Community Members Demand Corrections to QVSD’s Larson Statement

Multiple speakers challenged the Quillayute Valley School Board’s account of the Larson lawsuit Tuesday, pointing to a verdict against the district and a cancelled investigative interview as they demanded corrections and changes in how harassment complaints are handled.

The board offered no substantive public answer. After the comment period, it moved on with its agenda. No public vote to correct or rescind the August 25 statement followed.

At issue during the September 8, 2026, meeting was the district’s description of a case in which a federal jury found QVSD liable for a hostile work environment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination. 

Jurors awarded former assistant cross-country coach Kari Larson $250,000, reduced by $240 for failure to mitigate damages, leaving $249,760.

Board Chair Bill Rohde had read the district’s statement at the August 25 meeting, presenting it with the board’s approval, The Olympic Herald previously reported. 

It emphasized findings in the district’s favor and used the words “completely exonerated” about QVSD.

The signed verdict form records a finding against the district on the hostile-work-environment claim. 

During public comment, Shannon Gaydeski directed the board to its first question, which asks whether jurors found for Larson on that claim against QVSD. The answer was yes.

Gaydeski challenged the statement’s account of the district’s response to Larson’s complaint and urged the board to accept responsibility for the verdict and examine how it addresses educator misconduct.

The April 8 verdict also included findings for the defendants. Jurors rejected Larson’s retaliation claims against QVSD and Brian Weekes, along with negligent-supervision and negligent-retention claims against Kyle Weakley. 

Those findings did not eliminate the district’s liability on the hostile-work-environment claim.

Larson alleged that Weekes subjected her to unwanted physical contact, offensive messages and sexually suggestive comments. Weekes denied the allegations.

The jury instructions provided alternative grounds for holding QVSD responsible. 

Along with the other elements of the claim, Larson had to show that a supervisor or other specified district official participated in the harassment, or that management knew or should have known of it and the district failed to take reasonably prompt and adequate corrective action.

If jurors found Weekes was a supervisor, the instructions also allowed QVSD a defense. 

The district had to prove both that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct sexually harassing behavior and that Larson unreasonably failed to use preventive or corrective opportunities or otherwise avoid harm. 

Another speaker called the board’s statement “egregiously misleading” and disputed what she described as its account that Larson refused to meet with an investigator. 

She said Larson was prepared for a July 29, 2024, interview at 10:30 a.m., only for the district’s attorney to cancel it eight minutes beforehand.

The email chain reviewed by the Herald records the district’s lawyer confirming at 10:22 a.m. that the interview would not take place that morning.

At 9:45 a.m., Larson’s attorney, Daniel Gallagher, had asked investigator Rick Kaiser for a Zoom link. Kaiser directed him to district attorney Duncan Fobes. 

Fobes then confirmed there was no interview and outlined the district’s desired conditions: an in-person meeting and a maximum duration of three hours.

Four days earlier, Gallagher had proposed a one-hour interview and a limited group of participants, saying he was awaiting his client’s confirmation. 

After Fobes confirmed the cancellation, Gallagher replied that he and Kaiser had already agreed on the timing and parameters.

Fobes sought another discussion on July 31. On August 5, Gallagher described an impasse and objected to a three-hour interview because of Larson’s emotional state. 

The speaker also challenged what she described as the board’s assertion that Larson never saw Weekes on school property again. 

She said Weekes was at her son’s youth soccer game on district property in summer 2024 when Larson arrived. Larson left after a short time and did not attend another of the boy’s games, according to the speaker.

Another speaker urged the board to make reporting harassment more welcoming and questioned how a district administrator’s presence at an interview could affect a complainant’s willingness to speak. 

Fobes’s email had described an administrator attending as customary, while expressly saying a district representative did not need to be present.

Another speaker challenged the statement’s discussion of the damages award and asked the board to rescind it.

“Do the right thing,” he said. 

He said damages were intended to compensate Larson for the harm she suffered.

The district’s obligation extended beyond the damages award. The Herald reported in July that a satisfaction of judgment acknowledged payment of $765,834.77, including the judgments, interest, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Rod Larson said he had repeatedly asked for changes in policy, training and evaluation since the verdict. He accused the board of failing to act on those requests.

“Two words stand out, did nothing,” he said, responding to what he described as the statement’s portrayal of the district as having done nothing wrong.

Another parent said the board’s decisions were why she did not send her children to district schools or sports. She said she would continue attending meetings until she saw changes.

“It’s important for our children to feel safe,” she said.

The August 25 statement had disclosed an ongoing personnel matter related to the situation without identifying its subject. The board gave no substantive public update on that matter during Tuesday’s meeting.

The board entered executive session near the end of the meeting. Upon returning, the board announced that no action had come out of the session and adjourned.