Wahluke School District and personnel discussions during meetings

MATTAWA — During the Nov. 12 meeting of the Wahluke School Board, the board announced that it would no longer be discussing personnel during its meetings.

Nevertheless, at the regular Wahluke School Board meeting Dec. 10, a parent came to the board with concerns about complaints she had made at the end of 2018. According to the parent, both complaints ended up on the desk of Liz Leitz, human resources and communication director for the Wahluke School District. At one point during the discussion, the parent began to give some details about the incidents. She also expressed frustration with Leitz.

“It is not appropriate to give these details at this meeting,” School Board President Lorraine Jenne said. “This is not the place to discuss staff issues.”

“Employees of the district have privacy rights around discussion of performance and employment status,” said Kevin Chase, superintendent for the Yakima Education Service District 105, in a November interview. “To discuss them in a public forum is a possible violation of the employees’ right to privacy. There is a provision for executive session to review the performance of an employee for this purpose. It is done in private to protect the employee’s rights.”

The new rule put into place in November caused some issues at the Nov. 12 meeting when a long-term staff member put in their resignation. Two of the board members wanted more information as to why the employee was resigning. They were told they couldn’t ask him, even though he was sitting in the audience. The meeting also raised concerns of when the general public was allowed to voice their frustration regarding personnel issues. During the interview, Chase said that concerned citizens can ask to meet with the superintendent to discuss their concerns, but that the discussion was still limited.

In the December meeting, two more resignations were discussed. Superintendent Bob Eckert told the board the rationale behind the resignations of these employees. When asked after the December meeting why it was OK to discuss why the two employees in December who resigned, but not the employee in November, Eckert said that he was free to talk about it this month because it had nothing to do with their employment, whereas the resignation in November might have led to issues with other personnel.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.