Chief Leschi Schools superintendent on paid administrative leave

Amy Eveskcige, the superintendent at Chief Leschi Schools, went on on paid administrative leave Tuesday, a spokesman confirmed.

The school, operated by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and funded in part by the federal Bureau of Indian Education, enrolls more than 650 students in preschool through high school. It’s located between Tacoma and Puyallup.

John Weymer, tribal spokesman, said parents were being informed of the move, which was approved by the school board. He said the superintendent’s leave was granted for “personal reasons,” and that he did not know how long the leave would last. One school board member contacted by The News Tribune declined to comment, while others did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An administrator at the high school, Thomas Caudle, is acting as interim superintendent.

Eveskcige, who grew up in Tacoma, came to Leschi in 2015 after serving in administrative positions in public school systems in Tacoma, Puyallup and on Vashon Island. She became Leschi’s first superintendent who was a member of the Puyallup tribe.

Her administration has been a rocky one, marked by staff layoffs and student protests at the end of the previous school year and a new policy instituted at the start of the current school year that tightened enrollment criteria and angered some parents. At the time, Eveskcige said the school board decided to institute the new policy after it looked more closely at federal funding requirements that said students need to be a registered member of a Native American tribe.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Chief Leschi Schools superintendent on paid administrative leave."