Yelm superintendent addresses community for first time since YEA’s vote of ‘no confidence’

Following the Yelm Education Association’s (YEA) submission of a “no confidence” vote in Chris Woods, Yelm Community Schools (YCS) superintendent, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, he formally addressed the public for the first time during a YCS board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 8.

At the start of the board meeting, Woods told attendees that he initially did prepare comments but believed that meeting wasn’t the time for it. He added he’ll have an opportunity down the road to read his statement and directly address YEA.

“What’s best for me is to allow people who know me and know my character, I will let them speak for me rather than me speaking on my behalf,” Woods said. “I think what really measures somebody is what other people say about them. It’s from those people who truly know them, not the people who want to just say things about them but have never actually had a conversation or truly know them.”

Following his comments, and a 10-minute statement by YCS board president Casey Shaw, five different community members spoke before attendees on behalf on the superintendent, including: Julie Woods, his wife; Hadley Woods, his daughter; Samuel Yount, his pastor; Kailee Houlihan, McKenna Elementary School third grade teacher; and Ashley Lindsay, YCS payroll and benefits coordinator.

During the “superintendent’s comments” portion of the meeting — which always takes place near the conclusion of YCS Board of Directors meetings — he reiterated that he’ll have an opportunity to address the vote of “no confidence” at a later date and reaffirmed his commitment to YCS.

“One thing that I am committed to, when I see or hear that there is somebody that has something negative to say about me or our district, I am quick to reach out and invite them for conversation,” Woods said. “Rarely do they say yes, but sometimes they do.”

Additionally, if given the opportunity, Woods said he’d like to extend an invitation to every single YEA voting member who voted “no confidence” in their vote. He stated he’d take the time to meet with every single teacher and listen, if given the chance.

“If not, then it will take a little longer and I’ll make my way around the district and have those conversations,” Woods said. “I have zero anger in my heart. I have sadness, hurt, but I think the word that continues to stick out to me the most is hope. There are very few people who want my job. There are even fewer people that would want my job right now. I’ve told the board that as long as they believe that I am the right person, that I’m gonna stay and fight. There’s nowhere else that I want to be.”

Woods also believes that YCS has the opportunity to obtain the “greatest redemption story in Washington state” with finding long-term financial solutions in the district.

The superintendent added that he’s committed towards working towards that goal of finding the “greatest redemption story in Washington state” and that he’ll continue to fight for Yelm students.

“We have to figure out how to do it with a whole lot less,” Woods said. “Our kids need people who will fight for them, not fight each other and ignore them. I am committed to that as long as it takes, until my last day here. I will continue to fight. I will also continue to listen.”

On the topic of athletics, Woods met with Yelm Extracurricular Association leadership Phil Perry, Alex McIntire and Dakota Hill — alongside DeeDee Buckingham, Casey Shaw and Ryan Jewell — on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

“It was entirely based on a conversation to see how we can find a way to make athletics happen next year,” Woods said. “We know we have hundreds of kids that rely on that experience to keep them in school, to keep them motivated — just like the other things we heard about tonight with specialist activities. What was so impressive was these three were willing to sit down and have a conversation about how we might make this work next year.”

Woods knows YCS can’t afford to continue offering athletics how it’s previously been offered as levy dollars are extinct. In theory, Woods said, athletics are gone in Yelm. Despite that, he’ll continue to work alongside the extracurricular association to find a way to make sports work in Yelm next school year.

“We know that isn’t good for our kids. I just want to acknowledge publicly, the three of them, for their willingness to have that conversation. I don’t know how we’re going to get there and be able to offer athletics. But we’re sure going to try with this group of people saying ‘we’ve got to find a way.’ How do we do it? We’ve got to get creative,” Woods said. “We need the community. This community has to step up. People have to step up and help us. We are not going to get through this, as a school district, alone. We need to come together and partner on this to find a way because our students deserve the very best from us.”