LAMB administrative changes -- fallout from sexual abuse case

[Anonymous]

Mundo Verde absolutely needs for the principal to leave. Most parents post 2nd grade will tell you how ineffective and invisible she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope you're right that LAMB stays great (excluding how they deal with potential sexual predators--obviously that was a problem). Though certainly not everyone feels that way. In the hallway at school this morning I head some parents discussing where they were hoping to lottery into next year. Ie it sounds like, at this point at least, they are abandoning the school.

My concern is that the administration who is being fired was actually instrumental to the quality of the school (again, excluding the unforgivable mistakes made re Fernandez). The teachers are the key--but who hires and manages the teacher and sets the vision for the school? By analogy, by many accounts Steve Jobs was a real SOB however no one questions he was crucial to the success of Apple. The fact that some people--teachers included--found the principal etc. who are leaving annoying or bad or whatever does not mean that they people who are leaving weren't crucial to the success of the school.

My hope of course is that the people who fill those roles will be EVEN better than Encinas and co were. Of course, a truly excellent principal is hard to find. I've been super impressed by the other administrators I've interacted with, but that is just on a personal, bump-into-you-in-the-hall basis. I don't actually know what it takes to make a school great other than retaining great teachers.

THIS! Alum. Lamb was great in spite of her.

Trust me, Encinas was not crucial to the success of the school. By all the accounts I've heard from teachers and staff, not an effective manager. And as a parent who needed her leadership on a few key things unrelated to Fernandez - she was a major disappointment. I will not revel in anyone's demise, but it is was an excellent move by the board.

[Anonymous]

Wash Post wrote on this today
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/leaders-at-dc-charter-school-are-out-of-jobs-after-teachers-sex-abuse-case/2017/11/30/84cb7c2e-d5dc-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.43ce782ae903

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP must be a new parent who realizes we don't talk about LAMB business on DCUM

LAMB should have put out a press release about this and otherwise disseminated it widely. It is a significant decision and would demonstrate its commitment to transparency.

Yeah, like Sidwell: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/in-its-response-to-a-sexual-abuse-allegation-sidwell-friends-joins-other-private-schools-in-pursuit-of-more-transparency/2017/05/09/aa2d6d76-31ac-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?utm_term=.cbeaa5e890fc

I don't see why you think LAMB should have put out a press release BEFORE alerting staff and parents???! They seem to be pretty transparent about this as far as I can tell. You do realize this thread started within one hour of their notification of parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP must be a new parent who realizes we don't talk about LAMB business on DCUM

Wow. Your kind of thinking is the reason pedofiles are able go undetected.

Agreed. Scary. People wrapped up in avoiding shame rather than the protection that transparency offers children.

FFS. The original post was sarcastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP must be a new parent who realizes we don't talk about LAMB business on DCUM

LAMB should have put out a press release about this and otherwise disseminated it widely. It is a significant decision and would demonstrate its commitment to transparency.

Yeah, like Sidwell: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/in-its-response-to-a-sexual-abuse-allegation-sidwell-friends-joins-other-private-schools-in-pursuit-of-more-transparency/2017/05/09/aa2d6d76-31ac-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?utm_term=.cbeaa5e890fc

I don't see why you think LAMB should have put out a press release BEFORE alerting staff and parents???! They seem to be pretty transparent about this as far as I can tell. You do realize this thread started within one hour of their notification of parents.

Crisis communicator here. No one said they should have done it before alerting staff and parents, but it should have been done the same day.

FWIW LAMB did notify victims parents before the rest of the LAMB community. I am one of them.

DCUM was pretty late to the party, considering.

The way this is usually done --

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP must be a new parent who realizes we don't talk about LAMB business on DCUM

LAMB should have put out a press release about this and otherwise disseminated it widely. It is a significant decision and would demonstrate its commitment to transparency.

Yeah, like Sidwell: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/in-its-response-to-a-sexual-abuse-allegation-sidwell-friends-joins-other-private-schools-in-pursuit-of-more-transparency/2017/05/09/aa2d6d76-31ac-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?utm_term=.cbeaa5e890fc

I don't see why you think LAMB should have put out a press release BEFORE alerting staff and parents???! They seem to be pretty transparent about this as far as I can tell. You do realize this thread started within one hour of their notification of parents.

Crisis communicator here. No one said they should have done it before alerting staff and parents, but it should have been done the same day.

