Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Just two days after Yelm Education Association (YEA) went public with its vote of “no confidence” in Chris Woods, Yelm Community Schools (YCS) superintendent, a handful of community members — including a pastor, two of Woods’ family members, a teacher and a district office employee — backed him with strong messages of support during the public comments portion of the meeting.
The meeting occurred on Thursday, Jan. 8, at Southworth Elementary.
Samuel Yount, associate pastor at Living Water in Yelm, has been in the community for 25 years and took to the podium first to speak about Woods.
“His integrity is beyond approach. He’s someone I want to grow up and be like,” Yount said. “You don’t pay your power bill. Guess what happens? You lose your power. You don’t pay for the schools — you want to blame the superintendent for that? I love Yelm. I was out with the ‘vote yes’ sign. I’ll tell you, there was a period where I was a no voter for the schools. Whatever he says and does, I’ll stand in the way and make sure it happens. This is my commitment to the school board.”
Yount added that he specifically spoke at the meeting to voice his support for the superintendent and the school board. He’s also added every school board meeting to his calendar to continue attending the events as he wants to see the current budget and levy situation in Yelm become successful.
“You will not grow as a city unless the schools get what they need to make this happen,” Yount said. “My optic thought, a group of people — who are just really angry and good at keyboards — stand in the way of our kids getting what they need.”
Yount stated that he believes it’s “only his faith” that keeps Woods in Yelm — adding that anybody in the community who doesn’t believe that “does not know him.”
“He brings so much to the table that this school board needs to understand. What are you going to do? You’re gonna replace him, find someone else to try to train them and to to get something better with people still voting no? That’s not going to happen. He’s not the problem. The problem is the voters,” Yount said. “Yelm schools have done things wrong, yes. I’ve been here for 25 years. I’ve seen them do things wrong. I’ve seen them pull out of it. The moment that man stepped into that superintendent role, he had 100% of my vote behind him because he’s a man of integrity that moves things forward.
“I believe in Yelm, and I believe in Yelm schools,” he continued. “I believe in Chris Woods.”
The next speaker was Kailee Houlihan, a third grade teacher at McKenna Elementary and a parent of students within YCS. She said that she was speaking to express her support for Woods.
“As an educator, I can understand how challenging leadership in public education is — especially in the time of increasing demands, limited resources and heightened emotions,” Houlihan said. “This agreement is inevitable, but it should not be mistaken for failed leadership.”
As an educator, Houlihan told Woods she’s “deeply sorry” about YEA’s vote of no confidence. As a parent, Houlihan said she’s even more concerned about the message it sends YCS students and community members.
“This public vote of no confidence only created division, instability and distracted from the shared goal that we should all have: doing what’s best for kids,” Houlihan said. “Our students deserve open minded adults who are willing to work together during challenging times, just as we expect our students to do each and every day.”
Houlihan added that she’s had the opportunity to watch the superintendent interact with YCS students firsthand, and described those moments as “genuinely inspiring.”
“He doesn’t just make students feel seen, though. Our front office secretary told me that Chris is the first superintendent who ever calls her by name and says ‘good morning’ when he comes in. I have witnessed him show up, listen to staff members and engage thoughtfully,” Houlihan said. “Our students deserve adults who can work through challenges together with professionalism, respect and focus.”
The third community member to speak on Woods’ character was someone who knows the superintendent better than anyone: his wife, Julie Woods.
“If your only knowledge of my husband has come from Facebook posts — you may not know much of him at all,” Julie said during the meeting. “I’d like to share a personal perspective from someone who’s been married to him for nearly three decades. What I see every day is a man of integrity who takes his responsibility with the school district very seriously. He works long hours, carries the weight of difficult decisions and approaches this role with great care and a tremendous amount of thought.”
She added that her husband would answer a text, phone call or email at any given time when he’s needed. Julie described his commitment as consistent and said she’s always seen him to be honest, thoughtful and deeply committed — both professionally and personally.
“I know I’m biased, but there are many others who would say the same things about him. You just may not see it on social media,” Julie said. “Thank you to those who have sent messages of support. You truly cannot understand how uplifting and powerful those words have been.
“When it feels like you can only take so much, the kindness from friends, former co-workers and current co-workers have been a game changer,” she continued. “My husband will continue to do his job with integrity. He will continue to show up for staff, students and this community the way he has since day one here in Yelm.”
The fourth speaker of the evening, Ashley Lindsay, YCS payroll and benefits coordinator, said she’s had the privilege of developing so many “beautiful relationships” with so many employees at different levels in the district. She believes she’s earned the trust of 100s of YCS employees during her eight year tenure, and knows she had to work to earn that trust.
“For far too long, half-truths, misinformation, false information and twisted narratives have gone unchallenged,” Lindsay said. “I have been silent. It is out of my deep respect for the complexities and layered issues and how we’re all coming at this from different perspectives. It is out of my respect for all of these relationships that I’ve built here that I remain silent. It has taken great physical restraint on my part to remain silent — to not correct things that are not true or to fill in blanks when things are purposefully omitted in an attempt to paint a very specific picture.”
Lindsay directed her attention to the superintendent and told Woods that she’s “so sorry (she) did not speak up sooner.” Additionally, she promised that she will “never shut up about team Chris” ever again.
“It’s gonna get real annoying real fast,” Lindsay said. “Chris, I am in awe of you and I sat here trying to think about what word would best describe Chris, because when I tell you that the real emotional toll of this has taken on me, where there are days that I come to work and I really struggle to balance the personal sacrifices that I’ve made to help employees and build relationships. But then, to see these people saying really terrible things that aren’t accurate or not fully true — I struggled.”
From her observations, Lindsay said that Woods comes to work with a smile and hasn’t said a single bad thing about anybody. She described his attitude as being forward, hopeful, positive and clear.
The final attendee of the meeting to speak on Woods’ behalf was another community member who knows the superintendent better than others — his daughter, Hadley. At the podium, she said she wasn’t attending the meeting as his child, but as someone who’s had the opportunity to witness the weight, responsibility and hear that comes with serving as superintendent.
“Leadership is not just about policies and decisions on paper. It is about responsibility, accountability and service,” Hadley said. “The role of superintendent is incredibly complex. It requires balancing the needs of students, families, teachers, taxpayers, often with limited resources and no perfect answers. Every decision affects real people.”
Hadley added that she can say “in confidence” that none of the decisions her father makes are made lightly, but come from deep consideration and what’s best for students in the district as a whole.
“There’s been a lot of conversation, concern and strong emotions surrounding our district recently, and more specifically, towards my dad. The posts, negative comments and hatred towards him tells me one thing: you don’t really know him, his character and what he stands for,” Hadley said. “My dad is not perfect. No leader is. But, he’s faithful, honest and he leads with a genuine love for his people, his community and a deep sense of responsibility. My dad is my best friend, and yes, I may be biased, but he’s a servant leader who cares about this community and everyone in it — whether you disagree with him or not.”
