At the candidates’ forum held last week, islanders heard from candidates running in contested races for open seats on Vashon’s school board — with many of their comments either directly or indirectly referencing two recent teacher scandals in the district.

Juniper Rogneby and Jake Jacobovitch, running for position #5 on the board, and Martha Woodard and Angela Marshall, seeking position #3, were asked to participate in the forum.

Candidate Kaycie Alanis and current school board member Lucia Armenta were present at the event but did not speak, as they are running unopposed for board positions #2 and #1, respectively.

In her race, Alanis originally faced a challenger, Holly Gilman, whose name will still appear on the November ballot.

However, in an Aug. 30 email, Gilman said she had withdrawn from the race for personal reasons, and urged islanders to vote for Alanis.

“I have full confidence that she and I are of like mind, so I am comfortable knowing that the issues I wanted to foster will be present when the new board comes on,” said Gilman.

Position 5: Rogneby and Jacobovitch

Jacobovitch, who has lived on Vashon for almost five decades, is the father and grandfather of children who have attended Vashon schools.

He has served as both a nonprofit and elected leader for the school board, Vashon Park District, Vashon-Maury Community Council, VIJB Basketball, Vashon Youth Baseball and Washington State Ferries’ Vashon Advisory Committee, among other roles in the community.

In an opening statement, Jacobovitch said that in 2007, when his last school board service ended, he had left the district with improvements in many areas.

He said that if elected, his priorities would be the health and welfare of students, transparency of district actions, board leadership, and ensuring the district provided interactive communication opportunities with islanders.

Rogneby is a human resources consultant and facilitator who works to support organizations and individuals in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. She is an active community volunteer and has two children who attend district schools.

The pillars of her campaign, she said, are “equity, accountability, trust, and the well-being of all students.”

“It’s important for district leaders to engage in careful reflection of recent events,” she said. “Too many things have been swept under the rug for far too long. In order to move forward we must do the important work of repairing and building back trust.”

She said she would welcome all Vashon residents as active participants in school board decision-making and governance.”

Position 3: Marshall and Woodard

Marshall is a district parent who works as deputy director of King County’s Labor Relations office.

She said she was inspired to run for school board “after observing questionable decisions and actions taken by the administration with seemingly little oversight from the board.”

Marshall suggested a reset of the balance of power between the administration and the board.

“The job of the superintendent and the administrative staff is to carry forward [the] direction set by the board,” she said. “The understanding of this hierarchy needs to be restored in order to ensure accountability.”

Woodard, who emphasized her experience, dedication to students and knowledge of district operations, is a retired teacher who taught for 33 years at Vashon High School. She also served in leadership roles in the local teacher’s union.

“ …I’m familiar with the financial and policy challenges our school board deals with, and I really believe it is important to have a member on the board who understands how theoretical policy translates to pragmatic outcomes in the classroom,” she said. “I believe that we must be committed to providing the highest quality education in a progressive, positive environment for all students. And by doing this, we will create a creative, inclusive and safe space for all our students.”

Woodard is the only school board candidate who has been endorsed by Vashon unions representing certified and noncertified educational staff. Additionally, she said she has been endorsed by the state union, Washington Education Association, and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Candidates queried about investigations

In answering a direct question from islander Hilary Emmer about what district actions she agreed and disagreed with in regard to the investigations of Vashon teachers Kara Sears and John Rees, which took place in 2022 and 2023, Rogneby was highly critical of the district.

“I’m going to do my best to not let my emotions and my frustration and my rage about that situation get the better of me,” she said. “However, I think everybody should have that level of concern and high emotion about what happened and the lack of what I think were appropriate repercussions.”

Rogneby strongly objected to the board and administration’s decision to end the district’s investigation of Rees prior to its conclusion, which prevented any public record of the investigation.

She also said she was “deeply concerned [that] it seems Ms. Sears likely moved on, seemingly without any consequences for her behavior in this community.”

Answering Emmer’s question, Jacobovitch said that he aimed to restore leadership to the board.

The district’s communication to the public during the investigations “could have been a lot better,” he said, adding that “on day one” of the investigations, he would have convened board members to create a process for more oversight that involved both students and teachers.

Another islander, Celia Yarkin, queried candidates Marshall and Woodard as to how they would approach disciplining teachers who were not performing well, given both of their experiences in working closely with labor unions.

Woodard, answering Yarkin’s question, said as a committed union member, she had been on the side of “trying to encourage an employee who needs to move on to [do that].”

Teachers, Woodard said, do not want to protect other teachers who are violating their ethics. But, she added, “There are processes that must be followed — and much of the problem I have had as a union representative is the lack of understanding on the administration side of doing their job, so we can help them.”

Marshall said that her current role in King County has provided her with experience dealing with labor relations issues on “both sides of the coin.”

“I have worked on the management side and handled administrator labor agreements, but we also handle various personnel issues, so if there are performance issues, I give guidance on how to handle those issues in a way [that is] consistent with the bargaining agreements,” she said. “So I do have a lot of experience in trying to walk that fine line of establishing employee rights and that due process of just cause, but also ensuring that people know the policies that are established and enforce them consistently and equitably.”

View Vashon Maury Community Council’s candidate forum, in its entirety, here.