The firing of Portland Public Schools' deputy chief executive officer comes on the heels of a significant setback in the district's plan to fix inequities in Oregon's largest school district.
Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero hasn't said why he axed his second-in-command. A district spokesman released a statement that Yousef Awwad was an at-will employee and didn't fit with the new leader's vision.
In recent weeks, Guerrero was forced to announce that information Awwad provided about potential health hazards at Harriet Tubman — one of two middle schools slated to open next school year — wasn't reliable.
At an Oct. 16 meeting — Guerrero's second week on the job — school board members asked Awwad if people should be worried about the environmental safety of the school.
"We have no concerns about the air quality in Tubman," Awwad responded. "That's the answer."
But the school board lost confidence in those assurances.
The next school board meeting, which was supposed to be a jubilant celebration of the vote to open the schools, was anything but joyous. Instead, on Oct. 24, Guerrero broke the news that testing was needed and the community should be prepared to learn that Tubman might not be a viable site after all. He told the public they may be the dark about the future of the school for some time.
"We don't know what we don't know," Guerrero said.
Frustrations from the board were clear: They'd been told by Awwad they did know — and now they had to tell their constituents that wasn't true.
School board vice-chair Rita Moore said at the meeting she felt she had to personally apologize as a result.
"I was either misinformed or misunderstood and I passed along incorrect information," she said.
District spokesman Dave Northfield said in a text message the breakdown in the plans for Tubman had nothing to do with Awwad's ousting.
Awwad was not the district's environmental health officer. But he oversaw that position and was the top-ranking administrator responsible for school facilities and had known since spring 2016 that serious safety hazards were a reality in the district's aging schools. The cover up of lead in drinking water results helped lead to the firing of two key facilities officials and the departure of Superintendent Carole Smith. Awwad was the chief financial officer at that time and was then tapped to take on more leadership as someone respected and uninvolved in the scandal.
To applause, Moore said she wished Tubman's potential health issues had been given a deeper look when they first arose.
"I think we ought to look at how'd we get here," she said. "How come these issues weren't surfaced long before now?"
The news was especially painful as it wasn't the first delay North and Northeast Portland parents and students have suffered. Last fall, Interim Superintendent Bob McKean, with Awwad at his side, announced the opening of Tubman and Roseway Heights as middle schools would be moved to the 2018-2019 school year instead of the 2017-2018 school year because of competing district priorities.
The glacial pace is maddening for the community, which is tired of drawn-out promises that the district will act to correct deep unfairness in the system that disproportionately hurts low-income children and children of color. The district concluded years ago that K-8 schools on the eastside suffer from small enrollments in the middle grades, which keep them under-resourced. Fewer students translate to fewer programs, a problem that doesn't similarly affect the district's middle schools.
Tubman, in particular, is a sore spot because of the historical importance of the school in the black community, which has long been denied equitable treatment.
Awwad made a name for himself in the district as a force of competence and steadiness in the aftermath of the lead scandal and the revelation that a host of hazards plagued Portland's old school buildings. Awwad drew praise as someone who helped put the district back on track.
Awwad blames his firing on the fact that he dared challenge a school board's investigation into his conduct. Awwad says he was illegally investigated for a romantic relationship with a coworker. Awwad said the investigation cleared him and he'd been told the district planned to a statement that praised him, removed the specter of misconduct and expressed a hope he'd be with the district for years to come. But he began contesting how the board went about the investigation and instead of praise he was shown the door, according to Awwad.
Awwad argues the investigation was illegal because it wasn't voted on publicly. In addition, he said, the district's rule on workplace dating only pertains to relationships between managers and employees they directly supervise. Awwad was not the direct boss of his girlfriend. He did approve a raise for her while interim superintendent, but said his signature was a formality. Many employees got the same raises and human resources did the decision-making, he said.
He said the school board's investigator agreed he was in the clear. The district held confidential meeting to discuss the personnel investigation but has not said anything about the findings. Nor has the disrtrict responded to The Oregonian/OregonLive's months-old public records request for the contract for that investigation.
School board chair Julia Brim-Edwards has said in a statement Thursday evening the board had nothing to do with Awwad's firing.
It's not unusual for new superintendents to clean house and bring in their own hires for senior leadership roles that require shared trust and vision. Power dynamics may have been strained considering Awwad had been keeping the superintendent seat warm for the new leader from July to October.
Awwad was quick Thursday to say he plans to sue. That makes it unlikely Guerrero will be more forth-coming about why he ousted Awwad.
— Bethany Barnes
Got a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.com