DOLLARS & DECEPTION: Tahoma Superintendent's Leave Reignites Financial Quagmire, Further Eroding Community Trust!
In a surprising turn of events for Tahoma, the district has announced that effective immediately, Superintendent Mike Hanson will be on a fully paid leave of absence until his previously-announced resignation in August 2024. This comes amidst an ongoing investigation over sexism and mistreatment of staff. The news, shared in a recent email to the Tahoma family, has left the community in shock.
Even more concerning is that the School Board has chosen Lori Cloud, former District Director of Finance and Assistant Superintendent to assume the role of Interim Superintendent until a new Superintendent is found. Cloud's elevation to this position is marked by significant controversy due to her negligence in handling IRS filings, resulting in $1.5 million in fines. While these fines were waived in the end, it cost the district upwards of $8,000 for the legal settlement, with an additional $115,000+ in a paid-out contract for the whistleblower. An independent investigation determined that Lori Cloud was knowingly negligent with millions of taxpayer dollars, and then retaliated against and silenced whistleblower, Marla McAlpine.
Tahoma Parents obtained exclusive access to the investigative report after the District denied our records request.
These revelations, combined with fully paid long-term leaves of absence and significant district payouts stemming from sexual assault cases, has ignited major trust and financial concerns within the community, especially at a time when the district is actively seeking more taxpayer dollars for levies.
Another twist in this story is that Superintendent Hanson’s wife Cindy, who happens to be a beloved 1st grade teacher at Shadow Lake Elementary, has also been put on fully paid administrative leave for unknown reasons. Families of her students were NOT given any notice prior to the Board’s districtwide email, leaving them desperately hoping her midyear replacement will provide the same classroom environment. According to one parent with a child in her class:
“Cindy has created the most amazing, calm, safe classroom. We are heartbroken.”
Apparently this leave came as a surprise to the school staff, as expressed in a follow-up email from Kellie Christiansen, the Principal of Shadow Lake Elementary. Among other things, she states:
“The timing of yesterday’s announcement was less than ideal, and it’s not how we wanted to share this news with you. Our district staff and school community learned this information not long before you, and we do wish we could have provided more information to you sooner."
“Mrs. Hanson is beloved by students and staff, and we’re sad that the current circumstances mean we will be without her at Shadow Lake moving forward. We cannot discuss any personal details regarding her leave, but please know that Cindy always acted with integrity and your students were in amazing care in her class.”
Placing a teacher on paid administrative leave is no trivial action. The timing of doing this in the middle of the school year and a few months shy of her planned retirement with her husband raises even more questions. What are the motives of the School Board and what are they not telling us? Was this some sort of combined golden parachute for the Hansons amidst the ongoing investigation?
The irony of this situation is that all School Board Directors were re-elected one month ago. These tone-deaf actions by this re-elected body are mind-boggling considering the history with Lori Cloud and allegations against Mike Hanson.
Marla McAlpine, whistleblower in the Lori Cloud investigation, reached out to Tahoma Parents with the following statement:
“This announcement, unfortunately, reaffirms my concerns that Tahoma School District continues to not hold themselves to a high level of integrity and transparency expected in an organization as such.”
In addition, all online forums and groups, with their differing political leanings and opinions, seem to agree: negligence, retaliatory behavior, and blatant dishonesty, should never be tolerated, especially at the helm of an institution responsible for educating and nurturing the community’s children.
We call on members of our community to hold the School Board accountable for their egregious missteps. We encourage Tahoma residents to flood the school board directors with emails and messages to demand accountability, transparency, and action. These missteps are hurting our district financially and are negatively affecting the reputation that Tahoma once had.
It remains to be seen how the TSD School Board will address the concerns and rebuild the trust shattered by recent revelations.
