Athletics director at Puyallup High School agrees to quit
Puyallup High School’s athletic and activities director will remain on paid leave until he resigns at year’s end.
That comes in the wake of a school district investigation that found he violated several district policies, including one governing conduct with athletic equipment suppliers.
The Puyallup School District report found that in an attempt to secure a job after retirement, Jeff Kindle promoted a company’s products to district personnel and youth sports organizations. Last fall, he falsely claimed family illness for three school days to attend an athletic dealership training seminar in Portland, according to the report.
But the report also suggests widespread ignorance or disregard of district policies banning acceptance of discounts or freebies, and recommends the district consider imposing stricter bid procedures.
Kindle says he never intentionally broke the rules.
“At no point did I ever feel I was doing anything wrong or illegal. If I would have known that I was doing something illegal, I wouldn’t have done it,” said Kindle. “I think my record for 30 years in public education would speak to exactly what I just said.”
The report says Kindle has no prior disciplinary history, has received satisfactory evaluations throughout his district career and has been active in school-related athletic and community groups.
The district’s lawyer, Cliff Foster, wrote the 28-page report, which The News Tribune obtained through a public records request.
The report found Kindle falsely claimed family illness leave Oct. 8-10, 2007, to attend an athletic dealership training seminar in Portland at the invitation of Brand Athletics, a company that supplies some of Puyallup’s athletic supplies and apparel.
Besides the false family illness claim, the trip violated a district policy prohibiting employees from accepting gifts or favors from vendors. In his position, Kindle oversaw purchases of team equipment and uniforms.
The report found that the purpose of the trip was to discuss “present and future employment as a sales representative for Brand,” which did not hire Kindle.
During the trip, Brand paid for Kindle’s lodging, gave him access to food, and gave him a free pass to a Nike Employee Store, which gives discounts of up to 50 percent, the report said.
Still, Foster stressed, “Brand didn’t do anything wrong.”
The report cited another instance of a Puyallup High coach accepting a Nike Employee Store pass from a vendor, but recommended training employees in acceptable practices, rather than pursuing individual discipline.
Among other findings, the report said that Kindle:
• Violated the district’s “relations with vendors” policy in fall 2007 by representing that he was working for Brand while promoting purchases and exclusive sales agreements for Brand to the district and public.
• Organized and administered an Associated Student Body club fundraiser in May 2007 that violated state law and district policies by, among other things, depositing funds into the private Viking Booster Club’s account instead of an ASB account.
• Violated district policies by reselling extra Puyallup High coaches’ jackets from Brand to six district employees. Although he should have had the Associated Student Body-purchased jackets declared surplus or sold them in a public sale, he received no financial benefit from the transaction.
The report recommended the district take disciplinary action against Kindle, including possibly firing him.
A May 12 letter from Kindle’s lawyer, John Terry, to the district disagrees with the report on numerous grounds. Among them: District staff who gave damaging information about Kindle were protecting themselves from disciplinary action; the district didn’t train staff in fundraising and vendor relations; and the investigation was retaliation for Kindle’s outspoken concerns about a “hostile work environment” created by former Puyallup High Principal Mike Joyner.
“It’s a fair statement to say across the board those rules and requirements and expectations are not well known,” Terry said.
“When (school staff) pick up that free mug because you just ordered science textbooks, you may have violated the law or district policy that’s on the books somewhere. … How does it get down to the little person who has to implement it day in and day out? That’s the bigger issue out of this.”
Foster said the district hopes to implement staff training next school year on fundraising and other report recommendations.
Officials will also consider requiring multiple quotes for significant athletic supply purchases that fall below the state minimum bidding requirement for purchases of $50,000 or more.
Based on the report, Superintendent Tony Apostle wrote a letter to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction alleging Kindle had committed acts of unprofessional conduct.
Apostles letter cited Kindles supervision of the May 2007 fundraiser and the resale of football team jackets to staff.
The state Office of Professional Practices declined to investigate the allegations, said the offices director Charles Schreck. “It didn’t involve threats to students. It was more of a training issue, looking at how to deposit funds,” Schreck said. “We found it was something the school district could handle and not necessary for us to get involved.”
The district and Kindle reached a settlement in May calling for Kindle to remain on paid administrative leave until Dec. 31, when he will voluntarily resign.
All told, he will earn approximately $65,000 for the time he will have spent on administrative leave from March 10, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2008.
Foster said the settlement cost less than the legal process of trying to terminate a tenured teacher, which could have cost the district $50,000 to $150,000. “That’s why you see school districts resolve a lot of these cases,” Foster said. “To go forward and win will cost you a lot more than a settlement here.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
Recommendations
Lawyer Cliff Foster recommends the Puyallup School District consider these training and policy changes to improve athletic equipment purchases and staff relations with vendors.
• Adopt regulations requiring competitive quotes or negotiations from multiple vendors for significant sports equipment and apparel purchases, even when the dollar amount is below the state-mandated competitive bidding threshold of $50,000.
• Improve documentation of Associated Student Body purchases, such as athletic jackets, that are intended to be resold to students or staff.
• Create regulations for prior approval when coaches buy team apparel and get reimbursed by students.
• Improve training for staff and school booster clubs on district expectations and legal requirements of fundraising and handling of funds.
