Seattle Schools Community Forum

When the Silas Potter incident was exposed, naturally I was following it very closely.  But when Potter took a plea, I was less interested and so forgot that one of his co-conspirators was going to trial.  According to the Times Potter and David Johnson are turning on each other.    Mr. Johnson is on trial for 42 counts of theft. What is slightly amusing is that Potter testified that he forged Johnson's signature: On the stand, Potter testified that he occasionally forged Johnson’s name on contracts. He said that made it hard for him to say definitely whether it was he, or Johnson, who signed certain documents admitted into evidence. Well, that ought to make dropping some of those 42 counts easy for Johnson's lawyer if no one knows who signed the contracts.   It looks like each could receive between 4-5 years in prison. On a happier note, Diane Ravitch will be on The Daily Show tomorrow - Wednesday, the 30th.  I'm going to love watching ...

From KOMO TV: Silas Potter Jr., one of the central figures in a financial scandal in Seattle Public Schools, pleaded guilty Monday to 36 counts of theft for stealing funds from a Seattle Public School District program designed to assist minority-owned businesses in receiving school district contracts.  He could get between 3 1/2 to 5 years in prison.  He is to be sentenced in late May. That leave one final co-conspirator, David Johnson, who is going to stand trial starting May 13th.   The third co-conspirator, Lorrie Kay Sorensen, pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced in June. Seems like my hunch was right - Potter had nothing that was going to mitigate or save him. I believe the district received some sum of money from insurance but not the entire $250k Potter took.  The vendors who made about $280k from questionable work may look like they are walking away unscathed but I hope the district makes note of who they are and gives pauses before hiring...

From KUOW : Former Seattle Public Schools manager Silas Potter faces 33 new felony theft charges for allegedly embezzling more than a quarter of a million dollars from the district.   King County Prosecutor's Office Deputy Chief of Staff Ian Goodhew says prosecutors brought the new charges because Potter has declined to plead guilty to the nine original felony theft charges. "Each of those counts are for additional checks that we believe were laundered through dummy companies from the Seattle Public School system for services that were not rendered or that they grossly overcharged for," Goodhew said. Hard to believe he wouldn't plead guilty given that one of his co-conspirators (Lorrie Kay Sorenson) did already.  The other co-conspirator, David A. Johnson, did not appear at the Potter hearing and a bench warrant went out for his arrest.  Potter is to be tried in Feb. (let's hope AFTER the levy elections).    He could get up to 10 years i...

Monday, November 26th Superintendent Banda's meeting with the Latino community from 6-8 pm at El Centro de la Raza. Feedback, concerns and questions are welcome. Tuesday, November 27th Work Session: Strategic Plan Guiding Principle s from 4:30-6:30 pm.  No agenda available. Work Session: Ethics Training from 6:45-7:45 pm.  (I'm not sure who this is for - the Board or staff or both.) No agenda available. Wednesday, November 28th School Board meeting starting at 4:15 pm.  Sign up first thing Monday morning if you want to speak. Agenda. Action items reflect the 2013 Legislative agenda, approval of "superintendent evaluation instrument: the CSIP approvals, voting in a new Policy 1400 about Board meetings. To note about Policy 1400, it appears the start time is to remain at 4:15 p.m.  It also changes the policy that saying that any changes in the prepared agenda may be requested by the Superintendnetn or a Board member and is approved by majority vote (an...

District updates: I asked the Board about their stand on I-1240 and received this reply from President DeBell: A Resolution opposing I-1240 is on next week's agenda  for introduction and action.  It was recommended unanimously by the Executive Committee to the full Board at yesterday's meeting and will be posted tomorrow.  This follows the Renton School Board's rejection of I-1240 as well.   So here how it is lining up against I-1240: Community groups, many legislators and other elected officials, the Washington State PTA, the Washington State School Directors Association, the Association of School Administrators, the principals' association, numerous labor groups, and, I predict, a huge number of specific school boards.  On the other side: Billionaires, LEV, Stand, DFER, many editorial boards and all the people who believe that by voting for charters they stick it to the teachers union.  (I say the latter because I have tracked the editoria...

The panel last night was Steve Sundquist, Sherry Carr, Pegi McEvoy (COO), Robert Boesche (CFO) and Dr. Enfield.   Peter Maier also attended but was not part of the panel.  Linda Shaw from the Times attended and there were about 30 people in the audience. The Seattle Council PTSA was very gracious in dispensing with the business part of the meeting and went right to comments from the panel and then questions.  It was an interesting format because you could submit a written question and, at the end, ask a question.  I had printed out all the budget questions I had received from my thread and gave it to the moderator.

