'Shadow board' files to recall 5 Seattle School Board members

Four Seattle parents, part of a group that calls itself the Seattle Shadow School Board, filed petitions Thursday to recall five of the seven Seattle School Board members.

The group also filed an appeal of the School Board's decision to extend Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's contract through 2013.

"We don't want to do this. We're reluctant do this," said Sahila ChangeBringer, one of the parents. But she says the group feels their input to board members has been ignored, so legal action is their only option.

The group alleges that the five School Board members acted arbitrarily and capriciously in extending the superintendent's contract because they didn't give enough consideration to a recent state auditor's report that listed a number of problems with district policies and finances, some of which have not been corrected for several years.

The audit stated that the School Board and district management "have not implemented sufficient policies and controls to ensure the district complies with state laws, its own policies, or addresses concerns identified in prior audits." It recommended that the School Board "improve oversight of district operations."

The district has agreed with the audit's findings and promised to make changes.

The five board members the parents want to recall are: Board President Michael DeBell, Vice President Steve Sundquist, Peter Maier, Harium Martin-Morris and Sherry Carr.

They aren't trying to recall the two others — Kay Smith-Blum and Betty Patu — who voted against extending Goodloe-Johnson's contract, and were not in office for the period covered by the audit.

Before a recall election can be held, King County Superior Court must agree that the charges against the board members, if true, would mean that the board members were guilty of wrongful conduct, or violated their oaths of office.

If the petitions pass that test, then the parents must collect about 32,000 signatures before a recall election would be held.

Along with ChangeBringer, the four parents filing the petition are Shelly Williams, Joan Sias and Marissa Essad. All but Essad also are involved in other lawsuits against the district, ChangeBringer said.

To see the full audit of the school district, see http://www.sao.wa.gov/auditreports/auditreportfiles/ar1003871.pdf

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com