Sacajawea principal placed on paid administrative leave

"Federal Way school officials placed Fannie Kelley, principal at Sacajawea Junior High School, on administrative leave Wednesday while she faces charges of failure to report child abuse.Kelley, who allegedly withheld information from police investigators about an illegal sexual relationship between a Sacajawea teacher's aide and student, faces a $5,000 fine and a year in jail if convicted.The charges stem from an affair between Nancy Alexander-Anderson, a 49-year-old teacher's aide, and a 15-year-old student last school year. On March 7, however, Kelley received an anonymous phone tip about the affair that prosecutors say she ignored. According to district papers, since the caller refused identification or substantiation, Kelley did not investigate or tell anyone else about the call.Alexander-Anderson was sentenced in November to 14 months in prison for one count of third-degree child rape.Kelley has worked for the district since 1999 and will continue to be paid while she is on administrative leave, said Chuck Christensen, the district's human resources director. Kelley currently earns $80,996 per year.She is being paid pending an outcome of an investigation, he said. We don't presume guilt until such time as our investigation is complete.Late last month the district reprimanded Kelley for not following up on the call and said she used poor professional judgement in doing so.The district has a 'zero-tolerance' policy for any neglect or abuse of children and therefore even vague or anonymous accusations require diligent investigation, read a statement released by district officials on Wednesday.An arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 9 in Federal Way Municipal Court. "

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