Zachary DeWolf Should Step Down .....NOW

Update: in other Board news, there's finally a candidate for District 2 (Rick Burke's district - he has not filed yet), Lisa Rivera Smith.  Smith is a past PTSA president at Hamilton MS and the current co-president of the yet-to-open Lincoln High School.

There's another challenger for Director Harris - Crystal S. Liston. I can find nothing about her.  Anyone?  

end of update

DeWolf missed an important Board meeting last night where an entire adoption - K-12 - took place.

Where was he?

Campaigning for City Council.


I had called for him to step down if he cleared the primary but now that he is showing he won't be coming to Board meetings, he needs to go NOW.

I hope you write to him (zachary.dewolf@seattleschools.org), go to his campaign Facebook page,  or call the Board office and leave a message (206-252-0040).

His district - the entire district as well - deserves someone who wants to be in the job and do the job.

FYI, here's what he said about schools (from The Stranger):

On affordability, DeWolf said he wants to upzone around Seattle's schools.

Comments

Ed said…
The whole board endorsed him.

Maybe their judgements should be questioned.

It's certain he was excused by Juneau.

Ed, Juneau has no say over what any Board member does. They do not work for her nor are they supervised by her. She works for them.
Ed said…
Then the Board President needs to pull her endorsement and censure.

I believe you have fallen victim to one of their strategic plans.

Remember that MGJ worked for a board too but resigned and moved up in the order.
Anonymous said…
DeWolf is not engaged, has no clue about anything having to do with kids or education, and he’s neither a parent nor a teacher. He’s been AWOL, even when he is up there sitting on the dais. Maybe he didn’t understand there wasn’t salary with this position? Maybe that’s why he desperately wants to pivot to the city? Yes, he should resign immediately due to dereliction of duty. He’s not even pretending at this point. It is infuriating that our kids have to twist in the wind while this guy DeWolf plays at being an elected official without actually doing any work on behalf of his constituents. Likely, it’s s pattern for him. Expect nothing different if he does manage to land another position in government.

@Ed, Zachary DeWolf didn’t get endorsed because he was fabulous, he was picked because the other opponent was way worse. Basically DeWolf was the least worst candidate. Similarly when his predecessor, Stephan Blanford won, it wasn’t because he was great, it was because his opponent was a hate-filled homophobe. Dr. Blanford was a condescending blow-hard who enabled Tolley, and therefore probably even more damaging to education than DeWolf could even aspire to.



tired
Ed said…
Tired:

I was referring to NOW and his 2019 "effort" to slouch into a higher paying position at City Hall.
Anonymous said…
@ tired
You are spot on. DeWolf has been a waste of space but the alternative may have been worse. He should step down now, but beyond that, we don't need his lack of engagement/interest/skill on the City Council. Haven't we already had enough of that?

Rick Burke has been a pretty steady and thoughtful hand but Lisa Rivera Smith has been an engaged parent and PTA leader. Should be an interesting race.
-Long Road
Elem Parent said…
Not sure if this is the same Crystal Liston, but maybe?
https://www.issaquahreporter.com/news/wheelchair-bound-athlete-swims-lake-washington/
Elem Parent said…
If that's her, here's another couple of articles:
http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2005/0123/living.html
http://www.dobiggood.com/blog/2016/8/30/disabled-for-a-day
https://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/99nov/pamphlet/s4113.htm
2nd Motion said…
I'll second your motion to have Zachary DeWolf step down from Seattle School Board.

DeWolf is now running for city council. Joel Connelly quotes DeWolf DeWolf promising "follow through". I guess follow through for the city council, but not school board?

