Q: Mr. Federal Way, why the heck did it take the Federal Way school district so long to dismiss Todd Beamer High School students and staff after a bomb threat was found on Wednesday? As a parent, I am angered by this and this is not an acceptable protocol with a threat such as this.
A: Mr. Federal Way couldn’t agree more.
At around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, students found a message on a bathroom stall at the school that claimed an explosive device would go off in the building at 2 p.m. that day, district officials said. While Federal Way police and security searched the school and found nothing inside, “out of an abundance of caution” they evacuated students and staff from the building — just minutes before 2 p.m. What kind of “abundance of caution” is a short head start for students and staff to get out of the school before a potential bomb could go off?
No offense, but if someone tells Mr. Federal Way that his children’s school may detonate, someone better give Mr. Federal Way’s children more than a few minutes to get the heck out of Dodge. Knowing Mr. Federal Way’s kids’ luck, one of them would trip over his shoelaces on the way out, thus falling into a teacher, who would then fall like a domino into a locker. The teacher — or Mr. Federal Way’s kid — would then suffer a concussion and would need medical attention. Mr. Federal Way is unsure of South King Fire and Rescue’s average response time, but five minutes to get to the scene to provide medical aid seems far-fetched.
How many clumsy kids, dazed teachers and confused staff could a school possibly have during a school evacuation? Mr. Federal Way’s math skills are a bit shaky, but he can guess it would probably be more than one. But even one person who takes more than five minutes to exit is still one person too many and five minutes is not a long enough lead time.
Perhaps a search of the school was enough to satisfy school officials that there was no looming threat. Who knows. But Mr. Federal Way thinks the school district needs to get it together and re-evaluate their protocols. Hopefully the new superintendent will be key to making this happen.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, I can’t believe not one person on the school board thought that Sally McLean was clearly the best choice for superintendent. Is this an April Fool’s Day joke?
A: There is no gotcha moment going on that Mr. Federal Way is aware of. The school board did indeed select Tammy Campbell as the district’s new superintendent.
Campbell exhibits the charisma our school district needs to strengthen our schools. During a recent public forum, her answers were polished, concise and she seemed to have a deep understanding of the issues.
To McLean’s credit, she has a deep understanding of the issues too and knows the district as she’s been interim superintendent for nearly one year. She also had many residents and school officials rooting for her. Either candidate would have been a good choice.
However, Mr. Federal Way thinks the board based their decision on charisma and public speaking. Some of us have it; some of us don’t. Campbell certainly led the trio of candidates with these qualities.
Mr. Federal Way thinks that a good leader should possess these qualities. But leaders should also
be genuine and McLean’s authenticity will be difficult for anyone to match.
District officials have travelled — not only to faraway places such as Asia and Europe — but also to hell and back. The former superintendent left for Oklahoma, while the school board’s former embattled president left for prison last year. Those were just the tip of the iceberg.
Mr. Federal Way hopes the new superintendent will be the cohesion the district desperately needs.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, what do you think of Mayor Jim Ferrell’s usage of your famous last line in his state of the city address?
A: None of your business.
Got a question for Mr. Federal Way? Email mrfederalway@federalwaymirror.com