Publicola did some digging and found that the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) had a contract with the Urban League (who also had contracts with SPS).    From the article : In response to a public disclosure request, WSDOT revealed that it has contracted out support for disadvantaged and minority businesses through the Regional Small Business Development Program (RSBDP), the Seattle Public Schools division headed up by program manager Silas Potter, the man in charge of the SPS program at the center of the $1.8 million scandal, as first reported by the Seattle Times. According to quarterly and annual reports on WSDOT’s Support Services for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), Potter’s RSBDP offered business competitiveness courses to companies with the goal of helping them bid more successfully for WSDOT contracts. The low level of DBE attendance and the lack of any growth in enrollment at RSBDP classes suggests a similar pattern to that d...

The Times has a revealing article about Fred Stephens, former head of Facilities and Silas Potter's enabler/friend/supporter.  I was wondering when someone in the mainstream media might want to examine his record.  The Times does a fairly good job but does miss/leave out a few parts. For me, it jogs my memory back to several Board meetings.  (I keep most of the Board agenda's at meetings where I have spoken and so I can recall testimony from other speakers.)  The article starts off with African-American activists wanting more access/opportunities to bid on SPS construction contracts.

Want to know the number one asked question about the financial scandal?  Why was this program created at SPS? KUOW had a superlative report by Phyllis Fletcher giving a great backstory complete with Board meeting audio plus historic background on Seattle minority businesses.   It fills in a lot of gaps in the story. There's a transcript at KUOW but honestly, it is much better to listen to and hear some familiar voices praising Silas. What is jaw-dropping to me is this at a Board meeting in 2008: Potter admitted to the board that he lobbied a state legislator to change a law that would let him expand his program. Potter: " I kinda sorta didn't let the school board know when I did it. So you guys have to forgive me for it." They did. But his lobbying was a violation of district policy. Potter didn't say that outright. His lobbying was successful. He got to give contracts to bigger companies as a result. Here was an SPS employee standing before the Board...

Here's the latest in the Pottergate saga from the Seattle PI. Thanks to connections in SPS I had a heads up on this but had not seen the details. (I know this information was also given to the Times but the PI seems to have beaten them to the first release of the story.) It doesn't look good for yet another couple of Board members, this time Steve Sundquist and Harium Martin-Morris. From the PI story: Two Seattle school board members were warned in late 2008 that a contractor hired by Silas Potter was unlicensed, paying below-market wages and not following safety rules on construction sites at two elementary schools, according to e-mails between the school board and union officials The contractor, Solar West Office Solutions, was investigated by the state Department of Labor and Industries, which ordered the company to pay $57,000 in back wages. However, the school district wound up footing the bill because Solar West's owner, Keith Battle, could not be locat...

High atop his tower (probably on Mount Doom) Gary Ikeda, former head counsel at SPS, is NOW going to speak to the Board's investigator. Somehow he remembered his law school training and realized he could speak if he got a client(the Board)/attorney privilege waiver. This story was in the Seattle Times. District lead counsel Noel Treat said this: Treat, in a reply e-mail, advised Ikeda to "please cooperate fully and answer any questions" of the investigator, Seattle attorney Patricia Eakes. On Friday, Treat told Ikeda that because Eakes is legal counsel working for the school district, no waiver of the attorney-client privilege is necessary for him to cooperate. "To the extent you believe otherwise, please consider this a waiver to the extent necessary for you to be interviewed," Treat wrote in his e-mail, telling Ikeda that Eakes would contact him next week. What Gary thought: "However, I do think clarification is necessary as to the issue of my n...

Being away from the action (and doing some amount of long distance driving), I've had time to ponder Maria Goodloe-Johnson and her actions (or inaction as the case may be) in the last week. The Story of the Lost Integrity (or Did I Ever Have It in the First Place)? Once upon a time you're hired for a leadership position. You're hired to come in and make big changes where everyone, from top to bottom, is accountable. You even have a phrase created and put it at the bottom of every single business sheet of paper. Something like "Every student achieving, everyone accountable." You come in and turn this way and that and create a great deal of churn that looks like action but when the foam dies down? Not so much. Years pass. Suddently, you are told that an investigation is occurring around a program under your leadership. Wait, make that two investigations. Must be serious, right? You talk to the investigators but for the life of you just don't remember m...

Yes, it's going to be Open Thread tonight. Be our eyes and ears at the School Board meeting for those who can't go or watch. They don't take shots of the audience so if you recognize any of the usual suspects, let us know. I want impressions, details and your thoughts. (If you go see Wendy Kopp, let us know how that goes as well.)

