TUKWILA, Wash. – Tukwila School District Chief Academic Officer Gregory King is calling out unnecessary spending on education consultants as a major reason why the district is $3 million in the hole.

King told school board members at a recent meeting that he estimates the district spent at least $350,000 on out-of-state education consultants in recent years, including spending on “executive coaching” for top administrators that was essentially a waste of money, King 5 reports.

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During sessions with Ohio educator and consultant JaNice Marshall, school officials would “write down reflection – things we wanted to accomplish and then how she could help us.”

“I have no idea what benefit it has in terms of our school district,” King said.

King said he noticed the problem when now deputy superintendent Judith Berry’s Detroit-based TEST, LLC consulted with district officials in 2014 before taking over as the district’s number two.

“To me, it was a conflict of interest,” King said.

Afterwards, King contends Berry brought in other consultants who are friends and previous business associates. One Detroit-based “education strategist,” Vivian Palmer, was paid $800 a day, plus expenses, to draft a “Program Evaluation Tool” document that was later determined to have been lifted from the Michigan Department of Education.

According to King 5:

Dr. Shereen Tabrizi of the Michigan Department of Education confirmed that the document was identical to one it makes available on the department’s website. Tabrizi told KING 5 that Palmer Consulting played no role in developing Michigan’s Program Evaluation Tool, and she had no idea that Tukwila was using it.

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“The work that the school board paid for was actually plagiarized.  It wasn’t even the work of the consultant,” King said.  “It was presented as her work, as a draft.  She said this is a draft of my work.”

King noted that the district’s increased use of consultants for administrators coincided with cuts to instructional coaches who actually help teachers and students directly. The district is now facing a $3 million budget shortfall.

District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski denied that Palmer plagiarized the Michigan Department of Education document, and defended the district’s use of high-dollar consultants.

“We, like all small districts, use a consulting model,” she said.

Niegowski praised both Berry and Palmer, and denied that Palmer had a business history with Berry.

Palmer, who was hired on in March as the district’s Executive Director of Accountability, Assessment and Technology with a $150,000 annual salary, is listed on Berry’s website as one of the “core team members” of TEXT, LLC, according to King 5.

District officials were clearly concerned about King 5’s report on the district’s hefty tab for consultants, and superintendent Nancy Coogan penned a very lengthy letter in an attempt to explain away the expenses.

“We believe King 5 news will also focus on the more than $300,000 we paid for these professional services over the past two years. I want you to know that the return on investment has been significant,” Coogan wrote. “Every consultant we have hired has been aligned with strategic priorities, has met or exceeded industry-standards for rates and quality, and has been accounted for in our annual budget. I also take personal ownership in making sure that our organization is benefiting in quantifiable ways from consultants.”

King has a different take.

“If this is what we’re paying for, then the kids are being cheated,” he said. “The public is being cheated.”