REDMOND, Wash. — A group of Lake Washington School District parents is demanding greater transparency and accountability over the district’s handling of a complaint involving a principal’s social media connections with minors.
The concerns began in January, when Corrie Zemann said her middle-school-aged daughter told her that her former principal at Robert Frost Elementary School had followed her on TikTok.
“She wasn’t comfortable saying, ‘No,’ but wasn’t comfortable saying, ‘Yes,’” Zemann told KIRO 7.
Zemann said her daughter also told her the principal had connected with one of her friends on Snapchat. The district’s subsequent investigation report says a screenshot showed location-sharing functionality enabled on at least one connection.
Zemann raised her concerns with the district in January and filed a formal complaint in February.
A Lake Washington School District investigation reviewed concerns involving professional boundaries, social media practices, and other conduct by Robert Frost Elementary’s principal.
According to the district’s investigation report, the principal “acknowledged maintaining Snapchat connections with two former students” under the age of 18.
The report says he told investigators that “he did not believe the connections were inappropriate at the time and believed parents were aware.”
The principal also told investigators he did not knowingly enable location sharing and was unfamiliar with how the feature operated.
He also acknowledged posting or being tagged in photographs involving students in connection with school-related events.
Ultimately, the district substantiated allegations involving personal social media connections with minors and posting identifiable student images.
The district concluded that several substantiated allegations reflected “lapses in professional judgment.”
Its analysis also found “boundary concerns associated with personal social media use involving minors and identifiable student content.”
In a March letter to Zemann, the district said some of the conduct did not align with its expectations regarding professional boundaries and the appropriate use of personal social media in connection with students.
The district said it had “addressed the matter with the employee” and taken “appropriate corrective action.”
Because personnel matters are confidential, the district told Zemann it could not disclose what specific personnel actions were taken.
The district said it had also taken steps to reinforce expectations involving communication platforms, social media practices, and professional boundaries with students.
Parent says investigation left her with more questions
For Zemann, however, the district’s findings raised new questions about how the investigation itself was conducted.
“Neither my daughter or I were ever contacted during the investigation,” she told KIRO 7. “That just was frustrating as a parent whose minor child was involved in an investigation to not know what the investigation included or how it was conducted.”
Zemann obtained the full investigation report in September after submitting a public records request.
According to that report, the principal told the district he believed parents were aware of his social media connections with the former students.
Zemann said she was not.
The report also says the principal removed identifiable student photographs from his personal social media accounts, removed and blocked the students from Snapchat, and removed or blocked multiple families from his social media accounts.
Zemann told KIRO 7 that she was blocked, but her daughter could still access his TikTok page.
“The last seven months communicating with the district has really highlighted a barrier between families in the school district and the administration,” Zemann said.
Parents take concerns to school board
Zemann, her daughter and other members of the Robert Frost Elementary community brought their concerns to the Lake Washington School District Board earlier in October.
“I just felt so dismissed,” Zemann said. “And when I started to share this with our community, it was when I started to feel validated.”
Zemann said about ten days after that meeting the district told her that it had hired an outside investigator.
KIRO 7 has not independently confirmed that with the district.
The district has cited personnel privacy in declining to provide additional details.
“Any staff-related concerns are taken seriously and handled through the district’s established policies and procedures,” a district spokesperson wrote in an email. “We remain focused on serving and supporting Robert Frost Elementary students.”
Zemann and other parents plan to address the school board again Monday night.
“Parents deserve to know when a district makes findings like this,” Zemann said. “And we need to know that they’re gonna follow through.”