As other readers have shared, Mr. Potter has opened up. From what we have learned about his dealings and his personality, nothing is very surprising. In the Times' story , he says he believes he is being " thrown under the bus ." Silas, all of you are more like rats off a sinking ship. This is rapidly turning into "he said, he said, he said" with Dr. Goodloe-Johnson sitting in the corner speaking no evil, seeing no evil and hearing no evil. He's still in Tampa (has been since September) and: No law-enforcement officials have contacted him, and he said he would cooperate with them. Potter said he's ready for any fallout, even if he gets arrested. "If I have to serve time, OK," he said. From your lips to the King County prosecutor's ears, Silas. I'm hoping the King County prosecutor is giving the Times a ring today for his location. Also, he talks about himself in the third person. Shades of Bob Dole. About who is really at fa...

The stories are flying fast and furious. The Seattle Times has a story about the coming ouster of the Superintendent and COO. A couple of choice quotes: "It's a sad situation," DeBell said after the meeting. "Maria is a good person. Don Kennedy is a good person. "But when they have that much responsibility, they have to be held accountable." Asked if she let him down, as one of the School Board members who had hired her, DeBell said that "lax management and lax oversight let the city down." So wait, does that mean he believes the Board was lax? Again, this isn't about likability or if someone is good. It's about skills, ethics and vision. I believe MGJ has the skills to be a good superintendent but not the ethics or vision. She made bad choices in the name of her vision and was trying to marginalize the Board and consolidate power since the day she got here. Maybe for legal reasons DeBell couldn't say outright - "...

Here's one other piece of this puzzle of a crisis - the tracking of the Sutor Group report. Back in early 2009, district communications, for whatever reason, had been talking up the Small Business Works program. The Daily Journal of Commerce decided to do a piece on it. But the reporter wasn't going to just do some fluff piece "look at this great program" based on what the district PR put out. He had done a public disclosure request and got the Sutor Group report. Apparently, he called the district with questions and word went out to upper administration from Communications; the Daily Journal of Commerce had the Sutor Group report and may call about findings. All calls were to be referred to Communications. Now MGJ put this in her daily Friday updates to the Board. Why no one on the Board thought, "What is this report and why does it have actions and responses that a reporter would call about?" The Board did not receive the Sutor Group report and w...

Ah, so the plot thickens. A reader alerted us to a story in the Seattle PI online about lobbying that Silas Potter did at the State Legislature for more leeway in running business development programs. In the Auditor's work documents, it notes a couple of times that Potter had been told not to go to the Legislature and lobby (but he apparently didn't stop). As well, a former legislator, Velma Veloria, was paid by his office to lobby as well (even though lobbying for the district is strictly limited and must go through Legal and neither person did). Apparently there was little opposition to the bill (which passed) but: Larry Stevens of the Mechanical Contractors of Western Washington and National Electrical Contractors Association, testified on March 15, 2007 that he was concerned about a lack of oversight. "There needs to be some parameters around it. This bill...is a little too wide open," he said. "It just throws it open....there are no public works pol...

I actually don't have time to get into this in depth but let me explain what I know about how this idea about outreach to small businesses that are minority/woman-owned. (I will try to flesh this out more later or, hopefully, some media-type will do it.) This started with an idea from former School Board member Mary Bass. It became a policy (but again, I don't have the policy number or date in front of me). What I understood it to be was merely a way to say to those smaller companies, "Here is a staff person you can call with questions. He/She can help guide you through the process." In addition, I think they were probably going to make a small brochure with tips and maybe have a couple of classes a year on doing business with SPS.This work would be part of one person's job in capital. That's it. No roster of classes, no roster of instructors, no personal service contracts so that prominent people in the community could do outreach. Just a way to bro...

Several readers who are keeping up (bless you, I took time out to go to an Oscars party) pointed out this article in the PI. Remember when I said that reading through the SAO interviews I saw one vendor who seemed the most mysterious? And, that I thought this was the one that Potter could be using to funnel money to various people (including himself)? Grace of Mercy, the focus of the article, is that vendor. No one at the district who got interviewed seemed to know anything about them (and yet know of other vendors). Silas Potter hand delivered their invoices. From the article: TACOMA - A non-descript brown house with a heavy door and a "no solicitors" sign stands at the dead end of a south Tacoma street. It's rental house owned by David A. Johnson and home to two companies - Grace of Mercy and Allstate Surveillance & Security - that, according to the Washington state Auditor, received $353,000 in Seattle Public Schools money spent for reasons unclear. Why...

Charlie went over what he thought striking from the Board's Investigative report. Here's mine: Another factor that may have contributed to decisions by employees not to take their concerns to the Board was the communication protocol developed in conjunction with the Board and instituted by Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson. The communication protocol was intended to streamline requests for information between the Board and District employees and was not intended to cut off employees’ access to the Board. Although the policy explicitly encouraged employees to bring concerns relating to activities that were not in the best interest of the District to the attention of management and promised no negative repercussions for doing so, some employees, including the internal auditor, believed the policy prohibited employees from having direct contact with the Board or the Superintendent. (bold mine) We also discovered that the Superintendent plays no active role in the budget formatio...