Coupeville High School Principal Dan Berard Placed on Paid Leave

Dan Berard had already told the Coupeville school community in February that he planned to step down from his roles as high school principal and Career and Technical Education director at the end of the school year. That announcement made his departure from Coupeville High School a matter of when, not if. Then, on March 16, Superintendent Shannon Leatherwood made it immediate: Berard was placed on paid administrative leave while the district conducts an independent review.

Leatherwood released a statement to staff and families the same day, characterizing the action in carefully measured terms. "Administrative leave is a standard step that allows the district to carefully review a situation and gather information," she wrote. "It is not a disciplinary action and does not indicate any conclusions have been reached." She added that the district has engaged an independent investigator to review and evaluate "all information" in order "to ensure the process is fair and impartial," but declined to elaborate, citing the personnel nature of the matter.

While the district offered no public explanation for the leave, the Whidbey News-Times reported, based on a public-records request, that the investigation appeared to be related to the administrators' response to two separate student-related concerns. In one, students were circulating a video of an allegedly sexual assault of a student off campus. In an unrelated incident, a group of students created a club called the "Minority Rape Cult" at school. The News-Times reported there were no allegations that students in that group assaulted or harmed others.

Berard has served as CHS principal and CTE director since April 2025, when he stepped into a role vacated under strikingly similar circumstances. His predecessor, Geoff Kappes, was placed on non-disciplinary leave in December 2024 along with then-Vice Principal Allyson Cundiff. Kappes resigned the following April; Cundiff eventually returned to the district in a different capacity. The South Whidbey Record reported at the time that Leatherwood's December 2024 message provided no reason for the action, which the paper noted led to "rampant speculation on social media."

Berard's March 16 leave marks the second time in less than two years the Coupeville School District has sidelined a high-ranking administrator pending a review or investigation.

With Berard on leave, Becky Cays will serve as acting high school and middle school principal. Willie Smith will provide athletic and supervision support. The district has not announced a timeline for the independent investigator's work or indicated whether findings will be made public.