QVSD Board Holds First Regular Meeting Tuesday Since Larson Payout and Closed-Door Session

The Quillayute Valley School District Board of Directors is scheduled to meet Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Forks High School Library/Media Center, its first regular session since the district paid the Larson judgment and since a closed-door special meeting that ended with no explanation.

Regular sessions include a public comment period, in which speakers sign in, introduce themselves, and are given three minutes each. The board's July 15 special meeting included no such period.

That makes Tuesday the first opportunity Forks residents have had to address their board in person since two developments.

A Satisfaction of Judgment filed July 2 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma confirmed that QVSD had paid $765,834.77 to former assistant cross-country coach Kari Larson, covering the jury's award along with attorneys' fees, costs, and interest.

Then, on July 15, the board convened at noon in that same high school library, spent roughly 80 minutes in executive session, and returned to open session to announce only that no decisions had been made and none would be made that day.

Under Washington's Open Public Meetings Act, any final action arising from those closed-door discussions must be taken in open session. Tuesday is the board's next scheduled opportunity to take it.

The April 8 verdict remains the backdrop. A federal jury in Tacoma found the district liable for subjecting Larson to a hostile work environment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination and awarded her $250,000. 

The same jury declined to find the district or former head coach Brian Weekes liable for retaliation, and it cleared Athletic Director and Title IX Coordinator Kyle Weakley of negligent supervision and retention claims.

Since the verdict, residents have used public comment at successive board meetings to press for transparency and to question the administration's oversight of coaches and staff, including a repeated call for a citizen advisory group on student safety.