Disputes rise between Kent School Board member, superintendent

Published 12:50 pm Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Donald Cook never imagined after voters elected him in November 2023 to the Kent School Board that his role would lead to threatening emails from a law firm representing Kent School District Superintendent Israel Vela.

A portion of the conflict between Cook and Vela played out in public almost from the time Cook began his term. But behind the scenes, it’s gone much deeper.

That’s why Cook decided to go public with emails and mailed letters about him received from a law firm representing Vela. The emails claim “unlawful interference” with Vela’s superintendent agreement that “has caused continued disruption and loss of time and focus on the needs of the district and the students it serves.”

The law firm sent the emails to Curtis Leonard, an attorney for Pacifica Law Group who represents the Kent School District and board. The emails call for the five-member Kent School Board to get Cook “to comply with the agreement or Vela will consider legal action against Director Cook personally along with the board.”

Cook issued a statement to the Kent Reporter after releasing emails last month from the Tacoma law firm of Dickson Frohlich Phillips Burgess representing Vela.

“I ran for this board because I believe in transparency and accountability,” Cook said. “Since I took office, starting three weeks in, I’ve been asked to recuse myself, barred from negotiations, told I can’t talk to principals, told I can’t chaperone students, threatened with lawsuits and had a Title IX (discrimination) complaint sit unresolved for eight months, all because I asked questions, show up and report safety concerns.”

Vela’s lawyers sent the first email on Oct. 23, 2024 after a King County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Cook. Cook sued the district, Vela and Board President Meghin Margel in March 2024 after the board passed a resolution that excluded Cook from a newly formed labor committee to keep him from participating in union contract negotiations with any of the district’s unions because his wife teachers in the district.

That email from the lawyers wanted the board to remove Vela from the lawsuit if Cook appealed the decision and that Vela is considering legal action against Cook. Cook appealed to the state Court of Appeals. Cook and the district later reached a settlement to end the suit, which resulted in a $45,o00 payment in spring 2025 to Cook by the district to help cover his attorney fees.

Cook thought things might change after the settlement.

But on Sept. 4, 2025 Vela’s attorneys sent another email to the district about a demand for mediation of a dispute concerning Cook’s conduct and his “continued tortuous interference and breach of the terms and conditions” of the superintendent’s contract agreement.

“If the board is unable to cause Director Cook to comply with the agreement, Superintendent Vela will consider legal action against Director Cook personally along with the board,” according to the email.

Cook said the threats continue.

“I’m coming public because the public deserves to know what our board and superintendent are spending their time and taxpayer money on when we face a $35 million (budget) shortfall (for 2026-2027),” Cook said.

Vela forwarded an email from the Kent Reporter with questions about the lawsuit threat to his attorney. Chris Pierce-Wright, an attorney with Dickson, Frohlich, Phillips, Burgess, with offices in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, said in an email after discussion about the case with Vela that they would have no comment.

“Pursuant to standard practice, as this is an ongoing personnel matter, the Kent School District and its Board are unable to comment on the specifics of the legal matter or provide additional details at this time,” Wright said in a March 2 email.

Accusations against Cook

Vela’s attorneys claim that Cook partakes in day-to-day operations of the district, in direct violation of his duties as a board member and in violation of Vela’s employment agreement.

“Cook’s site visits on school buses, at the fifth-grade camp and homecoming dress exchange events, as well as meetings with principals at schools with the district, are a direct breach of Superintendent Vela’s employment agreement and the district’s written policies,” according to an email from Dickson, Frohlich, Phillips, Burgess released by Cook. “Moreover, Cook’s obstreperous conduct also constitutes a breach of his fiduciary duties of confidentiality and loyalty to the district.”

The law firm claims by Cook overseeing one of the district’s fifth-grade sponsored camps in September 2024, riding on school buses on or around Sept. 23, 2024 to observe the operations of the district, Cook breached Vela’s employment agreement.

In addition, the attorneys said the district received at least one complaint about Cook’s presence at the Cinderella Event at Kentridge High School between Sept. 16 and 20, 2024.

“We understand at least one teenage female attending the event expressed her discomfort concerning Cook’s presence, according to the email.

