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Posts Tagged ‘Steve King’

Coupeville Schools superintendent resigns

Posted in Administration, tagged Coupeville School District, resignation, Steve King, superintendent on January 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King has submitted a resignation letter to the school board.

In an email to staff Friday, he said, “This decision comes after a great deal of reflection and the letter summarizes everything I have to say at this time.

“In the next few weeks the district will communicate with you in regards to transition plans with my departure coming at the end of June.”

To read the letter, pop over to:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YEQCdr8GIAn5YQhBwwlSkrVJXwyApDi_/view

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CHS/CMS music director placed on administrative leave

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged Band, Coupeville High School, Jamar Jenkins, music teacher, Steve King on January 4, 2024| 2 Comments »

Jamar Jenkins keeps the music flowing. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

For the first time in two decades, there’s a new person currently in charge of keeping the beat going at Coupeville High School and Middle School.

Jamar Jenkins, the school’s music teacher and band director since 2003, is currently on paid administrative leave.

Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King released a statement from CHS/CMS Principal Geoff Kappes Thursday afternoon, in a bid to offer clarity to rampant discussion on social media.

That statement:

“As many of you know Mr. Jenkins has not been teaching his classes over the past couple of weeks.

“In order to make sure you have accurate information I’m writing to inform you that Mr. Jenkins is on paid administrative leave while the concerns that were reported are being investigated.

“This leave is not disciplinary and the District has reached no conclusions regarding what personnel actions, if any, may be appropriate.

“We ask for patience and respect for the investigative process, as well as your understanding that we are not able to discuss further specifics of the concerns at this time.”

A graduate of the University of Washington, Jenkins has an extensive history as a professional musician, coming up through the Seattle funk scene in the 1970’s.

A guitarist and vocalist, he is one of the founders of the band Cold, Bold, and Together, originally known as Funk Experience.

Cold, Bold, and Together in their prime. (Photo property Light in the Attic Records)

That group, which later introduced the world to Kenny G, was together from 1971-1978 and opened for Canned Heat, Kool & the Gang, KC & the Sunshine Band, and Earth, Wind & Fire among others.

After band members opted to move on to different projects as disco swept the nation, Jenkins went to college, got married and fathered children, and moved into teaching music.

He had teaching stints in Tacoma and Los Angeles before moving to Whidbey Island, where his wife, Allenda, grew up in Oak Harbor.

Jenkins daughter, Janiece, is a member of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, captured three medals at the state track and field championships in 2005, and held the school record in the 200 for eight years.

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CHS secretaries ask for help

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged budget cuts, Coupeville High School, paraeducators, school board, Steve King on December 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Three highly respected Coupeville High School employees have submitted letters to Coupeville Superintendent Steve King and the school board asking for help.

The trio — Attendance/Athletic Secretary Barbi Ford, Fiscal/ASB Secretary Rosalie Fix, and Registrar/Counseling Secretary Eileen Stone — have combined to give 32 years to the district.

Now, all three, while describing their deep love of the school and community, say CHS is reaching a breaking point.

With Vice Principal Leonard Edlund out since the start of the year with medical issues, and Dean of Students Tom Black — originally a budget cut — brought back only on a part-time basis, they describe a situation where the administration is stretched extremely thin — and the support crew is taking the brunt of it.

“It shouldn’t be the norm to have the principal be the primary lunchroom supervisor 5+ hours a week, while more pressing matters must be put on hold,” Fix said.

“It should not be the norm to have the Fiscal Secretary monitor Tutorial 2+ hours a week or for the Athletics Secretary to monitor ISS or after school study groups.

“It should not be the norm for the MS/HS Attendance Secretaries to feel the need to forfeit their lunches and breaks most days, because no one is available to cover the office that cannot be unattended.”

That’s a sentiment shared by her co-workers, and all three are asking the district to put an emphasis on hiring much-needed help.

“I feel like many of the hardships that we secretaries are facing could be decreased if we were able to have a general education paraeducator to provide some coverage,” Ford said.

“To help with tutorial, assist lunch supervision, allowing our counselors to be available to students in crisis, without leaving student lunch unsupervised, help cover secretary lunches, provide some direction and supervision for discipline and in school suspension, cover our front desks in the event of training or forums, maybe even help track credit recovery classes that we used to have a fulltime dedicated teacher to do.

“It is getting to the point that we are going to have to look at our job descriptions and identify our priorities because, quite frankly, it is getting nearly impossible to get everything done.”

