What’s Next?
Yesterday we shared our views about the Bryan Neyers situation, and the lack of accountability in our district. This is a companion piece to that article, so please go read that one first if you haven’t had the chance yet.
We know this topic has many of us feeling upset and worried, so today we want to focus on what we know we can expect going forward, and ways for all of us to get and stay involved.
What’s next for our district?
With Haley Pendergraft’s and Malia Hollowell’s resignations, the school board situation is a little complicated, but we’ll try to explain it without getting too into the weeds. Basically, Haley Pendergraft is in the middle of her four year term, so the remaining members of the school board will need to interview candidates and choose one to replace her until November 2025. At that point an election will be held. The district will make an announcement calling for applicants, when the time comes, so look for that in the next couple of months. We discuss this in more detail down below.
In Malia Hollowell’s case, she’s currently in the middle of a re-election campaign against challenger Steven Deutschman. If her opponent wins, then that’s that and he will remain in the position for the full term of four years. If she wins, then she will have to decide to continue on her resignation path by refusing to be seated, or she can choose to retain her position. If she refuses the seat, then it will work just like the other (Haley’s) position: The remaining members of the school board will interview and appoint her replacement, with a public vote mid-way through the term, in 2025.
As for Bryan Neyers, he is involved in a criminal case that is ongoing. You can keep track of his trial dates using the King County Case Search. Click Criminal Case Search then enter his name. Click on the cases to learn more. His trial was recently delayed, with a new date of November 6, 2023.
How can you get involved?
There are many options to make your voice heard or even to get involved directly. We’ll break down your options as well as we can:
We believe the district needs to hear from members of the community about this issue. If you want the superintendent to be held accountable for this mess, or even fired, then the people to contact are the school board. You can email all of them using this link. We do recommend emailing all five at once using that link, which for now may still include the two who have resigned and will eventually include any newly appointed members.
You can also attend board meetings (schedule can be found here) and make public comment. You will be given only three minutes to speak, so practice ahead of time. You can find more info on this process on this page, under School Board or on this Tahoma district page.
Or do you want the superintendent to do something about the other folks you feel are responsible for this situation? Email the superintendent directly as well as the school board, and/or make public comment. (The board can’t discuss personnel concerns at public meetings, however.) You also might consider getting in touch with the principal at your local school. You can find contact information for everyone in TSD using their staff directory.
Another option is to sign this petition set up by a member of our community, demanding accountability for the people at fault in this situation. They have also set up a private Facebook group, called TSD – A Community for Change. The people running this group are coming from the same place we are.
On the school board side of things, with two resignations there will potentially be two open positions soon. This is a huge opportunity for anyone wanting to really get involved. If that work sounds interesting to you, look up your director district (click on Board Director Districts) to determine your eligibility and prepare to put your name in the hat to be interviewed by the remaining members of the school board. The district will make an announcement, and we expect this process to start as soon as this next month. Malia is in director position 3, and Haley is in director position 1. Haley’s position will definitely be open, and Malia’s might be open, depending on what happens in this election. If you need more guidance on running (or in this case, applying) for school board, please reach out to us! The process is a little complicated, but don’t let that stop you.
If you have children in the district, we strongly encourage you to get involved in your school’s parent-teacher group. We list them all here, under Family Involvement. These are a great way to get on campus, meet teachers and staff, and have an impact on your local school. PTAs/PTOs are always looking for volunteers. To be on campus, you will need to go through the district volunteer background check, which you can do here. This process can take two or more weeks.
Finally, you can vote in four school board races this November. We have more information about those races here. One of the races – Michael Wiggins – is uncontested. For the other three races, if you are worried about “parental rights” or far right school board candidates gaining a foothold in Tahoma in the wake of all of this, we can recommend voting for Pete Miller and Matt Carreon, as well as for Malia Hollowell herself. We have vetted all of these candidates, and their platforms are in line with our own mission and goals. If Hollowell wins and still chooses to resign, the remaining board will appoint her replacement. We feel it is unlikely that the remaining board will appoint a candidate with fringe beliefs.
What will we do?
We will continue to advocate for progressive, equitable, and positive change in the Tahoma school district, as we have from our inception, with more articles to come on the situation we all find ourselves in right now. We will continue to meet with anyone with an ear to listen, or a story to tell. If you have something you’d like to get published, send us a note! Come back tomorrow for some more of our thoughts on the Tahoma school board races, and why we are supporting these candidates.
Quick Update
Shortly after publishing this article this morning, Haley and Malia sent out a second statement. Here it is in full:
This article was a collaborative effort of the Tahoma Values team, but we are always looking for people to write articles for us! If there’s something you’d like to publish with us, send your submission to tahomavalues@gmail.com
