Picking Principle Over Superintendent Riverside Teacher, Honored As State’S Best, Makes Good On Vow To Quit If Wilson Stays

(From For the Record, July 14, 2000): Story wrong: The Riverside School District serves about 2,000 students. The number was incorrectly reported in a story Thursday about the district.

Riverside High School teacher Marvin Sather has followed through on his ultimatum.

Sather, Washington state’s Teacher of the Year, has quit his job because Riverside Superintendent Jerry Wilson won’t resign from his.

Sather was among nearly 100 teachers who demanded Wilson’s resignation in May, with Sather threatening to quit if Wilson didn’t.

Though Wilson says he has no intention of stepping down immediately, he and the school board recently agreed his contract won’t be renewed when it expires in 2003.

Teachers have accused Wilson of providing poor leadership, acting disrespectfully toward them and shortchanging students’ educational needs.

They also are frustrated because they have been working without a contract since their old one expired in August.

The teachers staged a one-day walkout last month to protest Wilson’s administration.

“I felt I needed to follow through on my statement,” Sather said Wednesday. “It’s a matter of integrity, and I think enough students understand that and I hope the community understands that.”

Sather delayed his decision to quit until recently, hoping the school board would terminate Wilson or reassign him to a lower-ranking position.

Even though Wilson will continue as superintendent for no more than three years, Sather said it is time for him to go.

Wilson said he had “no reaction” to Sather’s resignation. As for the agreed-on expiration of his contract, Wilson, 59, said he had planned to retire regardless of the controversy.

“I will retire in three years, if not before then,” he said. “There is always a chance, but you never know.”

Wilson has blamed teacher unrest over stalled contract negotiations.

Wilson and the board agreed to not renew his contract after three long meetings in executive session, said board member Paula Thorngate, who has been critical of Wilson’s tenure.

“I did throw buy-out on the table, but the bottom line is we’d still have to pay (Wilson), have an interim superintendent and conduct a superintendent search,” Thorngate said. “We don’t have the money.”

Wilson makes more than $140,000 annually in salary and benefits.

Wilson’s two supporters on the board, President Janet Hansen and Sandy Ross, couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. However, they have defended Wilson and commended his work as superintendent.

Sather isn’t the only teacher who is quitting over the controversy.

“We’ve lost about 15 teachers already, maybe more,” Thorngate said. “And most of the teachers would say it’s because of this.”

Parents also are pulling their students out of Riverside’s four schools. At least 60 students will not return to the district next fall, she said.

The district receives about $4,000 from the state annually for each student it enrolls. With just more than 4,000 students in the district, losing 60 or more students will hurt the district’s cash-strapped budget, Thorngate said.

But the greater loss to the district, she said, is experienced teachers.

“The seasoned, experienced teachers give more than just what they are paid to do,” she said.

Parent Sue Davis is saddened that her two younger children will not have Sather as their English teacher.

“He was one of those teachers that when you spoke to him, he could only talk about the kids,” Davis said. “He loved his kids and expected a lot from them.”

Sather, a 32-year teaching veteran, was selected the state’s Teacher of the Year last October from hundreds of nominations. Even though he is out of a teaching job for the moment, he will continue to represent the state’s 65,000 teachers at public events and education conferences through the end of this year.

This summer, Sather, 55, is working for his brother-in-law, Shan Bush, who is president of A-L Compressed Gases Inc. The business sells welding supplies and medical and specialty gases.

Sather says he is deciding where he will go from here. He may substitute teach in the fall and see what teaching positions open in the area.

But his dream is to start his own educational consulting business and work as a mentor to help other teachers improve their craft.

“Ideally, I would like it that a teacher could call me and say, `Come and observe me,”’ he said. “To observe and give feedback and work with folks is one of my strengths.”

Sather said he is relieved to be leaving the stress in the district, yet is sad he won’t be back in the fall.

“I will miss the students and the magic moments when you can tell learning is taking place,” he said.

Though Wilson remains at Riverside, Sather said he believes his efforts to make positive change in the district were not in vain.

“There is community involvement,” he said. “More folks are getting involved in the decision-making process so that it’s truly a democratic process.”