The North Beach School District Board of Directors unanimously voted Tuesday night to end the contract of Superintendent Deborah Holcomb at a raucous board meeting that was moved to the gym to accommodate more than 150 people, many wearing red in support of teachers who had raised concerns with Holcomb’s policies and practices.

Holcomb, in her second year at North Beach and with 35 years of experience in the Highline, Shoreline and Bainbridge Island districts, was not at the regular board meeting, and her name plaque was taken down just before the meeting was convened by North Beach Board President Doreen Cato.

“We recognize that many have issues facing the district, and we will address them now,” Cato said.

Holcomb was hired, she noted, to “improve student achievement in our schools. This goal required greater attention on improving and coordinating instruction for all students. The board fully supports this goal, but recognizes that change is, to others, often a difficult process.”

“The board believes the superintendent’s continued leadership only distracts the district from obtaining these objectives,” Cato said in a prepared statement she ended by asking if there was a motion to “approve a unilateral termination of the superintendent’s contract?”

After cheers from the crowd, board member Linda Poplin moved to release the superintendent, and it was seconded by board member Rachael Carl and affirmed as well by Jeff Wilson and Cato. The board currently is short one member after Scott Sage resigned.

The contract termination will be effective March 31. It is said to be “without cause,” with payment of Holcomb’s salary to continue monthly for a year. Holcomb’s contract includes a base salary of $135,548 for 2017-2018, with “other salary” listed at $35,090.

Cliff Foster, the attorney for the district, noted that Holcomb’s contract from 2016 had a provision that acts as a “buy-out” clause that allows the board to “terminate without cause the superintendent’s employment with the district upon an affirmative vote of the majority of the board.”

Holcomb’s contract otherwise would continue until June 2020, Foster said.

“Basically, by doing this, the relationship will cease as of March 31, severance payments are due under the terms of the contract, and the district and the superintendent have an obligation to negotiate the terms of a release,” the attorney explained.

Foster and Education Service District 113 will assist the district in the search for a new superintendent — a process he acknowledged would be difficult because it will be in the middle of the year and because of the location of the district. The board will seek an acting superintendent in the interim period.

Cato read another statement from the board: “Our intent is to develop a collaborative, positive working relationship between our staff, parents and community to find solutions to the issues the district faces, because they are not going to disappear. To do this, the board has committed to new leadership of the superintendent.”

Cato said a consultant will help sort through prospective candidates and work with the community to participate in the selection and hiring process.

“We ask the community and staff to work with us jointly in these efforts,” Cato said. Information will be posted on the district website, she added.

Audience members who spoke after the board’s decision generally thanked the board for the decision while they underscored problems in the schools with discipline, teacher shortages, dropping enrollment and retention of longtime teachers.

“We got some really good news today,” said Mike Armbuster, who advocated for a watchdog program to help enhance school security and reduce bullying in the schools.

Judy Horn wondered why North Beach could not be a model district where families wanted to send their children to the local schools rather than move them elsewhere: “What if Ocean Shores became the district that everybody wanted to move to. That would be terrific. It would bring business, live industry and more jobs to our community.”

Student Tyson Owen expressed fear about returning to school because of bullying and discipline problems, fearing he would not be entering a safe environment: “Things were bad before the superintendent got here. Just because our superintendent is gone does not mean the students will start acting right.”

Dennis Fry noted he was raised on the North Beach and educated through the school system. “It was my goal to teach and coach here, which I accomplished for 24 of my 32-year teaching career. When I retired going on three years ago, I felt as though the district was stable and providing a good education for its students.”

At the time, the district was being administered by co-superintendents Dave Wayman and Stan Pinnick, who served for years under a one-year contract on what was to be an interim basis. “They retired after I did, leaving the district in better shape than when they started,” Fry said of the former administration.

He suggested using Wayman and Pinnick as resources to begin the search for a replacement for Holcomb. With an estimated 20 district employees leaving over the past year and half, Fry also recommend the board start to conduct exit interviews to determine why so much attrition was occurring.

At a union meeting in February, 88 percent of North Beach Education Association (NBEA) members voted no confidence in Holcomb’s performance, and more than 290 people had signed a petition of no confidence aimed at Holcomb. The union has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against Holcomb, stemming from an incident late last year in which a teacher was put on indefinite leave after filing a Sheriff’s report about an assault by a student.

Speaking for NBEA members, teacher Christy Moore thanked the board for “listening and opening yourselves up to our comments and emails.” As she spoke, about 20-30 teachers stood up.

“We have lost some amazing educators in our district,” Moore said. “… We have got people with roots in our community, and people who have made relationships with our kids. We can’t waste any more teachers. North Beach teachers are standing in solidarity tonight. We are standing for our North Beach kids.”

Special education instructor Alison Cline noted she had more than 20 years experience in special education. There are as many as 77 students who now need assistance, with her individual case load including 40 students.

“I have been the only special ed teacher here at North Beach (Jr./Sr. High) since Dec. 21, 2017,” she said, noting that she now is going on leave for the rest of the school year to have surgery from a work-related injury.

Shannon Rubin said her family moved to Ocean Shores because she was told “this was a great school,” only to learn of the mounting problems.

“I appreciate you taking a stand to keep the teachers that we have,” Rubin said. “We were discussing this weekend moving away because of the impending doom of the other (teachers) leaving. The teachers that we have in this district have impacted our family in ways that I, as a parent, never thought that I could come up here and attest to. I never thought I would be grateful for such teachers.”