The Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors appears poised to put Superintendent John Steach on administrative leave, according to a school board notice released Friday afternoon.
At 5:01 p.m., the district issued a school board notice for 8 a.m. Monday, listing only an executive session to review the performance of a public employee — a closed meeting expected to last 15 minutes — followed by possible placement of the superintendent on administrative leave and appointment of an interim replacement. On Saturday, the district published a notice that the board may also be accepting Steach’s resignation.
The apparent suddenness of the decision and the reasons for it, however, were unclear. No additional documentation was listed on the school board’s website.
All four school board members were mum, either not returning phone calls or declining to comment. Union representatives reached for comment were surprised by the news and had no additional information. District spokeswoman Gail Spolar said no information would be available until Monday.
“I apologize, but understand this is a difficult situation and we are not able to comment further at this time,” Spolar said by email Friday evening.
Steach was appointed to succeed Superintendent John Deeder in 2017. At about 26,000 students, Evergreen is Clark County’s largest school district and Washington’s sixth largest. Steach’s total salary for the 2017-2018 school year was $232,762.
Mike Merlino, chief operations officer, is the district’s emergency superintendent successor.
Steach’s short tenure has been tumultuous. Teachers in the district went on strike for a week and a half last summer, picketing for raises in light of new school funding. Teachers in the union accused the district, and Steach specifically, of unfair bargaining during the heated demonstrations.
The district has also run multiple school funding measures, including operations and technology levies that narrowly passed earlier this month.
And most recently, Steach has been emailing district staff, alerting them of coming budget cuts in light of the cap on local levy dollars.
In an email to administrative staff and principals on Feb. 13, Steach announced that the district is facing an overall budget reduction of 5 percent. The district also announced that 20 percent of administrative positions would likely be eliminated at the end of the year. Spolar said 17 positions will be cut through attrition, retirements, possible reassignment and potential layoff.
“These were difficult decisions and will leave (significant) gaps in how we do business,” Steach wrote. “What other reductions will occur, will be an ongoing process from now until the Legislature adjourns.”
Steach has touted the district’s expansion of its technology program under his tenure, with the district adopting digital curriculum for student laptops shortly before he took over as superintendent. The district also saw continued growth in its graduation rate, with 87.5 percent of seniors graduating in four years in 2018, up from 85.7 percent in 2017. That’s on pace with five-years of trending growth for the east Vancouver school district.
Steach arrived in the district in 2014 as deputy superintendent. Previously, he was the superintendent of the Canby School District in Canby, Ore. Steach has never been a classroom teacher and was previously an engineer.
The board will meet Monday morning at the Administrative Service Center, 13501 N.E. 28th St., Vancouver.