The email claims Cook, because he is a board member, was required to get approval from Vela to schedule a visit with the organizers of the district-sponsored event and he failed to do so. The event provides donated formal wear for students who cannot afford the items to pick up for free to attend high school formals, such as homecoming.

The attorneys also claimed Cook visited with school principals at their offices without prior approval from the district.

“Because of Cook’s actions of improperly interfering with the various school-sanctioned events and sites, the school board has had to do damage control and constantly remind Cook that he is obligated to comply with the Board rules and policies, even if he is simply volunteering as a community member,” according to the email.

In a Sept. 4, 2024 email to the district attorney, Vela’s law firm sent notice of demand for mediation on behalf of Vela because of what it called “unlawful conduct,” by Cook.

“If the Board is unable to cause Director Cook to comply with the (superintendent) agreement, Superintendent Vela will consider legal action against Director Cook personally along with the Board,” according to the email.

The emailed claimed further interference by Cook, including improperly emailing the district’s outside counsel Aug. 8, 2025 requesting confidential information concerning ongoing litigation between the district and resident Joe Riley; attempts to interject himself into certain IEP (inclusive education) meetings starting in April 2025; and a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act for demanding special meetings.

Cook denies allegations

During a Zoom call with the Kent Reporter, Cook explained his actions that Vela’s attorneys claimed were violations. He said he believes in finding out in person about how the district operates.

“I want to see how they do things,” said Cook, who added voters elected him to a four-year term to represent them and discover things.

Cook said he rode on a school bus at Horizon Elementary during a hot weather day to see how high the temperature would reach inside the bus. He said he checked with school administration and the driver before boarding. He said the driver contacted dispatch to approve Cook riding on the bus.

“It was 90 degrees outside and very hot inside the bus at 94 to 96 degrees,” said Cook, who added the district had talked about buying new buses and he is a proponent to get buses with air conditioning. “It’s a different thing to experience it. Students are on the bus for a short time but employees are on it all day long.”

As far as attending fifth-grade day camps, Cook said he went to four camps, including one that involved his own child. He said they needed more volunteers and chaperones and he posted to Facebook to help find more volunteers so students could attend the camp. Cook said the district never really answered him about what he should have done differently.

When it came to volunteering at the event that provides formal wear for high school events, Cook said he went to the events at Kentwood, Kentlake and Kent-Meridian high schools. He said at least two adults were always present and it’s a place for students to pick out clothes. They can take the items with them and try them on at home.

“If I made anyone feel uncomfortable that was not my intention, I’m sorry,” Cook said.

He said he never heard about a complaint from a student until Board President Meghin Margel raised the issue during a board meeting.

“I was organizing and sizing things, to make sure dresses were in the right place and size of shoes put in the right place,” Cook said. “A student might ask me something. I helped a boy tie his tie, and someone asked about shoes if they looked OK.”

Cook said the event is during school lunch hour and he went to volunteer when he heard they needed another adult in order to open the store with the donated clothes.

As for the visits with principals, Cook said he met with all 44 school principals his first year on the board. He said he didn’t take notes, he told them he was just there to talk and meet them and build a relationship.

“Principals run the district, they have direct contact every single day (with teachers, students) so it’s important they feel supported,” Cook said.

Cook said last year the district wanted him to schedule each visit through the board assistant, which he said went well. But this year the district told him a staff member would need to be included on each visit, so he only did a few. He wanted the principals to be able to speak freely and not have it be a formal meeting with others involved.

Previous board member quit

This isn’t the first serious conflict between Vela and a board member. Michele Bettinger resigned in June 2022 when she said, “I no longer feel professionally or personally safe asking questions, trying to get items on the agenda for discussion or while attending executive session.”

When contacted by the Kent Reporter about Cook’s disputes with Vela, Bettinger, who keeps a close watch on the district, said she recalled about how the district attorney at the time would call her after board meetings telling her to stop saying certain things at board meetings.

Bettinger said she would ask questions in emails to district leaders and they often responded with emails with the heading “lawyer client privilege” that was intended to forbid her from discussing certain things during board meetings.

“Specifically, I was warned to refrain from talking about potential OPMA (Open Public Meetings Act) violations prior to the outcome of the December 2021 board officer elections,” Bettinger said. “They also wanted me to stop openly sharing my concerns from the dais regarding what I was experiencing as a pattern of harassment, intimidation and bullying from Central office.”

