Nepotism in Seattle Schools

This is going to be a difficult post to write because it is sad to see what looks like a norm now at JSCEE. The norm I speak of is largely an occurrence with principals as well as JSCEE senior staff. I also know that this is not going to surprise most who works at JSCEE.

The norm I'm referring to is the one where some personnel have personal connections within the district that sees them moving between jobs and even getting promoted based on those relationships. In short, nepotism. 

This district is risk-adverse when it comes to personnel. They are deathly afraid of being sued for any kind of "wrongful termination" and tend to crumble if challenged. You do that enough and employees realize they can do almost anything and not fear any repercussions. 

I would also venture to say that if people are employed at JSCEE long enough, they tend to see many damning occurrences. Meaning, if their job gets threatened, they know where bodies are buried and use that info to protect themselves. 

I am going to name names. I tried writing this without names and it seemed hopelessly muddled. 

What has finally spurred me to action are two things - the moving of Principal Anitra Jones to Rainier Beach High School after her removal as principal at Rainier View Elementary School because of her demonstrated actions against staff and complaints from families.  

Ms. Jones is now one of three assistant principals at RBHS, a school that has under 900 students. Only the larger high schools have three. For a district worried about finances, that seems absurd.  

The other reason I can name is that this district has made the job of head of HR available to people who have no background in it. I believe this is why there are revolving door personnel issues. The current head of HR, Sarah Pritchett, has moved from job to job to job in SPS. She has no background in HR and neither did the person before her (Noel Treat who at least was a lawyer). 

It is also hard to know - for certain - if personnel found to have violated a district policy or state law are ever truly held accountable. The district will tell you, "it's a personnel issue" and I would venture to guess that protection of union folks and principals is in their contracts. But, what about the people who should have had oversight of the accused, where is the accountability for THEIR actions or lack thereof?

Naturally, all of us end up with connections at the place we work. And sometimes family and friends looking for work might ask about any kind of openings there. That's fine. Plus, many times families do work in the same industry. But there seems to be at SPS, some cliques of people who share outside relationships that appear to help/protect their employment. 

Not one of these in of itself is necessarily odd but when you can draw a Venn diagram among people and their relationships, you see an interesting pattern.

You do wonder if some of the job announcements even see the light of day or does someone "know somebody" for the job at hand? It appears so. When issues arise, do the wagons get circled to protect people? It appears so.

I do want to say in advance that I KNOW these people care deeply about students. 

 

#1

We have a senior-level staffer (formerly a principal) who has a principal brother-in-law. The principal brother-in-law seemed unaware of a major situation at the school that he led that recently came to light. What is also troubling is that when this senior staffer was himself a principal, he seemed to have many serious incidents at his school and yet nothing ever stuck in terms of him being held responsible for lack of oversight. 

How can you be a principal and yet not be held to account for what happens in the school you run? 

Those two people are Ted Howard, originally hired as "Assistant Superintendent of Strategy and Climate" who is now "Chief Accountability Officer" and Joe Powell (now removed and on leave from Alan T. Sugiyama High School. ) The irony of Howard being an "accountability officer is not lost on me. The incident in question for Principal Powell was covered in this story from KUOW.

#2

There are some staffers who go way back, all the way to high school and those would be Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Sarah Pritchett and Rainier Beach High School principal Annie Patu.

There are several female staffers who all belong to the same sorority. Those would be Executive Director Katrina Hunt, Principal Chanda Oatis, Principal Anitra Jones, and Sarah Pritchett.

Two of them - Katrina Hunt and Chanda Otis -  are actual sisters. The two of them tried to protect a math teacher, James Johnson, who had been taken out of his previous school because of bullying and assaulting students. Story from KUOW. It's a shocking story to read because of what Hunt and Otis are stated as having said and done.

#3

There is a relatively new senior hire, young without much experience, who seems to have been hired based on a relationship with a former senior staffer. 

The former senior staffer is Rob Gannon who worked with Superintendent Brent Jones when both were at King County. Gannon worked in SPS as Deputy Superintendent from May 2021 to about May 2022. ( He now works as Library Director of Administrative Services at the downtown library.) 

The new senior staffer is Eric Guerci who is named as "Deputy Chief of Staff" right under Bev Redmond who is Chief of Staff. Apparently, Gannon is friends with Guerci's family. I would be willing to bet this was not an advertised job opportunity.

Guerci is currently handling a $125,000 grant from the Casey Foundation for "eliminating opportunity gaps" per the Strategic Plan. 

 

#4

This one is difficult because it involves a family deeply rooted in community in Seattle. Several of them are employed by SPS or work for orgs that do business with SPS. Again, nothing is wrong with a family being in the same business. 

