Misconduct

As a father in this district, I believe our community deserves full transparency regarding how the Mercer Island School District handled the serious allegations of misconduct by former high school teacher Gary “Chris” Twombley. After reviewing public records and recent news reports, I feel it is important to share this information with you. Like many of you, I want to understand why the District and School Board decided not to notify the community in a way that could have helped identify additional victims, despite planning discussions on community notification.

The attached documents were obtained through public records requests:

1. The police report stemming from a 2016 anonymous tip about inappropriate text messages from Twombley to a student, which the district dismissed as a possible “prank”. The case was closed due to lack of evidence. Document

2. An excerpt from a December 2023 police report detailing Mr. Twombley’s response to questioning by Mrs. Battersby (the district’s legal counsel). When asked about allegations of sexual misconduct, Twombley reportedly responded by asking “one student or multiple students? when was it from?”, which raises concerns about potential additional victims. Document

3. A March 18, 2024 email from the Children’s Justice Center requesting assistance in setting up a multi-victim staffing meeting with the Mercer Island School District and community partners to discuss options for community notification to identify additional victims. Document

4. An April 4, 2024 email planning the multi-victim staffing meeting, with a response from Patricia Buchanan, outside legal counsel for MISD (through the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool), indicating availability for certain times. Notably, while legal counsel was involved, no direct representatives from the district’s administration or school board appear to have been invited or participated in advocating for broad community notification during the King County Prosecutor’s investigation. Document

The central questions remain: What happened with the planned multi-victim staffing meeting? Why did the District and School Board not proceed with community notification, despite the prosecutor’s office considering it to identify potential additional victims? According to the district’s recent notice, they chose not to notify to protect the known victim’s privacy and because their investigation found no evidence of other victims. However, informing the public can be done while maintaining victim privacy, and one goal of community notification is to identify other victims. Any reasonable person might conclude there could be more based on Twombley’s response to the investigator’s questions.

Based on the information I have so far, including recent investigative reporting revealing that the district kept the allegations quiet until media inquiries in August 2025, I believe the School Board failed in its duty to serve as the community’s voice by not pushing for greater transparency earlier.

As a candidate for School Board this November, I am committed to restoring transparency, accountability, and trust.