BELLINGHAM — The three Bellingham Public Schools administrators who were criminally cited last month for failing to report a student’s sexual assaults have been reassigned to jobs within the school district office.
Former Bellingham High School assistant principal Maude Chimere Hackney and former Squalicum High School assistant principals Meghan V. Dunham and Jeremy Gilbert Louzao were reassigned to the school district’s Department of Teaching and Learning, effective Jan. 3, according to district announcements made for both high schools on Tuesday and first reported by Cascadia Daily News.
All three will be working out of the school district office “and will be available to help as needed,” the announcements state.
Hackney, Dunham and Louzao were moved to the district office “in recognition of the legal proceeding still in progress and to avoid disruption to the educational environment,” Dana Smith, a Bellingham Public Schools spokesperson told The Bellingham Herald in a Friday, Jan. 6, email.
Smith said the staffing changes were made over winter break. The school district has yet to determine whether the reassignments will become permanent, Smith said.
Citations, a lawsuit and walk-outs
Hackney, Dunham and Louzao were each criminally cited Dec. 7 in Whatcom County District Court with one count of failure to report, a gross misdemeanor. All three of the administrators are mandatory reporters, which requires them by law to report any suspected abuse or neglect of a child to law enforcement or the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.
None of the three reported the students’ sexual assault allegations to local law enforcement or to the state child welfare agency, The Herald previously reported.
All three have had their attorneys issue not-guilty pleas on their behalf and they are expected to appear in court later this month. None of the three former assistant principals made a first appearance in court. That hearing, which was scheduled for Dec. 30, was canceled because a notice of appearance was filed by each of their attorneys before the hearing, according to Whatcom County District Court officials.
The female former Squalicum High School student who brought the sexual assaults to the attention of the assistant principals nearly a year prior filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Dec. 7 alleging that the school district failed her and showed a pattern of “extreme and outrageous conduct” after she reported the assaults, violating her Title IX rights.
The male student accused of assaulting the female student is facing a charge of indecent liberties by forcible compulsion, which is a felony, in Whatcom County Juvenile Court, which is a division of Whatcom County Superior Court. He is also facing charges in two other criminal cases, The Herald previously reported.
Hundreds of students also walked out of class at Squalicum High School Dec. 12 protesting what they said is a lack of care and accountability from school administrators regarding sexual assaults and harassment of students.
Bellingham Public Schools Superintendent Greg Baker said in a previous statement that student safety is a priority for the district this year. Baker said school staff received information and “took good-faith actions” to support and protect the student based on the information they received. He said the details of what was reported to school administrators and the actions they took in response to that information “are intimately tied to the legal issues being considered by the courts.”
Baker previously said the school district was limited in what it could share due to the ongoing criminal and civil legal matters surrounding this issue.
Teaching and learning department
The three former assistant principals were moved to the school district’s department of teaching and learning to minimize disruptions to the educational environment and because it’s the department that “most closely aligns with these employees’ expertise and experience,” Smith said.
The district’s department of teaching and learning oversees and supports a variety of curricular areas and educational administrative work, Smith said. It also provides leadership and support to the schools and school leaders focused on the district’s work with students and families, she said.
The teaching and learning department manages visual and performing arts, physical education, middle school athletics, home school, the summer school program, online virtual learning, curriculum, multilingual learners, special education, early childhood education and wellness, among other areas, according to the school district’s website.
Hackney, Dunham and Louzao will use their experiences and expertise to support the teaching and learning department’s district-level administrative work, Smith said. All three will continue to work full-time, she said.
The district previously expressed support for the three assistant principals. In a Dec. 9 statement, Baker said all three continued to work in their normal capacities and had the district’s support in doing so. He said the district did not believe the three staff members posed a safety risk to students and that the allegations against them did not involve conduct that endangered students.
By the following week, Dunham and Louzao were working from home or the district office based on the district’s “desire to minimize disruptions to the Squalicum learning environment and on feedback from students,” Smith previously told The Herald. Hackney continued to work at Bellingham High School throughout that week, Smith said.
Hackney’s current salary is $151,003. Dunham’s is $148,770 and Louzao’s is $148,770, The Herald previously reported.
Interim assistant principals
Heather Steele has replaced Hackney and began serving as interim assistant principal at Bellingham High School on Jan. 3. Steele was previously an administrative intern at the high school, helped coordinate graduation and served as a district-wide teacher on special assignment, according to the high school’s Tuesday announcement.
Bill Stuckrath and Laurel Peak replaced Dunham and Louzao and began serving as interim assistant principals at Squalicum High School as of Jan. 3. Stuckrath previously worked as an assistant principal at the high school for seven years and retired in 2014. He has worked in education for nearly four decades, according to the high school’s Tuesday announcement.
Peak has been the school district’s director of athletics and activities since 2021 and previously taught at Squalicum High School. She has experience as a special education teacher and as part of the high school’s professional development team, the announcement states.
Peak is also Bellingham Public Schools’ Title IX coordinator. As Title IX coordinator, Peak coordinates the school district’s compliance efforts with state and federal laws and regulations governing sex discrimination and sexual harassment., according to the school district’s policies.
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal funding, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Peak is responsible for reviewing and summarizing the factual findings of an outside investigator (who is an attorney who specializes in Title IX issues), and sending a report to the superintendent or a designee, who will ultimately make a decision related to the investigation, Smith said.
Peak is not the Title IX investigator and “is removed enough from decision making to avoid a conflict of interest,” Smith said.
The Title IX coordinator is required to receive training on the definition of sexual harassment under Title IX, the scope of the district’s educational programs, how to conduct an investigation and grievance process for complaints, how to serve impartially and how to raise awareness of and eliminate bias based on sex, race, religion, national origin, etc, according to school district policies.
Peak will retain her position as the Title IX coordinator while also serving as interim assistant principal, Smith said.
Peak’s current salary is $162,195, because she is a director of teaching and learning, Smith said. Stuckrath’s current salary is $160,235, while Steele’s current salary is $148,770. Both the salaries of Stuckrath and Steele will be prorated based on the days they work as administrators, Smith said.
