The suspension of a principal and vice principal in the Coupeville School District is related to their responses to a “Minority Rape Cult” in the high school and a middle school student sharing a video of an alleged sexual assault, according to documents obtained through a public records request.

The records show that three students were expelled and as many as 11 others received short suspensions in relation to the two unrelated incidents.

Superintendent Shannon Leatherwood announced in December that she was placing Principal Geoff Kappes and Vice Principal Allyson Cundiff on non-disciplinary leave pending an investigation. Last week she announced that Springy Yamasaki, a former principal in Federal Way, will temporarily take over their administrative roles.

Leatherwood did not reveal details of the investigation. She declined to comment on Monday. Speculation in the community, however, has been rampant.

On Dec. 16, the News-Times requested documents “related to the investigation that has led to Coupeville High School / Middle School Principal Geoff Kappes and Vice Principal Allyson Cundiff being placed on non-disciplinary leave.” In response, the district released documents on Jan. 3 that focused on a club that advocated for the sexual assault of ethnic minority individuals and a video of a middle school boy allegedly assaulting a sleeping friend.

In a Dec. 12 email to Kappes and Cundiff, Leatherwood made it clear she wasn’t happy about how they dealt with the issues.

“I want to reiterate the serious nature of the recent ‘Cult’ or ‘Rape Club’ incidents and the pornography incidents,” she wrote. “It’s clear that this is a significant safety issue, and I’m concerned about the judgment shown in handling these matters.”

Leatherwood wasn’t specific about her concerns with the administrators’ actions, but the documents from the district included emails from parents who complained about “lax punishment” and a lack of transparency. One parent alluded to the district “not providing info to law enforcement because it wasn’t requested.”

Leatherwood instructed Kappes and Cundiff to provide her with comprehensive reports on the incidents.

The documents state that the school administration learned about the Minority Rape Cult on Dec. 6. A witness reported overhearing students making racist jokes and talking about raping minorities and making a cult. At lunch, 12 students were observed wearing pink hats, which were allegedly part of the “cult.” Students said they received the pink hats from the two organizers of the group for signing up to join.

The same day, one of the students who organized the group said he and the other organizer wanted to “take the fall” and that no one else should be punished, according to a timeline written by a school official. The student said the group was created just to be funny. There are no allegations that members of the group actually planned to commit any assaults.

On Dec. 11, the administration learned the names of students who had signed a paper to join the cult. The Coupeville marshal was notified.

A parent sent Leatherwood an image from Instagram of a group of a dozen students in pink hats posing. The post stated that the “C was fun while it lasted, but I’m glad it brought us together.”

Some of the students wrote brief statements about their involvement. One student admitted signing a paper “for a pink hat and because my friends were in it” while another wrote, “Did it for the cool hat.” A student wrote that they signed a form to get a pink hat and “didn’t think it was that serious.”

“We wanted an excuse to form a group of friends and hang out routinely, unknowing anything would be acted upon or taken seriously, which didn’t happen,” a student wrote.

A student not involved in the club wrote a statement about her conversations with other students; the student wrote that “hearing about this made me sick as it blows my mind they believe rape is some joke.”

It appears from the documents that three students received emergency expulsions and 10 others got two-day suspensions for violating the harassment, intimidation and bullying policy. The records from the school district included 13 letters to parents announcing the punishments.

In an earlier, unrelated incident, a middle school boy allegedly sexually assaulted his sleeping friend during a sleepover while another boy recorded it on his phone on Nov. 29, according to court documents in a restraining order case. A few days later, the boy who recorded the assault allegedly shared the video with an undetermined number of students at the middle/high school.

On Dec. 2, the school administration learned about the video, although one of the students involved claimed the alleged assailant was only pretending to molest the sleeping boy. School officials spoke to a boy who allegedly admitted recording the assault. The boy wrote that he recorded it because he was going to send it to his mom.

The Coupeville marshal was notified. The boy was suspended for three days for “disruption of educational environment and misuse of personal technology.”

A detective at the Island County Sheriff’s Office reported that the investigation into the allegations are ongoing. It’s unclear from the documents whether the student who committed the alleged sexual assault attends a Coupeville school.