Tim Clark plans to remain on Kent School Board despite resignation pleas

Despite public testimony from teachers and parents calling for his resignation or removal from the Kent School Board after an insensitive comment about Somali families, Tim Clark said he already dealt with the issue when he resigned his role as board president.

“I made not one but two errors in my speech,” Clark said when asked during a short phone interview with the Kent Reporter March 29 about his response to those who want him to resign. “I apologized twice and that’s as far as I want to take it.”

Clark said the board issued a statement for him to step down as president and that’s what he did at a March 24 special meeting. He said that he had nothing further to say.

People spoke out against Clark at school board meetings on March 22 and March 24 for his reference to “a colony of Somalis,” during a March 20 board study session with the Covington City Council. Several more people spoke at a March 28 special meeting and made it clear they want him off the board.

Although the board could ask Clark to resign from the board, it does not have the power to remove him. Voters could try to recall Clark, whose four-year term expires in 2025. Voters elected Clark to his position in November 2021.

The board’s special meeting March 29 dealt with reallocation of funds. The board had planned another special meeting to possibly further deal with the Clark matter, but canceled that meeting because director Joe Bento had an excused absence and didn’t attend the meeting.

“Due to not having all board members present, the board will not take collective action as indicated at a (March 24) special meeting,” Vice President Awale Farah said.

Farah then issued a statement from the board.

“At a March 24 special meeting the board accepted Clark’s resignation as board president,” Farah said. “The board recognizes and apologizes for insensitive comments at a recent board meeting as they were inappropriate and do not reflect our values of inclusivity and respect.

“As active chair and spokesman of the board at this meeting, I will assure the public the board believes in a restorative culture and will commit to holding one another with grace and accountability. It’s the board’s hope the public will do the same.

“We remain committed in our role in serving all Kent School District stakeholders. We will not let this matter deter us from advancing the interest of all students. The entire board will do better by increasing our diversity, equity and inclusion training and leading with our values of equity, excellence and community.”

That statement failed to please the people who showed up to speak at the meeting.

“I am appalled and saddened by the lack of respect and lack of cultural insensitivity the KSD board president demonstrated when referring to a group of people as a colony of Somalis,” said Fahm Saechao-Ros, a teacher at Martin Sortun Elementary and the parent of three children in the district. “Furthermore, he made generalized comments about refugees and stereotyping them.”

Saechao-Ros said Clark’s attempt at an apology, “centered on himself rather than the people he hurt.”

She asked that the board remove Clark because, “It’s not enough he has resigned as board president and remains in position as a board member.”

Brett Allen, a teacher at Kent-Meridian High School who previously taught at Mill Creek Middle School and has worked in the district over 20 years, wants Clark gone.

“There was a public broad brush reference to Somali people with a word that carries harmful and historically negative connotations,” Allen said about Clark. “There was a subsequent nonapology apology for those comments that turned into a wandering defense and that basically equated to it’s OK because I have Somali friends.”

Allen said there had been previous incidents with Clark, too.

“We cannot afford for him to learn cultural competency on the job,” Allen said. “Let him learn it on his own time and away from this space which they have used to harm people they were elected to represent.”

Denise Marestein Renteria, a teacher at Scenic Hill Elementary, was upset with Clark’s comments about a diverse community and said his apology was “not sincere.”

“I have no confidence in this board member to represent our diverse community,” Marestein Renteria said. “I hope he will step down from the board for someone who understands diversity is an asset.”

Most of the audience left after the public comment period. The board had one other item to deal with at its special meeting, a reallocation of funds.

Once that was done, board member Meghin Margel used personal privilege and spoke to the Clark matter.

“I’m usually a good sleeper but I have not been the last couple weeks,” Margel said. “My heart breaks when we feel like there is so much animosity within the district. We can’t control everything, but I’m so sorry words were said that shouldn’t have been.”

Margel then spoke about the additional special meeting to address the Clark issue that was canceled because Bento was absent.

“I very much believe in the process of the board and we can’t make collective action without everyone here,” said Margel, who added that meeting will happen.

With Clark’s resignation as president, the board must appoint a new president. As vice president, Farah stepped in to run the March 29 meeting. The board’s next scheduled regular meeting is April 26.