Solving a Two-Fold Problem at Seattle Schools

As you may have heard, Anitra Jones, former principal at Rainier View Elementary School, is being assigned to Adams Elementary School because the current longtime Adams principal is retiring. What's a bit odd is that SPS could be seeking out a new principal right now because the retiring principal is there until the end of the year. 

Jones has quite the reputation. On the one hand, she has received a couple of awards for her work. Some of it was for intensive after-school work that was not voluntary in order to help students academically. 

But on the other hand, her tenure at Rainier View ES was appalling. Nearly all the staff wanted to walk out. You saw some of those staff and many RVES parents at Board meetings pleading for help. According to the Times article, it was "a toxic learning and working environment." She even had the SEA filing complaints about how she treated teachers. 

She got pulled from RVES in 2024 and was then moved to Rainier Beach HS on "special assignment." It was never defined as to what she was actually doing. The SEA wasn't enthused about this placement either.

This situation brings up the chronic issue of why parents aren't always part of the hiring process for a new principal. That it happens sometimes and not others without a clearly defined reasoning is frustrating for all. 

This situation also brings up what is deeply upsetting for parents - teacher and principal contracts. 

From my years watching SPS, here's my take. No one wants someone's career derailed because of an accusation. But when you can see someone's job performance is not serving students, that's a problem. Everyone deserves to be heard. But it appears to be a long and tedious process that seems to only serve the person under contract. 

I recall when Roosevelt got a new principal years ago, he set about trying to exit a couple of problematic teachers. My own son had both and they were truly awful. But the principal set up a matrix of corrections in both teaching and behavior for these teachers. By the end of the year, both were gone.

But that takes serious work and time. 

Did those teachers pop up elsewhere? I don't know. 

HOWEVER, there is another situation that may work to help send Jones elsewhere. 

As I have written about previously, there is a prominent family in SE Seattle, the Patu family. The late Von Paul Patu was a community activist and, of course, his wife, Betty Patu, served on the Seattle School Board for several terms. They are both decent and honest people beloved in their community.

A couple of people in the family have become educators and work in SPS. One of them is Annie Patu, the principal at Rainier Beach High School. 

Sadly, several members of the family were indicted in federal court nearly two years ago on charges of running a multistage fentanyl drug trafficking ring. One is Marty Jackson (formerly Patu) who was executive director of the SE Network SafetyNet Program that is part of the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County. Jackson, along with her husband, two children and a stepchild, were all part of the indictment. This indictment seemed to be sparked by four deaths by fentanyl on the Lummi reservation. 

According to The Journal 425, Annie Patu is being questioned by the feds about her family's and may be a witness against them if a trial comes about. 

Transcripts obtained by J425 reveal that Patu, an educational leader and mandatory reporter, provided information to federal investigators revealing that she was aware of significant criminal red flags within her immediate family at the same time she was simultaneously integrating family members into the Rainier Beach High School ecosystem. 

Specifically, during what’s described as a “consensual interview” with federal agents, Patu made several admissions linking her to the peripheries of the Jackson DTO’s operations.

I can't say what that all means but I believe that Annie Patu should be put on leave from RBHS before the situation gets even more complicated. 

So what am I saying about solving a two-fold problem? 

Put Patu on leave and you need an interim principal at RBHS. I think it should be Anitra Jones as she is already at the school and knows the community.  It would solve the problem of the terrible placement at Adams Elementary as principal.

Then, once Patu has given all the information she knows and/or testifies in court, she can resume being principal at RBHS. 

It might give the district just enough time to address Jones' job performance and exit her for good. 

Adams Elementary should then have a valid principal process to find their next leader.