INSIDE: Hometown Hero ... Island Life, A10
RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 30 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Mauk leaves district, looks for higher-ed step
By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter A legal battle that has raged for 15 years between Island County and a environmental watchdog group over critical area rules had another page added to its history last week. On April 2, a Thurston County Superior Court judge overturned a 2006 decision by the Growth Management Hearings Board that the county can use farm plans as a management tool to meet state environmental protection laws.
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WEAN wins critical areas bout
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Students chat with Assistant Principal Scott Mauk near the parking lot after a recent school day. His 17-year career in the South Whidbey School District will end in June.
By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter Walking around the campus just before the final bell, Scott Mauk gets a moment to himself before being swarmed by students. South Whidbey High School’s assistant principal/athletic director drops off paperwork regarding an athlete’s injury in Waterman’s Field press box. Then he walks into the parking lot, making sure the west gate is open and locking the east gate. It’s one of a shrinking number of times he did the routine. Mauk submitted his resignation, effective June 30, making the move in March after 17 years of employment in the South Whidbey School District. “I’m trying to branch out and do something different,” Mauk said. “I’m really grateful for this community,” he added. “The challenge in moving to different things is pulling away from that.” His next job was not confirmed, though Mauk said it will not be on Whidbey Island. Higher education
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Scott Mauk prepares to open the second gate of the South Whidbey High School parking lot. The school’s assistant principal turned in his resignation in March and wants to work in higher education. was in his sights, however, and he wanted to teach future educators. The day’s end bell blares through the speakers. Kids stream out the doors and into their cars and onto
the sidewalk as they wait for buses. Students speak with him about leadership class events like a movie night featuring “Wreck It Ralph,” bicycling to school and a recent
“The judge clearly disagreed with the panel of experts.” Dan Mitchell, Island County prosecutor
boys soccer game. When students address him, they call him Dr. Mauk; he has a doctorate of education from Seattle Pacific University. Before he was Dr. Mauk, he was just a teacher, Mr. Mauk. Or maybe a mock teacher. In his first job as an educator, Mauk taught seventhgrade English in Kent and was also the school’s maintenance worker. Beyond cleaning chalkboards, the first job stuck with him because he taught a Shakespeare unit — the one lesson he failed in his gradeschool days. Since then, he taught high school, elementary school and alternative school classes. With the South Whidbey School District, Mauk taught social studies and organic gardening at Bayview School, became the director-teacher at Bayview, directed the district’s highly capable learners program, was assistant principal at South Whidbey Elementary School, was
“It is clear to this court that the methodology adopted by Island County to protect critical areas from agricultural uses on lands in agricultural use prior to 1998 violates the Growth Management Act,” wrote Judge Chris Wickham, in his opinion letter. The Whidbey Environmental Action Network, or WEAN, appealed the 2006 case to Thurston County. It was the latest in a long series of litigation concerning the county’s critical areas rules. Steve Erickson, legal coordinator for the group, is chalking up Wickham’s ruling as a victory in the ongoing legal battle but not one that was too surprising. “It was really pretty predictable,” Erickson said. Dan Mitchell, civil deputy prosecuting attorney with
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