District study questions spending, leadership at alternative school

For many years, the Seattle School District has allowed "questionable" practices to continue at John Marshall Alternative School with few consequences, damaging students and teachers and putting the district in danger of violating the law, an internal review has found.

The district began its review of the school last autumn, after it was scheduled for closure along with six other schools. John Marshall's specialized programs educate some of the city's most vulnerable students, from young mothers to teenagers with behavioral problems. The school is located in the Green Lake area with students in grades 6 to 12.

The report, completed Jan. 3 and released in draft form Wednesday in response to a public records request, praises the commitment of teachers but raises a number of serious concerns. It cites poor monitoring of student attendance, misleading data on the school's Web site, possible non-compliance with state laws and problems in "leadership, accountability and budgetary oversight."

"It was alarming," said Carla Santorno, chief academic officer for the district.

The draft report recommends a complete budget, expenditure and payroll audit dating back a decade or more; an investigation into attendance and compliance issues; development of new oversight procedures; and full disclosure to the state auditor of the enrollment and attendance data. Accurate attendance data are required by state law.

The report assesses John Marshall's five programs, with the goal of finding the best placement for its students. It concludes that the school's closure would be an opportunity to improve programs for struggling students citywide.

On the strength of that conclusion, district officials recently decided to delay John Marshall's closure until 2008, after it has explored all the available options for students at risk for dropping out of school. A comprehensive report, including recommendations about where to put John Marshall students, is due this fall.

District officials said they have not yet made any substantive changes to the way the school is run. But they are currently investigating a number of issues, including the way money is handled at John Marshall.

"Questionable" practices have developed over time, the report said, with "few consequences from any level of the district." One unnamed central administration official was quoted as saying:

"People look the other way because they (John Marshall) take the kids no one else wants."

A Seattle Times article published in December found students, staff and parents have long been concerned about a lack of leadership at John Marshall, and a lack of oversight from the district. Complaints from staff and students date back a decade.

The school's principal, Joseph Drake, could not be reached on Wednesday afternoon, but district officials said he was working with them to resolve various issues.

District officials also are discussing with parents and staff how to improve the education for John Marshall students.

The head of the school's leadership team wrote a seven-page rebuttal last week, accusing the district of slander and asking for help in correcting any possible problems.

"If there are concerns about the operation of the school, these concerns should be addressed through the proper methods of documentation, support, and remediation," wrote Gordon MacDougall, a teacher at the school.

The district's report, and a companion review of the school's special-education programs, noted that many students at John Marshall felt connected and engaged after years of isolation at other schools. But ultimately, both reports said, strong teacher-student relationships are not enough.

Because the majority of teachers do not take attendance, the district's review said, students are not flagged for truancy, meaning they do not get the support they need to succeed in school, whether that's substance-abuse counseling or child-protective services.

Another concern is the building's leadership. The report noted that Drake had been warned several times by district officials that he could not overlook qualified applicants and hire underqualified staff.

John Marshall also lacks the proper course offerings for graduation, the report said, without any fine-arts courses and without a qualified physical-education teacher. "The teachers and other staff at Marshall should be commended for their dedication ... " the report said. "However, the evaluation team found less substance to the programs at the school than the staff contends is there."

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com