Kent School Board hires Israel Vela as new superintendent with 3-2 vote

Israel Vela is the new superintendent of the Kent School District after a controversial 3-2 vote by the Kent School Board.

Directors Tim Clark, Awale Farah and President Leslie Hamada voted for Vela, who has been the interim superintendent since last August and has a long work history in the district.

Directors Michele Bettinger and Joe Bento voted against Vela. Bettinger and Bento each said they wanted to continue to search for a stronger candidate.

Vela was one of three finalists considered during discussions at two executive sessions by the board. The other finalists were Keisha Scarlett, assistant superintendent of academics for Seattle Public Schools and Mary Templeton, superintendent of the Washougal School District, just east of Vancouver in Clark County.

All three finalists toured the district the first week of April and met with staff, students and the community.

The board hired McPherson and Jacobson, an Omaha, Nebraska-based national search firm, in January for $25,500 to help find a new superintendent. Twenty-four people applied for the job. The search firm narrowed the list to eight and the board selected the final three.

Calvin Watts left the Kent superintendent job last summer to return to Georgia to become superintendent of the Gwinnett County Public Schools.

“First and foremost, it is an honor to serve our students, families, staff, and community in this role,” Vela said in a prepared written statement after the board’s vote. “I am excited by the bright future for this district as we continue working together in creating high expectations for all students and providing the resources students need to achieve their educational goals and dreams.

“To continue serving with our staff and partnering with our families and community organizations to make a difference every day in the lives of our children, is both a privilege and my sincere commitment to this community. I thank the Board of Directors for this opportunity to continue successfully preparing all students for their futures.”

Vela started in Kent in 1999 as the principal of Meridian Elementary, a job he had for six years. He worked as district director of Student Services and executive director of Student and Family Support Services from 2005-2012. He left Kent from 2012-2016 to work as executive director of schools, overseeing the Southwest Region of Schools in Seattle Public Schools.

Vela returned to Kent as the chief school operations and academic support officer in 2016 under Watts. As chief, he oversaw a wide variety of programs in the district. He kept that job until the board appointed him as interim superintendent.

Hamada said she has volunteered for many years in the district and has known Vela for a long time.

“As a spokesperson for the entire board, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Kent School District Board of Directors has selected a member of our community who has called Kent home for years,” Hamada said. “He has years of experience, plus adds to the district by speaking dual languages. Going forward, it will take our entire community to get behind Mr. Israel Vela, our next superintendent, to make it rise to a top district in the state.”

Clark and Farah were each elected by voters in November. They knew picking a new superintendent would be one of their first duties as the previous board delayed a superintendent search until the terms of the new members began.

“I believe Israel understands most basic of all services begins with classroom teachers,” said Clark, who added he has known Vela for a long time. “They want to feel supported by central administration, and I believe Israel can do this so I’m going to vote for him.”

Farah said Vela stood out among the finalists.

“In making my decision, I looked at every single candidate, created a box for each candidate and categories to judge each one,” Farah said. “The only candidate that checked every box was Interim Superintendent Vela.”

The board will enter into contract negotiations with Vela, which will require another vote to approve. When Watts left the Kent superintendent job last summer he had an annual salary of $250,000. Watts was an assistant superintendent of the Gwinnett County Public Schools in 2015 when Kent hired him as superintendent for $250,000 per year.

Opposition vote

Bettinger said she wanted to hire a superintendent who could unify the district and she didn’t see that with any of the candidates. She said the district needed better candidates. She said community feedback did not strongly support a candidate.

“This board needs to continue searching for an unifying thought leader who can lead the district to the best possible outcome,” Bettinger said. “My vote is not for or against a candidate but to continue the search. I believe that needs to happen.”

Bento said the community seemed split about who it could support.

“All the candidates were great in their own way,” Bento said. “But I didn’t feel there was one unifying person that everyone got behind. I don’t know if that is normal or abnormal but I couldn’t see that in one person.”

Bento said he also had concerns about all of the grievances filed by the Kent Education Association, the union for teachers.

Shannon Jephson-Hernandez, a parent and teacher in the Kent School District, sent an email to board members prior to their vote that highlighted the grievances, including:

• There is currently no head of Human Resources

• Key positions are quitting

• The public and the board were misled by the interim (Vela) regarding the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

• Currently no plan to offer the SAT, a component to a graduation pathway

• The board voted on the Bezos Academy (early learning program), not understanding the full impact to taxpayers

• The interim (Vela) misled the public and the board regarding the levy resolution passed in November 2021

• The interim misled the public and the board regarding the Instructional Materials Committee

• The interim is tap dancing around the budget and enrollment issues, clearly waiting until a vote for superintendent is passed

Jephson-Hernandez also said in her email that the outcome of the vote for a new superintendent already was known prior to the vote, with Clark, Farah and Hamada in favor of hiring Vela.

Hamada addressed that issue during the board meeting prior to the vote.

“Nobody on this board has taken a vote or straw vote,” Hamada said. “We don’t know until the final vote in public. I think it’s important the community hears that and it happens to be the truth.”