The husband of Highland Park and Deerfield high schools’ next superintendent has admitted to using a fake name to post disparaging comments about a community member where his wife now works.
Tim Olrick — the husband of Laurie Kimbrel, who is due to become schools chief in Township High School District 113 in July — admitted to using the pseudonym “Tom Ohara” to post the comments on Facebook and on the website of a local California paper, the Marin Independent Journal, in October and November.
The comments, written about a parent in the school district north of San Francisco where Kimbrel is superintendent, included suggestions that the parent was involved in embezzlement and is a member of the KKK, according to a letter written to the school board by the parent’s lawyer. The lawyer called the remarks “malicious and defamatory.”
The parent, Mitchell Wortzman, declined the Tribune’s request for an interview. But at a recent Tamalpais Union High School District board meeting, which was recorded and posted online, he told the board that he felt “personally attacked” by the comments.
Reached by phone by the Tribune last week, Olrick acknowledged that he had made disparaging online comments in response to what he felt were personal attacks against his wife by members of a community group called Friends of Tam District, in which Wortzman is active. Olrick said he regretted making the comments.
“Yes, I did” post the comments, Olrick said. “I was set off by their attacks on my wife and, being foolish, I made a mistake.”
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Olrick said his wife had no knowledge of or involvement in the comments, which could not be found online Monday.
Officials at both school systems, District 113 and Tamalpais Union, say they’re investigating the matter.
“We are aware of it and we’re investigating it,” said Marjie Sandlow, District 113 school board president. “That’s about all I can say at this point.”
Sandlow declined to say if school board members were aware of this issue before hiring Kimbrel last month.
Kimbrel, an Elmhurst native and former special education teacher in Lake Forest, flatly denied any involvement when reached last week.
“This is 100 percent not my issue. My husband and I are not the same person,” Kimbrel said. “I was not privy to any of that.”
Friends of Tam District is composed of “parents, teachers and other community members in Marin County,” according to its website. The group’s blog and Facebook page have served as a forum for people with concerns regarding district leadership and direction.
In his statement to the Tamalpais Union school board, Wortzman said some of Olrick’s comments contained “substantial inside information about school district affairs.” He also said that he had requested in December that the Tamalpais Union school board investigate the matter. Subsequently, Olrick’s attorney contacted Wortzman’s attorney offering a settlement agreement, Wortzman said in his comments to the school board.
Olrick said he had hoped to avoid a lawsuit with a settlement but that Wortzman had backed out of an offer of $35,000.
“But I have decided to decline the … offer, because what I really want is a retraction and public apology,” Wortzman said in his statement. “I can’t put a price tag on my reputation and integrity.”
Kimbrel is due to be on the North Shore this week for two meetings with Highland Park and Deerfield community members, scheduled well before this controversy came to light.
She has been hired to replace George Fornero, who found himself at odds with many parents and teachers last spring after the departure of a popular high school principal.
Kimbrel, too, has supporters and detractors in the California district. Some teachers have praised her as a forward-thinking visionary, though a group of teachers recently submitted a letter to the school board criticizing a climate where they say dissenting opinions are not valued.
Kimbrel said she was surprised by the teachers’ letter and noted that there had been no union grievances during her tenure and that she had received overwhelmingly positive annual evaluations from teachers and parents.
She said the timing of the letter was odd, given that she’s already announced her resignation to take the District 113 job.
“If you want to vote me off the island, you should do it while I’m still on the island,” Kimbrel said.
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