"DeWolf has taken an unorthodox strategy in challenging Sawant. He rarely mentions and doesn't demonize the controversial incumbent. Instead, he promises follow through, especially in the fields of homelessness and LGBTQ youth in which he has worked.
"Every election we hear sound bites and get press releases to convince us we are being heard," he said. "It isn't so."


https://m.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Sawant-calls-for-fighting-movement-a-13849394.php?fbclid=IwAR3gpT4G3e5JLZQBWL0KO5yJFwNlCMNLwH1SUtsFCf4W9Dkvj7KH0YuTmDg
Anonymous said…
Lisa Rivera Smith has an opponent: Rebecca Wilson, who was literally trained by the Washington State Charter Schools Leadership Program: http://www.wilsonk12.com/about-us1.html

Well-regarded and expeirenced PTA mom and woman of color versus a charter school hack. My money’s on Rivera Smith.

D2 Voter
Anonymous said…
Another vote for Lisa Rivera-Smith. She is awesome, has experience being a PTSA president multiple years, and has a wondering temperament for the board.

Former HIMS
Elsa said…
Unfortunately,those "wondering temperament(s)" are the first things to go.
Anonymous said…
Ha! sorry....wonderful temperment. But agree.

Former HIMS
Anonymous said…
Melissa Are you really running for the board?
=surprised
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
joanna said…
Andre Helmstetter was the best candidate in the primary when DeWolf was elected, but just barely did not make it to the general election; then Dewolf did seem the best of the two that were left.
Anonymous said…
There were two qualified opponents, one not and DeWolf. I voted for Andre. DeWolf seemed ok. He is not.

Competing priories
Big Talk said…
Zachary DeWolf is campaigning for a seat on Seattle City Council. When asked about education, DeWolf states students should have counselors. What exactly has DeWolf done to provide schools in his district with family support workers and counselors? What has he done to assure Family and Education dollars are used to provide school counselors?
chunga said…
I've not been following local ed issues much the last year or two. I see the issue with DeWolf not stepping down, but what's the big issue with his term on the board? Looks like the entire school board has endorsed his city council run which would seem to indicate they felt he's done a good job on the board. While I also preferred Andre, I thought DeWolf seemed like a pretty good candidate and someone who would provide a valuable and different perspective on the board. Any specific issues with his contributions on the board?

Chunga, well, they could have endorsed him because then he's NOT on the Board. You'd have to ask them.

Specific issues;

- maybe two community meetings in two years when all the other directors have them once or twice a month

- missing Work sessions and/or committee meetings - that's where real work gets done

- he said yesterday that he "texts with parents all the time." Texting is not talking and it's not community building.

- He also said yesterday at the 43rd Dems debate that he "honors" all his commitments. What?! You run for a higher office in the middle of one you are already in? You don't go to meetings regularly. C'mon.

- Where was he with all the issues at Washington Middle School? According to parents, nowhere to be seen.

He has a good heart but he is not a leader and doesn't have real ideas of his own.
Anonymous said…
For the record, Zachary DeWolf was not "nowhere to be seen" at Washington MS. He was the primary guest speaker at a well-attended Nov. 1 meeting organized by the Washington PTSA, and he usually responded to WMS parent/student testimony at Board meetings. DeWolf has said that he would advocate for expanding the WMS attendance area as a way of addressing the drastically reduced enrollment that has contributed to issues at the school.

All that said, he hasn't yet shown he can be effective as a School Board member. It was inexcusable for him to launch a City Council campaign only 16 months into his 4-year term on the Board. He should step down.

WMS parent
FOIA Concerns said…
Am I the only person having an issue with DeWolf having parents text him? Text messages should be readily available for public disclosure.

DeWolf has complained that it is very difficult to work full time and serve on the Seattle Public School Board. Now that he is running for the city council, how much time will he have to dedicate to Seattle Schools?

Step-down.
FOIA Concerns said…
- He also said yesterday at the 43rd Dems debate that he "honors" all his commitments. What?! You run for a higher office in the middle of one you are already in? You don't go to meetings regularly. C'mon."

All true.
Anonymous said…
The state Supreme Court has ruled that such texts ARE subject to disclosure.

Try to get even one out of that swamp.

Good luck....
I have a public disclosure request in for texts - not for DeWolf - but someone else. Let’s see how that goes.

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