they were prepared to bring students back. And the district also submitted a plan to the state before the beginning of the school year on how they would handle the reopening for its nearly 18,000 students.

“In the interim between the decisions, the board engaged in discussion with local experts, health officials and the community to determine the overall risk that reopening would pose and to gather community opinions regarding the risk,” the appeal says. “Although there were statements made on both sides of the argument; the facts, scientific data and simple logic support a reopening.”

And they argued that social gatherings off school properties are outside the control of the school district and shouldn’t be part of the decision.

A quality education

The parents who signed onto the appeal say their children have been hurt by the move to online learning. Some parents said they are not equipped to help teach their children after their workday.

Others say their children are losing the chance to form memories, make friends and participate in sports, orchestra and other electives.

Another said his daughter’s mental health has worsened.

The parents said they aren’t being served by online learning while students and parents who don’t want to send their students back have the opportunity to take part in the district’s online academy, according to the appeal.

The law

The school district has 20 days to reply to the appeal. Before the action was filed, the school board had announced plans to reconsider the delay at its Nov. 18 board meeting after seeing a consultant’s report.

The Washington State School Directors Association told the Herald it’s not familiar with the state law being used to challenge the Kennewick board’s decision.

However, it has been used several times to challenge a variety of decisions by school administrators in the state. One of the most recent was in Bellevue where a high school student challenged an administrator’s decision to bar him from attending a national debate competition.

That case went to federal court and was later moved back to King County Superior Court where it’s still pending.

It’s also been used by contract school employees who felt they were unfairly fired, and by a high school booster club that disagreed with the state athletic association banning a team from the playoffs.

It’s unclear whether it will be used in other places as a way to challenge delays in bringing students back to school because of the COVID pandemic.

This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 5:00 AM.