But when they are clustered together and then there seems to be ongoing issues, you wonder what is going on. 

I first want to say that I have the utmost of respect and admiration for Betty Patu and her late husband, Von Paul. Betty served on the Board for 8 years and was voted president for a term. Both of them cared about kids in their community and their lives were devoted to that service.

So it's not a surprise that their adult children are part of that line of community service as well. Two of their children, Annie and Virginia, work at Rainier Beach High School. Annie has been named as the permanent principal (after being an assistant principal and teacher). Virginia Bathea serves as the Community Engagement & Oversight Manager for the RBHS rebuild.

Betty, Annie, and Virginia all serve on the RBHS School Design Advisory Team for the school rebuild. (Also on the team is Director Brandon Hersey. I have never before seen a board member on any one school design team. Weird.) 

What is odd here is that Annie says on her LinkedIn page that she has been at Rainier Beach HS as an assistant principal since July 2016. But, in a story at the South Seattle Emerald from July 2024 about happenings at Rainier Beach HS, this is stated:

Coaching inspired Patu to become a teacher, and it was at RBHS that she first started teaching. After a few years, she was laid off due to budget cuts and went on to teach in Tacoma for eight years.

Patu again returned to Beach as an administrative intern, and then went on to be an assistant principal at Franklin High School for four years. When the pandemic hit, she came back to Beach and served as assistant principal for two years, then worked as an administrator at Kentridge High School in Kent. That was her last position before landing in the role of principal at Beach.  

She worked in two other school districts in her education work history. Why not say this on LinkedIn? It's not even close to what she told the South Seattle Emerald. It sure doesn't make a lot of sense. 

Virginia is married to long-time (and long-winning) RBJHS boys basketball coach, Mike Bethea. The gym at the new RBHS building is likely to be named for him. 

Betty and Von Paul also have a son, Paul, who started a community group - Urban Family - with his wife, Shantel. The non-profit provides family and youth programs. 

Which brings me the difficult part. There is another daughter, Matelita (Marty) who is married to Mandel Jackson. Marty has also followed the family tradition of service to her community especially in times of great stress within it. She was the director of SE Network SafetyNet, a community group in the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County. Sadly, that is no longer the case. From the Seattle Times, October 4, 2024:

Fourteen people were indicted in federal court Wednesday in connection with a multistate fentanyl drug trafficking organization, including the executive director of SE Network SafetyNet, a community group that is part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County.

Matelita, or Marty, Jackson, a fixture in South Seattle, is a well-known violence prevention advocate who has frequently called for alternative pathways and opportunities to help steer children and young adults away from gang culture and gun violence. Often one of the first responders to sites of shootings to help de-escalate tensions, she also hosts community healing spaces in the wake of violence.

She was indicted in U.S. District Court in Seattle for allegedly laundering money, though court records did not detail the extent of her involvement. Also facing drug trafficking charges are her husband Mandel Jackson, 50, and her two children and stepchild, Marquis, 31, Miracle, 22, and Markell, 21.

According to the indictment, federal agents allegedly intercepted Marty Jackson in the background of a phone call between Mandel and Marquis Jackson before and after a deal involving fentanyl pills. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges Marty Jackson laundered money through structured deposits and by using her account as a “pass-through” between members of the drug trafficking organization.

Marty Jackson, 49, was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty, according to federal court records. She was released from federal detention Wednesday and remains subject to pretrial supervision.

She does not have any prior criminal history, U.S. attorneys noted. According to charging papers, her husband does have a past criminal history.

The SE Network had been receiving money from the City's Seattle Community Safety Initiative and that is now being reviewed by Mayor Harrell's office. 

A Department of Justice investigation is very serious stuff. That it involved a group of people of color allegedly selling drugs to another community of color (the Lummi Nation who, in 2023, lost 4 members in fentanyl overdoses in 4 days, including one linked to the Jackson group) is very troubling.

The SE Network isn't listed on the King County Boys & Girls Clubs page any longer.

In August of 2024, Ms Jackson wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times decrying violence in her neighborhood that occurred during a weekly SE Network event. 

It's sad all around. 

I note that this is the second event around King County Boys & Girls Clubs in SPS in six months. I think in both cases that not only were SPS staff not paying attention but probably the KCB&GC needs to do a real review of their personnel and programs. 

In conclusion, at the very least you might have good candidates who might not even get the chance to interview for some jobs (like the Deputy Chief of Staff one). At the most, you may have people who will allow their judgment to be clouded for friends and family.

It's getting harder to ignore these patterns.