A Mercer Island High School (MIHS) teacher who was placed on paid administrative leave last October is now eligible to return to the school, according to a Jan. 23 Mercer Island School District (MISD) letter to the community.
U.S. history teacher David Willecke was placed on leave “pending an investigation into concerns that he may have failed to report information related to (Curtis) Johnston’s alleged inappropriate relationship with a student in the past,” read Superintendent Fred Rundle’s letter to the community on Oct. 23, 2025, which was referenced in a previous Reporter article.
Rundle added in the letter that Willecke was not under investigation for any misconduct involving his interactions with students.
The latest letter, which was penned by a five-person MIHS administrative team, notes that the district completed Willecke’s review fairly and objectively while utilizing a third-party investigator. While delving into the information available during the review, no concerns arose that Willecke failed to meet his reporting obligations.
“The review was limited to concerns regarding mandatory reporting and did not involve or reveal any additional allegation of misconduct, including sexual misconduct, by Mr. Willecke,” the letter reads.
MIHS Principal Nick Wold and Director of Post Secondary Success Jamie Prescott will attend Willecke’s five classes on Jan. 27 before he returns to MIHS to discuss with students how to smoothly transition between the current teachers and Willecke, according to the letter. The students’ input will help guide the timelines and process.
“We understand that situations like this can raise questions or uncertainty. Throughout this process, our focus has been on student safety while also being mindful of students’ academic experience. When concerns are raised, we take the time to review them carefully and thoughtfully,” the administrators said.
Willecke’s situation was addressed in Rundle’s October letter after the news broke regarding sexual misconduct allegations involving former MIHS teacher Johnston and a former student who raised the allegations.
In a Jan. 13 letter to the Mercer Island community and previous Reporter article, Rundle noted that the independent investigation regarding Johnston has been closed “due to the unavailability of those involved” and because “the investigator was unable to make any findings regarding the allegations set forth in the InvestigateWest article.”
A follow-up letter from Rundle to the community in October said that MISD released Willecke’s name because it “had determined that the staff member’s presence posed a disruption to the learning environment, and the individual’s name was already part of community discussion related to a published news story involving allegations of sexual misconduct and a potential failure to report.”
The district included this decision within that letter, which informed the community about a MIHS paraeducator who was placed on paid administrative leave that same month regarding concerns that they may have violated one or more district policies.
