Tukwila school superintendent Ethelda Burke resigns
July 13, 2012 · Updated 9:59 AM
Ethelda Burke, superintendent of the Tukwila School District, has resigned, effective June 29
The Tukwila School Board accepted Burke's resignation Tuesday night.
"I want to thank Mrs. Burke for her service to the district and to the children of Tukwila. She has in her time here worked extremely hard and diligently for them," said Mark Wahlstrom, board president.
The board then appointed Dr. Mellody Matthes to the role of interim superintendent for the Tukwila School District. In the last three months Matthes has been serving in that capacity.
"We have a lot of work to do preparing for the coming year and Dr. Matthes with her knowledge and experience with the district is well suited to move us forward without worrying about additional transitions," Wahlstrom said.
Burke's resignation comes after several school district employees earlier this year had filed racial discrimination complaints against her. That investigation the the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is continuing.
In its response to federal investigators, the school district wrote that it had found no evidence to substantiate those charges.
Burke in her letter of resignation to the Tukwila school board wrote that the "ordeal" has "resulted in irreparable damage to my reputation as an educator."
"It would be impossible for me to return and be effective as superintendent," she wrote. "I want the students, teachers and staff to remain focused on education and to have unqualified confidence in the district's leadership."
Read Burke's letter of resignation and the school district's response.
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