Adding to a continuing series of revelations on ethical and fiscal misconduct at the University of Washington in Seattle, the university’s Office of Internal Audit has in response to a Washington State Public Records Act request by Public Data Ferret, released a report detailing the misappropriation of $6,555 from the UW Chemistry Department by a fiscal specialist named Deanna K. Brewer. She had been allowed wide latitude in processing cash and check deposits for office and lab keys, and the handling of related refunds. Several public records sources reveal that Brewer is 43, and lives in the Rainier View neighborhood in far southeast Seattle.
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Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
Yet another sticky-fingered caper reported at UW-Seattle
by Matt Rosenberg April 27th, 2012
WA: one in five social programs checked don’t pencil out
by Matt Rosenberg April 17th, 2012
A new report from the Washington legislature’s non-partisan policy analysis unit, the Washington State Institute For Public Policy, finds that of 98 programs recently reviewed for what researchers liken to an investment advisor’s “buy-sell” list, 79 pass muster financially, with measured per-participant financial benefits to the state which exceed costs; but 19 do not. Another 45 which are identified, haven’t been recently evaluated for cost effectiveness, the report says. Of the new results in the April 2012 report – titled “Return On Investment: Evidence-Based Options to Improve Statewide Outcomes” – the so-called “net present value” (benefits to the state per participant minus costs) was highest for a series of juvenile justice and adult criminal justice programs, and lowest for a sub-group of child and teen prevention and preK-12 education programs including Early Head Start and Even Start.
Woodinville teacher forced out for faking signatures on students’ special ed plans
by Matt Rosenberg April 9th, 2012
An agreed order recently posted online by the Washington state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction discloses that the Northshore School District – which operates 33 schools primarily in Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville – successfully sought the resignation of teacher Diane Friddle for forging required signatures of other individuals on documents connected with the custom-tailored “individualized education programs” or IEPs, for at least six special education students from 2008 to 2011. She taught at East Ridge Elementary School, 22150 N.E. 156th Place in Woodinville. The agreed order says she admitted to district officials that she manufactured the signatures of others on the student IEPs. Northshore School District Communications Director Leanna Albrecht said Friddle faked signatures of district staff and parents on the IEP signatures pages, showing who attended meetings related to the student IEPs. “It was a serious breach of professional ethics and we responded accordingly,” Albrecht added. Efforts to contact Friddle through a family member were not successful.
Friddle’s most current registered voter address is in Edmonds, and she is 43 years old. A public database of information from OSPI and provided by the Spokane Spokesman-Review reveals Friddle earned $71,988 in base salary and bonuses for the 2010-2011 school year, and received insurance benefits valued at $9,963, for total pay and benefits of $81,951 (screen shot).
UW’s curious cold case: track team loses $12K cash
by Matt Rosenberg April 4th, 2012
A previously undisclosed University of Washington internal audit dated April 2011 and records of a related UW Police investigation, both recently obtained by Public Data Ferret using the Washington state Public Records Act, detail the theft of almost $12,000 in UW-dispensed cash not needed for near-term usage, from the locked file cabinet drawer of an assistant coach to the UW track team. The university to date has not solved the crime – which police and athletic staff indicated was either an inside job or had an inside connection.
Ex-Bellevue teacher, SPU innovator jailed for sex crimes
by Matt Rosenberg March 20th, 2012
A then-resident of Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood who had deep ties to Seattle Pacific University during his tenure as a science teacher in the Bellevue school district, this month had his state teaching license permanently revoked following a guilty plea last fall to sex crimes with a Bellevue student when she was 15 and 16 years old. Sentencing papers show Matthew James Jones, now 32, is serving two 15-month terms concurrently after he pled guilty in September, 2011 to two felony counts of first degree sexual misconduct with a minor, a girl he taught as a middle-schooler in Bellevue. State corrections records indicate he’s now incarcerated in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Although his Spring, 2011 arrest was widely reported, there had been no news coverage of the actual outcomes.
UW axed assistant dean who faked credits for 139 students
by Matt Rosenberg February 24th, 2012
An ethically dicey work-around to help University of Washington School of Social Work master’s degree students maintain eligibility for financial aid and tuition waivers led to the forced resignation of an assistant dean named William G. “Gary” Olson. The Bellevue resident is now an adjunct instructor at Bellevue College, and claims through his attorney he was wronged by UW for engaging in what was an accepted practice there – albeit one about which he himself raised the initial questions that led to his exit.
Well away from public view UW found last year in an Internal Audit division investigation that from 2003 to 2011 Olson, the Assistant Dean of Student Services at its School of Social Work, awarded 139 students passing grades in a “Readings In Social Work” independent study course he taught, even though they did no work for the course. According to the audit division’s report dated June, 2011 – and obtained recently by Public Data Ferret through a public records request – the actions by Olson rendered invalid more than $200,000 in financial aid awarded to 54 of those students. University officials firmly maintain that Olson’s actions were isolated and that strong corrective steps have been taken.
Seattle Community College teachers urge board to buy ethically; cut ties with Bank of America, Georgia Pacific
by Matt Rosenberg February 9th, 2012
The meeting this afternoon of the Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees will be preceded by a study session in which officials will begin to publicly mull a request from the teachers union to adopt a socially-responsible purchasing policy and cut ties with two major SCCD vendors reviled by many Seattle progressives.
A local unit of the American Federation of Teachers which represents SCCD instructors is pressuring the board to adopt a “socially responsible purchasing policy” that among other things would sever current business ties with the Bank of America and the Georgia Pacific paper company owned by the prominent national conservative political funders the Koch brothers. The district operates three community colleges in Seattle – North, South, and Central, and a satellite program at the Seattle Vocational institute.
U.S. out of Afghanistan, WA senate committee urges Obama
by Matt Rosenberg February 6th, 2012
Fueled by a parade of proponents who testified at a public hearing in Olympia Friday, legislation is beginning to work its way toward a possible vote on the floor of the Washington State Senate that urges President Barack Obama and the Congress to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, and help the state accent domestic priorities instead. Senate Joint Memorial 8014, similar to a resolution, says the President and the U.S. House and Senate should end the war in Afghanistan and begin “dramatically shifting our national priorities” by focusing on job creation; more money for social programs, public services and crumbling transportation systems; and addressing climate change.