WA's Skykomish school superintendent put on leave weeks after teacher arrested for alleged child rape
WA superintendent placed on leave after teacher's child rape arrest
The superintendent of the Skykomish School District was placed on leave following the arrest of a PE teacher earlier this month on suspicion of child rape.
SKYKOMISH, Wash. - Skykomish School District Superintendent Destry Jones has been placed on leave following the arrest of PE teacher Daniel Bubar for the alleged rape of a child.
Although the superintendent had not been accused of any crimes, the school board made the decision Wednesday night to put him on leave while board members say an internal investigation into the situation is underway.
Board members are pictured below at Wednesday's meeting.
"We were going to proceed with a superintendent statements," said Alberto Laverde, Skykomish School Board Director, at the beginning of the meeting.
Parents once again filled the seats.
They told FOX 13 before the meeting they were hoping to hear a statement from Superintendent and Principal Destry Jones, who was not in attendance at Wednesday's meeting. He is pictured below at a previous meeting.
"Unfortunately, Dr. Destry Jones will not be available to make his statement," said Alberto Laverde, Skykomish School Board Director at the beginning of the meeting Wednesday.
Though he's not been accused of any crimes, parents say they lost trust in Jones because students and staff had been reporting issues with the PE teacher, Daniel Bubar prior to his arrest for child rape.
Court documents state that several complaints were made about the teacher. At one point, the principal at the school told Bubar that he couldn't be alone with the victim, which was enforced, according to statements in court documents, by having another child with them while they were together, rather than an adult.
"This board has a lot of big decisions to be making and I know we will make them with our students and our families in mind," said Alberto Laverde, Skykomish School Board Director.
The board then moved to go into executive session and everyone had to leave for about an hour and a half.
"To be told, go kick rocks for an hour and a half while we sort our stuff, is a little frustrating definitely," said Taylor Coniber, a parent. Parents and guardians are pictured waiting outside the building after they were asked to leave.
After the board reconvened, they put superintendent Destry Jones on leave, and appointed the school board director, Alberto Laverde, as the acting superintendent.
Ashley Toney, a Skykomish School Board member, said after the meeting that board members hoped to alleviate the concerns of parents.
"The board members that were present tonight. We met. We deliberated, debated, we consulted with our legal counsel, and we took action," said Toney.
Toney says she will now move into the position of board director.
One woman spoke during public comment after the decision, calling for more information on the investigation and also more information as to who else may be held responsible at the school.
The school board also approved a motion to give the acting superintendent the ability to put other personnel on leave who may be mentioned in the investigation.
The Source: Information in this story came from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.
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