MISD superintendent, school board president in the hot seat at forum

Published 2:05 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Mercer Island School Board President Stephanie Burnett and school district Superintendent Dr. Fred Rundle sat at center stage facing the crowd at the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) Performing Arts Center on the evening of May 11.

With about 40 people filling the seats and some stepping up to the microphones to ask questions and voice their concerns at the inaugural Community Conversation, Burnett and Rundle were often in the hot seat with challenging comments being fired their way.

Crucial topics on the minds of attendees included the district budget, enrollment, the Highly Capable Services (HiCap) program, student safety in the wake of alleged and confirmed cases of sexual assault involving MIHS staff, a club soccer coach’s possible inappropriate conduct involving a minor (according to a district letter) and more.

“Communication is really important to me and I’ve been really happy that the board and the administration has been supportive of that and has looked into starting looking into new ways to communicate with all of you,” Burnett said to kick off the event.

Rundle noted: “We may not have a perfect answer or a completely finalized answer, but I hope this is our opportunity to be as transparent as possible.”

On the budget front, Rundle explained that the district paid off a $2 million loan in 2022-2023 and began climbing out of debt while trying to regrow fund balance. It’s been challenging, and he added that declining enrollment has been decreasing revenue.

“Our strategy has been, how can we make as many reductions as possible, as far away from the classroom as possible, so that we can keep the resources there,” said Rundle, adding that their mantra is trying to attract new families to schools; retain families through programming, support and services; and getting families to return.

Regarding the Crest Learning Center, Rundle said they will offer students a Block program for the next school year.

One parent told Burnett and Rundle that her child has experienced phenomenal growth through the district’s programs. The parent sings the praises of the district and added that the offerings have been a miracle for her family.

The Community Conversation soon took a turn toward more serious matters when MIHS senior Inaya Chandrakant — a speaker of the Student Senate — asked the duo about the status of the $13.4 million tort claim that has been filed against the district by a former student in one of the aforementioned cases.

Someone in the crowd loudly clapped in favor of the question.

“Do we intend on putting out a ParentSquare message, an email regarding, ‘Hey, here’s where we are in terms of the tort claim? And here’s what the outcomes could potentially be?’” Chandrakant asked.

Rundle said the district has met all of its obligations in the tort process so far by responding to the former student’s attorneys. The superintendent said he understands the current students’ concerns about the claim and that it could potentially continue well into the next school year.

Parent Heidi Baxter said she and others are concerned about how the district handled the multiple incidents mentioned above.

“I’m concerned that we are not, as a district, conveying really a sense of security and trust. I don’t have trust that this district will do the right thing if they hear about more of these things in the future,” said Baxter, adding that she feels the district needs to be more transparent with the community.

Questions later arose related to transparency regarding the club soccer coach and the information the district released. The coach is also a former MIHS boys and girls soccer coach and paraeducator, according to the district letter.

Burnett jumped into the conversation: “One of the things I hope that we get out of this, we take from this is what we can do going forward, what positive steps we can take” to ensure that people feel the district is communicating properly.

In addressing another question about what the district is doing to handle “systemic failures” in the sexual assault cases, Rundle said they have formed the Student Safety and Well-Being Committee, partnered with Praesidium — a nationwide abuse-prevention and intervention firm that recently visited the district — and has reviewed hundreds of employee files in their archives. Burnett said the committee is broken down into the following three focus areas: professional boundaries, training and reporting.

Regarding the Praesidium visit, Chandrakant attended one meeting and noted that only five to six students were involved in the discussions. She said that if the district wants to hear all of the students’ voices, perhaps a senior assembly or an entire-school gathering with Praesidium would be more effective.

Chandrakant also suggested that the district have auditors come in every few years to peruse employee files and look for red flags to help prevent any more incidents from occurring. Rundle said the district has created databases that weren’t previously in place.

MIHS sophomore Kavya Muralidhar — who is a member of the Student Safety and Well-Being Committee — said the school district has implemented a lot of positive change to the situation in trying to better the district.

“I completely acknowledge, I completely validate all of the concerns that have been brought forward today. I agree with some of them, but I would also like to highlight the work that the school district has been doing to combat all of these,” said Muralidhar, adding that she believes the district has increased its transparency to the schools and community.

A student survey via the committee has generated about 400 responses and has been passed along to Praesidium to inform its final report to the school board.

As the Community Conversation was winding down, Rundle said he appreciated the questions, wonderings and criticism, adding that the community engagement will help bring improvements to the district.

Burnett said they take the feedback seriously and look forward to more communication with the community and students in the future.

To view the event, visit www.youtube.com/@misdcommunications9957/videos