Indian school mum about legislative candidate's paid leave
JORDAN SCHRADER; Staff writer
Sumner city councilman and legislative candidate Matt Richardson is on leave from his job teaching seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders at Wa He Lut Indian School, but the school isn’t saying why.
Richardson says he took the time off voluntarily to run his campaign for the 31st District state Senate seat. But the federally funded school is paying him during his time off.
Paid leave would essentially be a campaign contribution, unless it’s leave an employee was entitled to for some other reason, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. It would then be subject to dollar-value limitations and reporting requirements.
Told about those rules, Richardson declined to give details about the arrangement. “I requested leave, and that’s it,” said Richardson, a Republican who won the August primary election to advance to a Nov. 2 runoff with Republican Sen. Pam Roach of Auburn. He said he’s been on leave since the new school year started at the tribal school on the Nisqually River.
Richardson, 44, has left teaching jobs in two local school districts after administrators perceived inappropriate classroom behavior, employment records obtained by The News Tribune show.
Sumner School District told Richardson not to return as a substitute teacher in 2004 after a teacher complained about him, according to records recently obtained by The News Tribune. Richardson, then a first-year councilman, protested what he called “a summary termination by mail” and called it “unjustified,” but to no avail.
While filling in for a Sumner High School teacher, Richardson rode the disabled teacher’s mobility scooter, according to records. He said he was just moving it out of the way, a claim the district’s human resources director said in a memo she didn’t believe. The teacher accused Richardson of riding the scooter in multiple classes.
The matter “has been greatly over-exaggerated due to an innocent, yet funny event,” Richardson wrote to the now-retired human resources director, Marilouise Petersen.
He declined to discuss the dismissal Thursday, saying, “From now until the election I will only be discussing issues that are important to the (31st) District.”
As previously reported, Richardson in 2006 resigned from his job at Sequoyah Middle School in Federal Way as school district officials considered whether the results of an investigation into Richardson’s classroom behavior should keep the district from renewing his contract.
Richardson left the day he received a reprimand calling his English language learner class “a hostile learning environment in which students experienced extreme discomfort and a fear of your reprisals.” Richardson said administrators had it in for him, and students were angry he disciplined them for breaking the dress code. He said students made up the accusations that he had threatened them, looked at female students’ bodies in a way that made them feel uncomfortable, and failed to stop a boy from grabbing a girl.
Neither school district saw the allegations as significant enough to refer Richardson to state investigators. Sumner School District spokeswoman Ann Cook said it’s not unusual for the district to part ways with an emergency-substitute teacher who’s not a good fit or who lacks classroom-management skill or judgment.
In Federal Way, Richardson was placed on paid leave for months, a common practice when a teacher is under disciplinary investigation.
At Wa He Lut, Principal Harvey Whitford declined to give any details about Richardson’s leave, including whether it was voluntary.
Whitford said earlier that he was paying attention to the news reports detailing Richardson’s background amid a heated campaign. “We’re watching it very close,” he said in August.
The paid leave appears to be unusual for a candidate. “I’m not aware of other situations where somebody has been given time off with pay to go off and campaign,” Public Disclosure Commission spokeswoman Lori Anderson said.
Richardson last taught English and history at the kindergarten-through-ninth-grade school, whose roughly 135 students belong to a number of Indian tribes.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826 jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
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