Temporary Schools Chief Is Named In Issaquah

ISSAQUAH - For the third time in less than a decade, the Issaquah School District faces upheaval in the superintendent's office.

Last night, the School Board selected retired Issaquah school administrator Larry Noel to fill in for Superintendent William Stewart, who is awaiting trial on four counts of telephone harassment, a gross misdemeanor. Stewart was placed on administrative leave with pay earlier this week, pending the outcome of the trial in Bellevue District Court.

Noel probably will serve for a matter of weeks, until the board can find an interim superintendent to replace Stewart for three to six months.

Superintendents are the lightning rod of any school system. But few districts have had as much turmoil as Issaquah.

Stewart faces criminal charges and a civil lawsuit for allegedly leaving obscene, threatening phone messages for the husband of the woman with whom he was having an affair.

His predecessor, Kateri Brow, died of cancer at age 49, staying on the job until a week before her death. And she succeeded James Swick, who was fired for failing to tell the board the district was running in the red.

Issaquah's run of bad luck with top administrators began with Swick in 1987, when the district learned of budget shortfalls resulting from mistakes made in the district's budget. The deficit ultimately reached $1.5 million.

Swick, who had almost three years left on his $64,000-a-year contract, appealed his dismissal. He eventually settled for $98,000.

Under that cloud, Brow, then assistant superintendent, was tapped to lead the district.

She quickly became a pioneer in building-based management, giving more local school control to principals and staff. She was honored with awards ranging from Educator of the Year by the Issaquah Education Association in 1980 to Outstanding Leadership Award from the Washington Association of School Administrators in 1988.

In August 1991, doctors removed a tumor from Brow's brain. Despite chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer grew and in 1992, with Brow growing weak from the disease, the board created a deputy superintendent's position and hired Stewart.

Brow died in November of that year. A few months later, Stewart became superintendent. The Louisiana native had come up through the ranks as a high-school math teacher, coach and principal.

Even Stewart's detractors praise him for the financial stability he brought to Issaquah. He is an undisputed whiz at numbers and came to Issaquah when it still was struggling to overcome financial woes caused by the failure of an operating levy and exacerbated by Swick's stewardship.

"I knew Bill . . . was very tough with the nickel," said state Rep. Brian Thomas, R-Issaquah, former president of the Issaquah School Board. "He watched the budget. We needed that.

"He's been a good superintendent. I can't fault him one bit for the job he's done as a superintendent."

The current School Board agrees. ". . . We find Bill has met or exceeded performance on each of his 1994-95 goals," reads the letter the board wrote to accompany the one-year extension on his contract, which now expires in June 1998. Stewart makes $99,000 a year.

When the board made that move, it was aware of a civil lawsuit that had been filed against Stewart for allegedly harassing David Minehan, the husband of the woman with whom he was involved romantically.

"This has been burning for me since May. I was floored to hear they extended his contract," said Jeanette Newman, a parent who has been critical of Stewart's leadership.

But board members say they regarded the lawsuit as a personal matter and were caught off guard by the prosecutor's decision to file criminal charges.

Stewart says that he is innocent and that he will prove in court that someone else harassed Minehan.

Newman is one of several parents who think Stewart obstructed attempts to make Issaquah schools more innovative. She thinks he has done a poor job of listening to what parents want and is too focused on the bottom line.

She and 100 other parents tried to create a community elementary school, a plan Stewart recommended the board reject. He told parents he objected to alternative programs when they pull resources away from regular programs. "We have to educate 11,000 kids," Stewart said.

That stand has been unpopular with some Issaquah parents, who point out that district voters seem willing to put their money where their kids are.

"He wants to educate the most amount of children for the least amount of dollars," said Newman, who believes Stewart has undone many of the good things instituted by Brow.

Board President David Irons disagrees. He said Stewart helped craft a five-year plan, helped pass a $138 million bond measure at a time when most school tax measures were being defeated, and fulfilled Brow's vision of site councils to put more power in the schools' hands.

"Mr. Stewart is not perfect; no one is," Irons said. The board wanted him to improve his communications skills in the coming year, work on developing better interpersonal relations with staff members and relax.

"At times, Mr. Stewart has worked so much on the long-term picture that he needs to stop and take a break. He needs to have a life for himself."

If Stewart is found guilty of the charges, it may be easier for the board to buy out his contract than fire him, Irons said, because being found guilty of a misdemeanor does not necessarily constitute grounds for dismissal. If he is found not guilty, it remains to be seen whether he can continue to lead the district.

In the meantime, retired administrator Noel will handle day-to-day issues until someone from outside the district is chosen by the end of the month to handle Stewart's duties.