Mercer Island PTA Response to 2 Predator Scandals: Attack Parents, Not Problems
Mercer Island parents demanding child safety are being mocked, misidentified, and pressured to stay quiet by PTA husbands and a former Starbucks Comms executive.
In the past 48 hours, right as the second Mercer Island teacher predator, Curtis Johnston, was confirmed through public reporting, parents who spoke up online about student safety have been met with something alarming:
Harassment. Personal accusations. Intimidation. Then rapid deletion of the evidence.
Screenshots exist. The behavior is real. The message feels intentional.
A Sudden Wave of Anonymous Harassers
Two Reddit accounts, both about two weeks old, suddenly jumped into Mercer Island discussions.
Account #1: “Available-Sandwich27”
Appeared recently
Commented only on MI Teacher Predator - Curtis Johnston posts
Tried to name and identify the Redditors behind the posts
Deleted comments spanning several posts after pushback
Account #2: “awkwardbutterfly99”
Joined about the same time
Mocked posts about MI Teacher Predator - Curtis Johnston
Linked to PTA-endorsed candidate Julian Bradley
Deleted all comments and then the account after criticism
These weren’t random trolls.
They were focused.
They arrived together.
They disappeared together.
The timing raises eyebrows. Were these accounts set up before the Johnston article dropped specifically to counter or intimidate anyone discussing it? People pushing back have already begun guessing who the posters might be, throwing out more than a dozen local names. It creates a chilling question in the community: are these efforts aimed at identifying critics so they can be confronted offline next?
Legal Threats Surface
Meanwhile, on Facebook, attorney Alan Burnett (ex-husband of school board candidate Stephanie Burnett) publicly asked for referrals to a libel lawyer. For an attorney to seek legal counsel through a public community forum is highly unusual, and many parents interpreted it less as routine legal housekeeping and more as a signal to those questioning school leadership.
If intimidation is the tactic, then, based on the current board culture, some parents believe Stephanie Burnett would fit right in.
Attack the Messenger
Marc Birtel, a Mercer Island resident and former Starbucks executive who has publicly supported Mercer Island High School PTA President Julie Hsieh, recently stated that this Substack had published a victim’s name and that “multiple attempts” were made to take it down. Anyone can verify that no victim’s name was ever published and no one commented, in any post, that victim identity needed to be removed by simply reviewing the posts.
It is concerning, in my opinion, when a claim that can be so easily disproven is shared by someone with a communications background. Rather than focusing on parents raising safety concerns, the community would be better served if attention stayed on the documented fact that two teacher predators operated in our schools for years.
Note to Marc: Comms 101…don’t get caught lying. Guess you missed that class.
Nextdoor Post
Support for Julie Hsieh
The Pattern Families See
• Raise concerns → get attacked
• Question leadership → become the target
• Speak up → pressured to go quiet
Two predators in one district cannot be dismissed as coincidence.
Parents want accountability and instead see retaliation.
The Question That Defines This Moment
Who is being protected here?
The children? Or the people who failed them?
Demanding safety for students is not harassment.
Highlighting institutional failures is not defamation.
Parents should not be punished for caring about their kids.
If leaders learned anything from these scandals, it must be this:
The era of silence is over.
Alan Burneett - X-Husband to Stephanie Burnett
Available-Sandwich27 Reddit Account
Some community members have strongly speculated that the account may be connected to individuals active in school district politics, including a golfing buddy of Superintendent Fred Rundle who is also serving as treasurer for Julian Bradley’s campaign. There is no confirmation of who actually operated the account.
Note: Actual names removed from Reddit post.