最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The acting superintendent of 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools was asked to resign from her previous job in a district outside Seattle by teachers accusing her of demeaning and insulting staff, violating student privacy and ignoring special education.

Millicent Borishade served as chief academic officer for one year in the Tukwila School District and resigned just before joining her friend Keisha Scarlett, the newly hired superintendent at SLPS, in July 2023.

鈥淲e have seen ourselves as a community who work collaboratively to better serve our students. Under the leadership of Dr. Millicent Borishade, this collaborative spirit has been denied repeatedly,鈥� reads a May 2023 letter from the Tukwila Education Association describing the union鈥檚 vote of no confidence. 鈥淭he primary concern of our membership, as always, is the impact on students resulting from the dysfunction of our current leadership.鈥�

Tukwila is a small district just south of Seattle where most of the 3,000 students come from low-income families, many of them homeless or recent immigrants. One teacher said Borishade called families from Somalia 鈥渓azy鈥� in a staff meeting. Borishade also denied the spending of grant money on graduation caps and gowns for five homeless students.

In recent interviews with the Post-Dispatch, several SLPS staff members have recalled similar behavior from Borishade. One principal posted anonymously to social media that Borishade belittles staff and 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 value collaboration, but instead creates impossible conditions for us to work under.鈥�

George Sells, spokesman for SLPS, said in a statement that Borishade 鈥渋s unapologetically a warm demander of excellence and a champion for children. Sometimes that makes adults uncomfortable. Her focus today is on getting (SLPS) ready to receive our students. That is where all of our energy should be.鈥�

The 最新杏吧原创 Board of Education last week promoted Borishade from deputy superintendent to temporarily replace the ousted superintendent Scarlett pending an investigation into the district鈥檚 hiring and spending in the administrators鈥� first year.

At a closed session meeting July 25, SLPS board president Toni Cousins, vice president Matt Davis, secretary Donna Jones and member Tracy Hykes voted in favor of promoting Borishade, while member Emily Hubbard voted against. Members Sadie Weiss and Natalie Vowell abstained.

When asked why Scarlett was replaced with one of her first hires and closest friends, Cousins said Borishade was already running the day-to-day operations in the district. Borishade does not hold a superintendent鈥檚 certificate in Missouri, a requirement for full state accreditation.

鈥淭he board has voted, and we have confidence she is the person to get it done,鈥� Cousins said.

Borishade is one of at least nine administrators hired at SLPS in the last year with connections to Scarlett and her previous role as an administrator for Seattle Public Schools. Most bypassed the traditional hiring process including job interviews, according to SLPS central office staff.

The new chief of schools who started in SLPS last month, Allison Deno, also received a vote of no confidence from Tukwila teachers at the same time as Borishade. Deno serves as board president for Borishade鈥檚 consulting group and was executive director of multilingual services for Tukwila schools from November 2022 to June.

鈥淒r. Deno has continuously made decisions that negatively affect our students without allowing the professionals who work with our population to have any input. We need leaders who lead with integrity, compassion, and a willingness to learn about the community we serve, not ones who lead with bullying, intimidation, and consistently show no desire to learn about the community we serve,鈥� reads the May 2023 letter from the Tukwila teachers鈥� union calling on Deno to resign.

Other recent Seattle-area hires at SLPS include Deno鈥檚 husband Tim Schultz, who started as contract compliance manager last month.

• Manal Al-ansi was hired as chief of staff in August 2023 from Seattle Public Schools, where she led racial equity programs.
• Nikka Lemons became deputy chief operating officer in March after working as director of equity initiatives and outcomes in Seattle Public Schools. She is also the founder of the consulting firm Azimu Group which has worked for SLPS.
• Matthias Greywoode, chief financial officer, is also chief financial officer for Azimu Group.
• Fatimata Sow was hired as senior project manager in summer 2023 and promoted to deputy chief of staff in January. Sow was previously an intern at Seattle Public Schools.
• Sow鈥檚 husband Thierno Barro has held various tech positions in SLPS since December and became deputy chief information officer this month.
• Zithri Saleem, the new chief information officer, was a frequent consultant for Seattle Public Schools.

Staffers said Al-ansi, Lemons, Sow, Barro and Saleem have all left SLPS in the last week, along with Phoenix Jackson, the new chief of communications who garnered headlines for saying she would 鈥渇loat鈥� between her home in Houston and a condo in 最新杏吧原创.