CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of a parental complaint at Hough Elementary that led to a legal settlement. The complaint was over the use of physical restraining techniques. An earlier version also misstated the legal nature of that parent’s filing against the Vancouver School District. It was a due process complaint. OPB regrets both errors.
By filling pivotal new roles with familiar faces, the Vancouver School District is drawing concern from some parents and teachers about its willingness to learn from recent failures.
The district recently created new positions to help address systemic issues that, in 2019, spurred an investigation by the Washington Attorney General’s Office.
Three of the roles are now filled by current staff, including the principal of a school where physical restraints of a child led to a legal settlement and a non-disclosure agreement with the parents.
“This is not a step in the right direction,” said Cara Bailey, the child’s parent. She initially raised her concerns at a public meeting in mid-August.
In June 2019, a state attorney general’s investigation found Vancouver Public Schools disciplined students of color and students with disabilities at disproportionately higher rates than their peers. Investigators said the district violated state laws requiring equity in the discipline of students.
District spokesperson Pat Nuzzo said the new hires will help change disciplinary practices for the better. She said all employees were “thoroughly vetted.”
“The district is committed to ensuring compliance with the district’s efforts to eliminate discipline disparities and on its equity initiative,” Nuzzo said in an email. “The district is committed and is confident that the individuals hired are qualified and will meet the expectations of the school board and superintendent.”
In response to investigators’ findings, Vancouver School District officials in the fall of 2019 hired a consultant and formed a 20-person steering committee to recommend changes – including new policies and staff – to solve the issues.
Among those changes was the creation of three new jobs at the district. Those jobs – an education ombudsman, a special services compliance manager and an assistant general counsel – were posted in late May, according to a steering committee member.
A fourth position, chief equity officer, was rolled out on June 11 after the school announced a new “equity initiative,” to further address bias within the school system.
On July 24, the district announced all but the assistant general counsel role had been filled. It’s not clear how many applicants the district received for the positions.
Daniel Losen, the consultant brought in after the state report and director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA, said he didn’t explicitly recommend the jobs be filled externally or internally – just that the hires be qualified and included people of color.
Losen added that he’s consulted with many districts. Vancouver Public Schools, he said, acknowledged its shortcomings and wanted to fix them.
“I met many people, both administrators and teachers, who I was genuinely impressed with their commitment to addressing these issues,” Losen said.
All three hires were internal candidates, noted Jennifer Hernandez, a former teacher at the district and a current administrator at Portland Public Schools.
Hernandez applied for the chief equity officer position but said she felt she was a longshot candidate because she had long battled an internal culture of favoritism at the district.
“It’s not to support student success,” she said. “The favoritism needs to stop. It’s not about just growing your own, it’s about focusing on students and meeting their needs.”
The hiring of a special services compliance manager specifically worried Bailey and another parent, Sarah McPartland. Both have taken successful legal action against the district over the treatment of their children.
The special services compliance manager is tasked with ensuring the district complies with federal laws that protect students with disabilities. The district hired Steve Vance, then-principal at Hough Elementary.
Unlike the other two hires, Vance’s new role is not a promotion, Nuzzo said.
During his tenure, records show Vance oversaw staff who regularly restrained Bailey’s child, a boy on the autism spectrum. Bailey filed a due process complaint against the district in 2018 and signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of her eventual settlement.
Then she saw Vance land a new role. She said “it was a doozy.”
“I personally have to go back to what happened to my son and relive it,” she said. Bailey removed her child from the district but said she wants him to return to a learning environment with peers. “I am going to have to deal with this individual again, and he broke my trust. The whole district broke my trust. And this is not building trust again.”
According to Nuzzo, the hiring committee “thoroughly vetted all of the applicants for the positions.” She said the district cannot discuss specific students, but that parents are free to share information. OPB has requested copies of the settlements and non-disclosure agreements.
McPartland, who is also a former teacher at the district, said the district shouldn’t have hired internally for these jobs because it needs “fresh eyes and ears.”
“I would have liked to see some external hiring,” she said. “So there’s not a loyalty to the institution.”