Forks Parents Confront QVSD Board Over $250,000 Verdict and Decades of Negligence

For over two decades, the Quillayute Valley School District has relied on a predictable administrative playbook: manage the liability, shuffle the problem out the back door, and keep the community in the dark. But at the April 14 Board of Education meeting, that playbook spectacularly failed.

Fueled by a recent federal jury verdict that exposed the district’s failures in open court, residents and former students approached the podium.

The public comment period became a blistering reckoning as families tied to the recent Larson v. QVSD litigation forced the school board to publicly confront a devastating reality: the district’s instinct to protect its own reputation has repeatedly endangered the children and staff it is mandated to protect.

$250,000 Verdict

The catalyst for the April 14 confrontation was the outcome of a multi-day federal trial in Tacoma.

Last week, a federal jury found the Quillayute Valley School District liable for cultivating a hostile work environment under the supervision of veteran coach Brian Weekes, awarding former cross-country coach Kari Larson $250,000 in damages.

Taking the podium, Rod Larson delivered a stinging rebuke of the school board’s oversight and governance. He explicitly called out the board for failing to send a single representative to the federal court proceedings.

Speaking directly to the administration, Larson questioned how the board could possibly make objective policy or personnel decisions without having witnessed the devastating evidence and testimonies presented at trial.

Larson positioned the verdict not as a settled legal matter, but as a glaring symptom of a diseased administrative culture that demands immediate, systemic examination.

29 Years of Silence

The testimonies quickly expanded the timeline of misconduct far beyond the 2019-2021 scope of the recent federal lawsuit.

Shannon Gaydeski, speaking as a former student, alleged that Brian Weekes’s inappropriate behavior—specifically the inappropriate massaging of female students—dates back nearly 29 years.

Gaydeski indicted the administration. She explicitly called out Superintendent Diana Reaume and Title IX Coordinator Kyle Weakley for their systemic failure to keep accurate records of past complaints and inappropriate behavior.

She concluded by demanding that Weekes be fired for cause and permanently banned from district property.

The Olympic Herald prior reporting provides terrifying corroboration for Gaydeski’s claims of an administrative blind spot. Weekes’s insubordination dates back to the year 2000, when he was cited for missing meetings, ignoring property damage caused by athletes, and operating with an expired First Aid/CPR card. In 2006, he openly ignored a formal cease-and-desist order to stop coaching basketball.

When boundary violations escalated, the district actively looked the other way. In 2019, Weekes was formally reported for following high school girl athletes and massaging their shoulders and thighs. In 2022, he was reported again for making an offensive comment about a female athlete’s chest.

Prioritizing Liability Over Safety

The community’s frustration culminated with Michael Gaydeski, who utilized his time to read directly from the Larson v. QVSD federal court transcripts.

He highlighted the federal judge’s explicit finding that there were triable issues of fact regarding whether the district had prior notice of Weekes’s behavior and whether administrators failed to prevent further harm.

His core complaint struck at the heart of QVSD’s administrative philosophy: he accused the district of consistently prioritizing liability mitigation over actual student and staff safety.

Again, the district’s own records validate this community outrage. The administrative mindset regarding Weekes was laid bare in recent sworn depositions.

Title IX Coordinator Kyle Weakley testified that he told Weekes it was “not a good idea” to perform physical stretching routines on female athletes—not to protect the students’ boundaries, but for Weekes’s “own protection, so that false accusations couldn’t be made against them.”

The End of the Backroom Deal

For decades, the Quillayute Valley School District successfully silenced victims through quiet settlements, institutional deflection, and legal maneuvers. But the $250,000 federal verdict in Larson v. QVSD has stripped away the district’s bureaucratic shield.

The coordinated complaints delivered at the April 14 board meeting signal a community that is no longer willing to accept the district’s standard playbook.

By reading federal jury findings directly into the public record, the victims have forced an undeniable truth into the light.

As the community formally demands the termination of compromised staff and an overhaul of district procedures, the board faces a defining choice. They can continue defending the indefensible, or they can finally reckon with the twenty years of damage they have overseen.