Clover Park school board member censured again, this time for bullying superintendent
The Clover Park School District board censured one of its members Monday evening for harassing, intimidating and bullying the district’s superintendent.
It’s the second censure in the past year for Paul Wagemann.
His supporters and detractors spoke before the censure — a formal and public condemnation — in a comment period during the board’s regular meeting in Lakewood.
The packed meeting room resembled a joyless wedding at times, with Wagemann’s predominantly white supporters on one side and his critics, mostly people of color, on the other. Speakers were applauded or met with derisive comments. Sometimes both.
One man consistently booed Wagemann’s supporters, who responded by yelling, “Throw him out.” The man, wearing a T-shirt that referenced the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, was eventually escorted out of the meeting by a Lakewood police officer.
“This is racial discrimination,” he shouted as he was led out.
Monday’s censure
The censure came following an independent investigation into Wagemann after Superintendent Ron Banner filed a complaint in February. That complaint listed numerous incidents in which Banner, who is Black, said he was subjected to racist, bullying and intimidating tactics by Wagemann, who is white.
“Paul Wagemann is part of a community group with an overtly racist agenda, and I am being subjected to heightened scrutiny by him due to my race, and due to my leadership and support of equity and inclusion for our students and staff in the school district,” Banner is quoted in the report.
The investigation substantiated many of the claims and determined that Wagemann had been in violation of the district policies that prohibit discrimination based on race and other characteristics.
Wagemann has also been critical of the district’s equity policy, which aims to eliminate racial disparities in the district.
The News Tribune obtained both the investigation and findings reports through a public records request.
Following an investigation by Chris Burton, Dr. Gene Sharratt, an independent decision maker, determined there is conflict between Banner and Wagemann and that Wagermann failed to comply with school district policy.
Some of the findings from Burton’s report:
▪ Banner was told by two staff members that Wagemann had told them that it’s acceptable for Black people to call women “bitches.” Wagemann told Burton that he said, “There are some cultures that call women bitches.”
▪ In May 2021, Wagemann emailed videos to Banner of Black pastors denying the existence of racism and denouncing a need for social justice reform in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death while in police custody set off nationwide protests in 2020. Wagemann said he sent the videos because he felt he wasn’t being heard in discussions regarding the district’s equity policy.
▪ In an email exchange with a member of Lakewood Cares, Wagemann agreed that the district’s equity and diversity officers were “race pimps” and then called the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton “slave masters only looking out for themselves.”
▪ Wagemann told Banner that Black people like the color purple. Wagemann said the comment was based on his own experience and was referencing political campaign yard signs.
Board member David Anderson wanted Wagemann to have a public hearing on the censure and introduced a motion to postpone it. The motion was voted down.
Wagemann, in his response to the pending censure, said he has a “Biblical worldview.” He then recited the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. Any comments he made to or about Banner were in relationship to the superintendent’s job performance, Wagemann said.
“We need to hold him accountable to meet the requirements of that position as determined by measurable education outcomes,” he said.
Wagemann was appointed to the board in 2009 after a vacancy and elected that year. His term ends in 2023.
Carole Jacobs, in her sixth four-year term on the board, said she’s never seen it so divided.
“That division is hurting us. It’s hurting this district. It’s hurting our children and it’s hurting our families,” she said. “When Paul drives decision making through the lenses of his political agenda, it has an unfair effect to those who do not share those opinions.”
Board president Alyssa Anderson Pearson echoed Jacob’s statements.
“You have been caught in countless lies, and your harassment and discrimination got so bad, the superintendent felt the need to file a formal complaint,” Pearson told Wagemann. “You do not respect him or anyone who doesn’t follow along and agree with your ideologies.”
She then addressed Banner, seated next to her.
“You’ve been unfairly scrutinized and discriminated against during your time as superintendent and that was unacceptable,” she said, her voice quavering with emotion.
“The Board finds that such conduct is not in alignment with the Board’s stated and express commitment to fostering equity and inclusion and its legal requirement to maintain a work and school environment free from racial discrimination and harassment, and again censures Director Wagemann for the conduct described in the decision, as recommended in the corrective action section, and hereby directs the administration to implement the other recommendations,” the board wrote in its resolution.
Pearson, Jacobs and board member Anthony Veliz all voted in favor of the censure. Anderson and Wagemann voted no.
As part of the findings, Wagemann and Banner will be offered mediation services. All board members will be trained on board and superintendent relations, equity and inclusion. They also will review district policies covering discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying by board members.
Public outcry
Some people who attended the meeting decried the district’s equity policy while others lashed out at Wagemann.
One woman who identified herself as biracial criticized the equity policy.
“It is disheartening that if anybody criticizes anybody, like anybody criticizes the equity policy, all of a sudden we are racist,” she said. “But yet you guys are the ones who are acting racist.”
A woman who identified herself as a University Place resident defended Wagemann and Anderson, who found himself included in criticism Monday.
“I’m frustrated about how Paul Wagemann and David Anderson are treated at the (school board) meetings,” she said. “I think they’ve been disrespected, vilified by other school board members, community members strictly for having a difference in opinion and asking legitimate questions about various policies and procedures.”
Speaker Taniesha Lyons took aim at Wagemann.
“Paul, you are a racist and a white supremacist,” Lyons told Wagemann. “You hold a position of power and seek to keep barriers in place by fighting against a policy that aims to make the district a safe place for all, not just for the people who look like you and agree with you.”
Wagemann did not react to Lyons’ comments or any others during the meeting.
University of Washington Tacoma student Lynese Cammack told the crowd she was probably the youngest speaker at Monday’s meeting. She said the racism her grandparents tell her about from their youth has similarities to today’s climate.
“The only difference is that today, I can get up here and speak about it,” Cammack said. “There is nothing racist about an equity policy. So there’s everything racist about voting against it if the word equity scares you.”
‘Crack the whip’
It was Wagemann’s second reprimand since November.
Four board members voted then to censure him. The members said Wagemann’s statements in emails and in other meetings contradicted the board’s standards for board behavior.
The members said Wagemann failed to denounce derogatory statements he made about district staff who implement equity and diversity policies. His language, the board said, also demonstrated a lack of commitment to those policies.
The comments were made in a email response to a citizen. The email exchange was later made public.
“Racism is approached from two sides: the way we look at it, to respect everyone, and the other side is you have people who they are race-baiters. They want to turn everything in a race discussion,” Wagemann told The News Tribune in November.
The 2021 censure was also for Wagemann’s use of the phrase ‘”crack the whip” at a board meeting. He said it was meant to be akin to getting busy. Others said it’s derogatory, racist and connected to slavery.
Protest against Wagemann
Before the meeting began, about 25 people gathered along Gravelly Lake Drive SW carrying signs that supported the school district’s equity policies.
“This is Lakewood showing that it is against hate in our school system and against the racism that is fundamental to public education,” said Lakes High School teacher Josepha Burke. She was joined by Lochburn Middle School teacher Talia Kircher.
Both women said they wanted Wagemann to resign.
“The things that he has said have unfortunately shown that he is not in support of the equity policy, but also it displays the hate and harassment and intimidation,” Kircher said. “That is not what our school board stands for.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