Bettinger said she resigned because she felt that Vela and a trio of board directors would control and run the Kent School District into ruin and she didn’t want to be responsible for that. She said the current public attacks during board meetings against Cook were kept behind the scenes while she was on the board.

“It is my experience and my observation of current affairs that any director that isn’t an acolyte or accomplice in what the superintendent wants, is surely to be harassed, intimidated and bullied,” Bettinger said. “Even though I was a seated board director up to a day before Vela’s contract was approved; I hadn’t seen it. When I finally saw it weeks later, my genuine thought was, ‘Now that I’m gone, who will be the board’s scapegoat so he (Vela) can claim board interference and get a contract payout?’”

Vela, who makes an annual salary of $355,000, was appointed superintendent by the board on a controversial 3-2 vote in April 2022. Bettinger and then-board member Joe Bento voted against Vela as they preferred to search for a stronger candidate. Vela has worked in the district more than 20 years, starting out as principal at Meridian Elementary School.

Next steps

Despite the demand by Vela for mediation by the board over his dispute with Cook, nothing so far, as of March 9, has happened, Cook said.

Margel, the board president, did not respond to a Kent Reporter email with questions about why the board has not done anything.

The district communications team sent an email with the same statement as Vela’s attorney that it would not comment about a personnel matter.

“So far, everything has been kept in executive session,” Cook said in an email last month. “I have requested a public hearing/meeting to address the complaint against me, both here and when the memo was created prior to the enactment of Resolution 1669 (That kept him out of contract negotiations). Every time there is a complaint against me, I request it be done in public (as should be my right); and I am denied every time, always with the explanation that I can’t because of ‘executive session privilege’ or ‘attorney client privilege.’”

Cook said he decided to go public with the emails and other information so things don’t stay in the shadows.

“I’m coming public because the public deserves to know what our board and superintendent are spending their time and taxpayer money on when we face a $35 million shortfall,” Cook said about an estimated budget deficit for the 2026-2027 school year.

Cook debated about how long to keep quiet about the lawsuit threats.

“I tried to address this privately for over two years and it hasn’t worked,” he said “There’s a pattern of targeting people who seek accountability and transparency. I’m not the first, I hope to be the last.”

Complaint against Margel

In addition to the conflicts with Vela, Cook also continues to battle with Margel, the board president. He filed a Title IX complaint against Margel with the district nine months ago for discrimination.

Two of the allegations against Margel, for comments she made during public board meetings, involve the same topics that Vela’s attorneys addressed: Cook’s ride on a school bus and and his attendance at a Cinderella Event where students pick out formal wear.

“I believe there may be a connection between the superintendent’s complaint and demand for mediation, and my Title IX complaint against Ms. Margel,” Cook said in an email.

Margel was appointed to the board in September 2022. Voters elected her to a four-year term in November 2023.

Margel made statements during the Sept. 11, 2024 and June 11, 2025 board meetings telling Cook to stop “invading schools,” to stop riding school buses with kids and to stop “being around where girls are trying on dresses.” Those comments led Cook to file the complaint.

“As a bisexual man who has been open about my identity since before I was elected, I believe these comments invoke harmful stereotypes about LGBTQ+ individuals and children,” Cook said in a March 4 Facebook post.

Ephrata-based Clear Risk Solutions investigated the complaint for the district, including interviews with Cook and Margel, and confirmed the statements, but didn’t issue any findings.

“A decision-maker was not hired until December (2025),” Cook said. “After I submitted a detailed response identifying significant gaps in the investigation, the decision-maker ordered the investigation reopened on Feb. 13, 2026. That was three weeks ago. Since then, I have heard nothing.”

Cook said he will be including the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Equity and Civil Rights Department on all communications going forward. He said under Washington law, when a district fails to follow its own complaint procedures, a complainant can escalate directly to the state.

“I will continue to serve this community, visit our schools, volunteer, and advocate for transparency and accountability — exactly as I promised when I ran for this seat,” Cook said. “What I will not do is allow anyone to quietly run out the clock on a complaint that the law says should have been resolved eight months ago.”