The three letters are published on the agenda for the year’s final school board meeting, which is set for Thursday, Dec. 14 at 5:30 PM in the Kathleen Anderson Boardroom on the CHS campus.

School board members acknowledge receiving correspondence during those meetings, but it is not read aloud.

Public comment is allowed earlier in the meeting.

To read the full letters, pop over to:

Rosalie Fix:

Click to access Letter%20from%20R.%20Fix.pdf

Barbi Ford:

Click to access Letter%20from%20B.%20Ford.pdf

Eileen Stone:

Click to access Email%20from%20E.%20Stone.pdf

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School Board bumps meeting

Posted in Football, school board, tagged Coupeville School Board, football, referees, schedule change, Steve King on October 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

With Mikey Robinett and crew celebrating Senior Night Oct. 26, the Coupeville School Board is bumping its monthly meeting to avoid a conflict. (Bailey Thule photo)

Always write your schedule in pencil, not pen.

The Coupeville School Board has moved its regular board meeting from Thursday, Oct. 26 to Monday, Oct. 30.

The event, which goes down in the Kathleen Anderson Board Room on the CHS campus, and is also livestreamed, starts at 5:30 PM.

The shift is to prevent a conflict with Coupeville High School’s Senior Night for football and cheer.

That game, originally set for Oct. 27, was recently bumped up a night thanks to a referee shortage.

Instead of playing under Friday Night Lights, the Wolves host Friday Harbor — in a game with huge playoff implications — at 4:00 PM on a Thursday afternoon.

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New contracts set for approval

Posted in budget cuts, tagged Coupeville School Board, Coupeville School District, employee contracts, pay cuts, Steve King on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coming out of a summer when budget cuts were all the buzz in Coupeville, a quick glance at non-represented employee contracts appear to show the school district paying more than it did a year ago.

That’s not really true, however.

A closer look actually reveals the increase in dollars is covered by outside grants, and not the general fund.

There are nine contracts on the consent agenda for Thursday’s school board meeting, with two showing a slight increase in money.

Maintenance Supervisor Scott Losey and Supervisor of IT Systems Will Smith will both be bumped up by about $900 from 2022-2023.

That’s not a raise, though, but financial compensation for both men achieving a new level on the established pay scale based on service time.

And actually, with Losey, the school district still saves money.

In 2022-2023, he balanced the Maintenance Director position with also being Transportation Supervisor, which paid $16,275.00.

That second position has been added to the duties of Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King for the 2023-2024 school year.

The bigger jump comes from the district’s decision to have separate employees handle the positions of Student Support Liaison and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent.

During the 2022-2023 school year, Arianna Bumgarner received $75,233.60 while balancing the positions.

This year, Bumgarner is solely the Student Support Liaison, and will earn $83,019.20, while district newcomer Karissa Swain will bank $69,894.46 as Administrative Assistant.

That’s a jump of more than $77,000, but a financial move which will not adversely affect the general fund, as Bumgarner’s current position is grant funded.

That money comes from the McKinney Vento Federal Grant, Migrant Education Program, and Title 1A.

The Student Support Liaison position is considered a key role in the district, King said.

It aligns with the strategic plan pillar “Promote Student and Staff Well-Being,” which is aimed at “improving on-campus mental health and social work support for students.”

Bumgarner originally began covering both the Student Support Liaison and Administrative Assistant jobs in January 2020, after the previous Administrative Assistant retired.

The original plan was for her to do this for just a single semester, King said.

Then the pandemic changed everything.

“We decided to continue to split the positions to have the superintendent’s office be directly involved with student support,” King said.

“With the return to normal and the increased work of having two board meetings per month it became clear that the full time Admin Assistant needed to be restored to the original status and that the district needed a full-time social worker based on student needs and our strategic plan.”

Non-represented employee contracts:

Donna Bailey
Fiscal Assistant

2022-2023: $78,665.60
2023-2024: $76,327.22

Arianna Bumgarner
Student Support Liaison

2022-2023: $75,233.60 (Also Administrative Assistant)
2023-2024: $83,019.20 (Grant funded)

Scott Losey
Maintenance Supervisor

2022-2023: $115,215.03 (Also Transportation Director)
2023-2024: $99,830.49

Laura Luginbill
Assistant Food Service Director

2022-2023: $79,475.63
2023-2024: $79,017.49

Vicki Owen-Gailey
Payroll/Human Resources Assistant

2022-2023: $76,585.60
2023-2024: $74,302.93

Will Smith
Supervisor of IT Systems