Kent School District places elementary music teacher on leave

The Kent School District placed a Scenic Hill Elementary School music teacher on leave, just two days after a public meeting where parents and teachers from the school called for his removal.

“Mr. Kenney Polson, itinerant (travels to teach from school to school) music teacher, is currently on leave,” wrote Daman Hunter, school district associate superintendent in charge of human resources, in a Sept. 19 email to Scenic Hill families that was provided to the Kent Reporter. “In the meantime, the music classes will continue with a guest substitute.”

Hunter declined in the email to discuss the reasons for putting Polson on leave.

“Please understand this is a personnel matter that Kent School District Human Resources is actively addressing,” Hunter said. “As with all employment-related issues, we cannot share specific details. However, rest assured we are taking all necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition for our students.”

Polson, 70, has not responded to an email from the Kent Reporter for comment about his placement on leave and the accusations. The Kent School District also has not responded to an email from the Kent Reporter for more information about Polson and potential next steps.

The school district held a Levy Listening Session Sept. 17 in the Kent School Board room that drew several Scenic Hill Elementary parents to complain about Polson recently being assigned to the school.

Dave Bussard, district executive director of operations, led the meeting. He told the audience that the administrators present could only answer questions about the levy. Superintendent Israel Vela, Deputy Superintendent Wade Barringer and Hunter, the human resources manager, were not at the meeting. No school board members were present.

“I understand the district can’t let a teacher go, if he had not done anything currently,” one parent said. “I do not want the district to get sued for wrongful termination. But his past shows a potential dangerous situation. I am concerned about my child’s safety, security and well-being.”

A couple of parents brought up that district leaders should be aware of Polson’s past because of a Nov. 27, 2023 article on the KUOW website (kuow.org) about Polson, and how he left two previous teaching jobs because of allegations of sexual harassment.

In November 2023, Polson taught music at Lake Youngs Elementary in Kent. The article detailed that Polson in his second year of teaching in the district in 2021-2022 poked a 12-year-old student in the stomach and called her “gorgeous,” according to Polson’s own admission. Female colleagues said Polson made them feel uneasy by asking to exchange snacks, buying them gifts, giving unwanted compliments and asked them out, according to the article.

The Lake Youngs Elementary parents of that girl complained to the district about Polson in November 2021, according to documents and emails obtained by a district resident through public records requests and provided this week to the Kent Reporter.

In December 2022, Lake Youngs Elementary teachers sent an email to the Kent Education Association (KEA, teachers union) to ask that the KEA decline to support Polson after allegations of inappropriately touching a student in 2021-2022, inappropriate conversations with female students, sexually harassing female staff members and verbally abusing entire classes of students.

Complaints from parents continued to be filed with the district, and in January 2023, Polson was placed on paid administrative leave.

Further information about Polson was revealed, including his firing in 2016 by Portland (Oregon) Public Schools. According to the KUOW article, Polson was fired after the district found he had failed to properly supervise three students with special needs and pressured a parent volunteer to be untruthful during the resulting investigation, according to Portland Public Schools records.

Polson also admitted on his 2017 application to be a teacher in Washington state to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction that he had been reprimanded in Oregon for allegation of misconduct, according to Washington state documents.

The Teacher Standards and Practices Commission in Oregon reprimanded Polson for unwelcome physical contact and/or inappropriate comments with a female employee, according to Oregon state documents.

On June 17, 2014, Polson reportedly hugged a secretary in an affectionate manner that made her feel uncomfortable and confused. Portland Public Schools issued a reprimand and final warning with five days off without pay for policy violations related to sexual harassment.

In 2000, Polson was charged with sexual molestation and battery of a minor student while he was a music instructor at Merced College in Merced, California, according to an article in the Merced Sun-Star newspaper. Polson accepted a plea deal and charges later were expunged from his record.

In 2023, the Kent School District provided no updates about Polson after placing him on leave following the Lake Youngs complaints. In June 2023, parents learned that Polson was about to be placed at another school, according to information provided to the Kent Reporter. After community protests, the district reportedly gave him a job in the district office.

Then in the last couple of weeks, the district assigned Polson to Scenic Hill Elementary.

The complaints piled up at the Sept. 17 Levy Listening Session. Numerous speakers said they would not support the Nov. 5 district levy if Polson remained employed.

“We went to the people in power and they did nothing,” another speaker said about the Polson case. “Please pass it along to those in power. … They can do something, and they haven’t.”

Mike Carney, the Kent School District Teacher of the Year in 2021-2022 and a teacher for 20 years in the district, said Vela and Hunter need to hear the message that himself and the high majority of the Scenic Hill community won’t vote for the levy if Polson stays employed by the district.

“I would venture I have never voted no on a levy because it would hurt me and families,” Carney said. “But the only way to get the board to truly hear us is through the pocketbook. If the individual is placed at Scenic Hill, 99% of the Scenic Hill community will vote no on the levy. If the individual is removed, the community will vote yes.”