Kitsap superintendent resigns, avoids jail time after allegedly stealing political signs
Mar 13, 2024, 3:25 PM | Updated: 3:26 pm
A North Kitsap School District School Board voting to place the superintendent on paid administrative leave. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
North Kitsap School District Superintendent Laurynn Evans has announced her resignation, effective June 30, after allegations of her stealing political signs ahead of the February special bond election were made.
At approximately 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 26, a video was captured of a woman — described as having medium-length blonde hair and wearing a black down jacket — pulling up two political signs, tossing them into the back of a gray Ford Ranger and closing the bed cover. The political signs were advertising Kitsap’s Proposition 1, a capitol bond to fund educational programs and operations. The signs the person pulled were against the bond.
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According to a sheriff’s report via The Bainbridge Island Review, the gray Ford Ranger pulled into the Poulsbo Sons of Norway parking lot. The Kingston-North Kitsap Rotary Club was meeting and Evans was in attendance.
She denied disturbing any political signs when law enforcement questioned her, but officers found greenish-blue grease on her truck’s tailgate, the same grease put on the signs to prevent them from being stolen.
The Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed a misdemeanor charge against Evans on Feb. 21 for allegedly removing or defacing political advertisements. She was placed on paid leave while the district’s school board appointed Executive Director of Human Resources Rachel Davenport as acting superintendent.
Evans allegedly cut a deal last month over the aforementioned allegations to avoid jail time which included her resignation. The maximum penalty for the misdemeanor offense is 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but Evans had no prior criminal convictions or criminal charges on her record, according to Prosecutor Chad Enright.
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The Kitsap Sun previously reported the school board was going to discuss Evans’ future at their meeting Thursday. The meeting is set to go on as scheduled. But it is not known how much time will be devoted to the topic of Evans’ resignation. She has been the district’s superintendent since 2017 with her contract originally scheduled to run through June 2026.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
