SEATTLE – Seattle Public Schools' board members voted unanimously Wednesday to fire Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and Chief Financial and Operating Officer Don Kennedy.
School board members voted after two hours of public comment, calling for the termination of Goodloe-Johnson and Kennedy's contracts.
The board also voted to make Susan Enfield, current Chief Academic Officer, the Interim Superintendent.
At issue is a district program to help minorities get school contracts. An audit revealed $1.8 million in spending that can't be explained, and questions about the man who directed the program, Silas Potter.
Parents said Goodloe-Johnson and Kennedy are in the hot seat because they didn't act when red flags were first raised about Potter and the program.
"She's at the top. She's supposed to be aware and she's not," said one parent.
But supporters of the superintendent believed the good things she did for the district should count in her favor.
"She's a wonderful person, she is so committed to kids and education," said Sara Morris, Alliance for Education President and CEO. "She started as a teacher, then became principal and then administrator."
