Principal's Side Business Raises Questions . . .

County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large) and others say they have been told that Weast called the meetings to lobby the unions to back Navarro (Northeastern County), who is running for the District 4 council seat left vacant by the death of Marilyn Praisner. Navarro attended the second meeting, as did County Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), who supports Navarro.

Weast has acknowledged that he discussed Navarro's candidacy in the meetings, on Feb. 29 and March 2 at his home. But he said the primary purpose of the gatherings was to discuss the school system's operating budget.

David Rodich, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 500, concurred with Weast, writing in an e-mail that "any comments made about the County Council race were purely incidental" to the larger budget discussion.

Not everyone agrees with this account.

"I had heard about this meeting from a number of other people, and it's always been characterized as a campaign meeting," said school board member Sharon W. Cox (At Large), referring to the second gathering.

Elrich is a former schoolteacher who supports one of Navarro's rivals for the District 4 seat, widower Don Praisner. Elrich said his main concern is that Weast might be pressuring the labor groups to support Navarro or risk losing his support in negotiating their labor agreements.

"If what was said was true, [Weast] was in a position to really strike a toll on the unions for not going along with him," Elrich said. "And that's not right."

The meetings, first reported in the Gazette newspapers, have sparked several threads of discussion.

If they were budget meetings, then why wasn't the school system's chief operating officer, Larry Bowers, included and other school board members invited? Cox said she has asked the board vice president, Shirley Brandman (At Large), to investigate.

If they were campaign meetings, then did Weast -- who serves as an appointed administrator, not an elected politician -- cross some ethical line?

When asked in an interview about his interest in the District 4 special election, Weast said, "It is important to have council members who are knowledgeable and supportive of what our teachers have been doing, and who understand how the finances work and take a long view on a countywide basis." He said labor groups should consider "the support of the children's agenda."

Edwards, Weast's chief of staff, noted that the unions representing Montgomery teachers, principals and school staff did not necessarily need Weast to tell them to support Navarro, whose stated interests align closely with their own.

"The reality is that Dr. Weast is going to do what he thinks is in the best interest of the kids, regardless of what his opponents say," Edwards said.

Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said he saw nothing untoward in Weast's support for Navarro. "Superintendents are allowed to have an opinion about their board presidents," he said.

Staff writers Lori Aratani and Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.