Michele Greenwood Bettinger

09/09/2026

I just got an email from Jennifer Harjehausen, Covington Council Member and head of the PAC supporting the KSD levy.

Let me tell you that people who hitch their wagon to Israel Vela’s star will live to regret it later.

There is very public information out there about how that man is treating his own family.

I can assure you that anyone who treats their family in that way has no care for your children.

KSD already HAS a levy and, as it stands, classes are above capacity, the district is literally the WORST in the state when it comes to Special Education (not due to school staff but due to Central office decisions) and the board majority bloc allows this.

Meanwhile what about the exorbitant “stipends” paid to Central Office that weren’t ever explained. And this mysterious “on call leave”.

No. Children and staff who directly work with children never see positive outcomes from your levy dollars, they just don’t.

08/30/2026

Vela’s contract expires June 30, 2027. The board hasn’t taken action to offer him another contract so this year requires a competent board to recruit, interview and hire a new superintendent.

From a “Best Practices” standpoint, there are many steps to take but here are the first steps that should happen in the next month:

1. Rewrite the over 20 year old job description;
2. Hire a search firm that can also place a competent interim superintendent until a new one is chosen;
3. Discuss and set a salary scale for the job.

It would not be best practice to hire someone internal.

Anyone who has been working in the upper levels at Central Office has already BEEN part of -and most likely created- many of the current problems in KSD (and would be likely to perpetuate them. )

When Vela was chosen; the Board President made many crucial mistakes (driven mostly by vanity imho) and, frankly hijacked that process.

Further, Vela’s own staff was deeply embedded into that recruitment process, much to its detriment.

Students, school staff and taxpayers have borne the brunt of the disastrous results of that entire flawed process.

(Face it, Tim Clark wouldn’t even vote to hire a recruitment team because he was happy with Vela and even stated that from the dais.)

I will repeat: a competent board president would lead a rigorous and transparent recruitment process.

What are your thoughts?

08/15/2026

05/18/2026

New Substack Post https://open.substack.com/pub/michelegreenwoodbettinger/p/your-school-district-is-at-the-mercy?r=16nf7r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

05/16/2026

If you wouldn’t take advice from someone who is hateful/ugly-spirited then you can discard their criticism, too.

05/14/2026

Started a substack. I used to blog about the Kent School District. I'm back at it. No paid subscription required.