Everett School Board Directors Get Into Physical Altercation During Executive Session, Call Police on One Another

Things got physical between two Everett School Board Members during an executive session last night that led each of them to call 9-1-1. Everett School Board President Ed Petersen was also involved in the altercation between board member Jessica Olson and board member Kristie Dutton. I talked with Petersen after the meeting and he told me the physical altercation began after the regular school board meeting while the board members were in executive session. He said he had written and distributed a draft copy of the evaluation of the Everett School District Superintendent, (who is Dr. Gary Cohn), for the board to review and discuss. Petersen said Olson took out a tape recorder and began to record the executive session. He told me he reached across the table to turn the recorder off as executive sessions are not subject to public record. He says Olson said “Don’t you dare” and that things then got heated. Petersen told me that Olson waved a copy of the draft report and said she was going to publish it, that Kristie Dutton then grabbed it from Olson and Olson and Dutton began struggling with each other. He said he grabbed Olson’s arms from behind and held her arms. Petersen then told me that Olson called 9-1-1 to report being attacked and that Dutton also called 9-1-1 and they all waited for the police to arrive. Everett Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Robert Goetz tells me officers took statements from all of the parties involved and will review them and will possibly refer them to a prosecutor. Goetz says there were no arrests. I only had a moment to see Jessica Olson while she was filling out her statement for police. She told me and a reporter from the Daily Herald, “As an elected official I am entitled to a draft copy of the superintendent’s evaluation. Kristie Dutton took mine and I took Ed’s and that’s what the scuffle was about.” Olson had left by the time I finished talking with school board President Petersen, but she did post about the incident on her Facebook page which you can see here.

Petersen says in his 30 years of serving on boards in Everett and Snohomish County he’s never seen anything like what happened last night and what’s been happening since Olson was elected to the Everett School Board. He added, “It’s getting to the point where the board can’t function.” The Everett School Board censured Olson in February of this year and Petersen told me that ultimately a recall vote is an option but is a huge and difficult process. Says Petersen, “I would love to have her recalled. I don’t know if its viable.”

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