Former Federal Way schools superintendent under fire again

Former Federal Way Public Schools Superintendent Rob Neu is making headlines again.

Former Federal Way Public Schools Superintendent Rob Neu is making headlines again.

Despite multiple news outlets reporting Monday that he plans to resign from the superintendent position at Oklahoma City Public Schools he’s held for almost two years, Neu issued a statement on Tuesday that he is still employed.

“I have not resigned,” Neu wrote in the statement. “I am very disappointed that this was reported in the news media. I have no further comment at this time.”

Oklahoma news outlets reported that Neu had told an Oklahoma City Public Schools board member that he was planning on resigning before he issued his statement.

But the Oklahoma City school district scheduled a Board of Education special meeting for Thursday to discuss the matter.

“Currently, there hasn’t been any formal resignation paperwork submitted by Mr. Neu,” an additional statement reads.

According to the Oklahoma City school district, the district will experience dramatic budget cuts from a $1.3 billion shortfall for the 2016-17 school year.

And Ed Allen, president of teachers union the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers, wrote an April 4 letter to his colleagues questioning whether Neu could handle the issues.

Citing the Federal Way Mirror’s May 16, 2014, editorial, Allen points to several of Neu’s shortcomings, including that he “rules by fear and he will do or say anything to get what he wants.”

“In Federal Way, Superintendent Neu insulated himself by rewarding himself and those around him with high salaries and saw no problem with spending weeks in Europe and Asia on the district’s dime,” Allen’s letter reads. “He said it was hard work going overseas. Neu set goals that were unattainable, had a shoot first approach to his job and didn’t listen to others, particularly if they disagreed with him.”

Federal Way Public Schools hired Neu in 2010, and he left the district for the Oklahoma City Public Schools position in 2014. That move came shortly after former school board president Tony Moore was convicted on seven counts of felony theft and the district settled with a former Federal Way High School principal for $219,000 after she questioned Neu’s expensive spending habits on international excursions and inexperienced consultants.

When it was announced Neu was leaving the Federal Way school district, several community members and parents told the Mirror that they held Neu responsible for the district’s problems, specifically with an unpopular Standards Based Grading System.

Prior to working in Federal Way Public Schools, Neu worked for the Waterford School District in Michigan.