The agenda for next Thursday’s school board meeting includes approval of the resignation of Coupeville High School Principal/CTE Director Dan Berard.
Berard, who has held those positions since April 2025, announced in February he was stepping down at the end of the school year.
At the time, he said he would be transitioning to a different, as yet to be named, position within the district.
Instead, on March 16, Superintendent Shannon Leatherwood announced that Berard had been placed on “paid administrative leave while the district conducted a review process.”
Berard, who came to Coupeville after working 27 years in the Mount Vernon school district, replaced Geoff Kappes, who resigned as high school and middle school principal in April 2025.
Kappes was placed on “non-disciplinary leave pending an investigation” by Leatherwood in December 2024.
Saturday morning the Superintendent released the following statement:
Principal Dan Berard has been on approved medical leave and has submitted his resignation effective at the end of his contract.
He will remain on medical leave through the end of his employment with the district.
We are grateful for Dan’s service to our students and community and wish him well.
I will be sharing information about our leadership transition and search process in the coming weeks. Thank you for your continued support of Coupeville schools.
The latest move comes on the heels of the results of a union survey being released which shows low support for Berard, Leatherwood, and the School Board.
You can read a story about that survey, conducted by the Coupeville Education Association and the Coupeville Educational Support Association, here:
Survey paints troubling picture of leadership, morale in Coupeville schools
Coupeville Sports 