FWIW LAMB did notify victims parents before the rest of the LAMB community. I am one of them.

DCUM was pretty late to the party, considering.

The way this is usually done --

FWIW, LAMB did not notify all victims parents before the rest of the LAMB community. I am one of them.

LAMB does not even know who all the victims are, nor should they. It is a confidential police matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP must be a new parent who realizes we don't talk about LAMB business on DCUM

LAMB should have put out a press release about this and otherwise disseminated it widely. It is a significant decision and would demonstrate its commitment to transparency.

Yeah, like Sidwell: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/in-its-response-to-a-sexual-abuse-allegation-sidwell-friends-joins-other-private-schools-in-pursuit-of-more-transparency/2017/05/09/aa2d6d76-31ac-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?utm_term=.cbeaa5e890fc

I don't see why you think LAMB should have put out a press release BEFORE alerting staff and parents???! They seem to be pretty transparent about this as far as I can tell. You do realize this thread started within one hour of their notification of parents.

Crisis communicator here. No one said they should have done it before alerting staff and parents, but it should have been done the same day.

FWIW LAMB did notify victims parents before the rest of the LAMB community. I am one of them.

DCUM was pretty late to the party, considering.

The way this is usually done --

FWIW, LAMB did not notify all victims parents before the rest of the LAMB community. I am one of them.

LAMB does not even know who all the victims are, nor should they. It is a confidential police matter.

Good point, I don't see how the board of directors would know who the victims are - except, they may have been named in the original investigative report. In that case they would know. I don't know if it matters whether they notified them first of all this.

Do you feel this was the right move, as an affected family?

[Anonymous]

I agree about old board members being removed. The fact that they didn't place Cristina and Diane in administrative leave right after Manolo's arrest shows how little independence they had. I applaud the decisions taken now but I'm sure that those decisions were forced by a report showing gross negligence and by a contingency of parents that banned together and made it clear that they would not let this incident slide. Cristina only favored people in her group, she liked minority students because their parents usually never complained or asked for accountability but she was responsive to parents of Caucasian kids who were big donors to the schools or could provide something of value that she needed at the time. Once you were no longer useful to Cristina's goals then you can bet that your emails and phone calls would be ignored and disregarded in favor of the next person who had something to give at the time. I'm sure Cristina and Diane had noble intentions when they started the school but as the school became a successful enterprise they let power and ambition take over and only those who were in their group benefited from the school success. She hired good teachers but couldn't keep them if they didn't sing the right tune.

[Anonymous]

Today Fernandez was sentenced to nearly eight years.

He admitted to touching students’ genetalia in a classroom and school basement, over and under clothes, boys and girls.

https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/936724094443278336

[Anonymous]

Just because Fernandez is going to jail and the administrators are being removed, it doesn't take away the physical and psychological damage, hurt, pain that the victims and their families are going through.

As a parent of a child in one of the classes that Fernandez was teaching when he was arrested, I am praying for our children, our school and the family of Mr. Fernandez. His children and wife are victims as well. I am even praying for Mr. Fernandez because he is obviously a very sick individual and needs help.

I hope some of you will join me to help us all heal. Thank You-

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just because Fernandez is going to jail and the administrators are being removed, it doesn't take away the physical and psychological damage, hurt, pain that the victims and their families are going through.

As a parent of a child in one of the classes that Fernandez was teaching when he was arrested, I am praying for our children, our school and the family of Mr. Fernandez. His children and wife are victims as well. I am even praying for Mr. Fernandez because he is obviously a very sick individual and needs help.

I hope some of you will join me to help us all heal. Thank You-

Strong prayer is needed in this horrific matter, so I join you. As a parent of a child who was in Mr. Fernandez's class and continues to exhibit psychological symptoms of trauma, I am grateful that his sentencing draws a bittersweet line in the sand. It provides a sort of closure that does not mitigate the pain and lasting effects, but provides a point in time to mark a new beginning. I pray for all of the victims, the perpetrators family, and for Mr. Fernandez as well. As he is physically moved the federal prison, may we move our hearts and minds away from focusing upon our pain and let a focus on our healing prevail. My family is no longer at the school for a number of reasons, but pray for LAMB's resilience. As others have mentioned, the teachers were/are the heart and soul of the school. I pray these gems are retained and others fill any void. Ms. Cottman's brainchild and it's focus on Montessori principles and bilingualism was a gift to us while we were there. It was sullied by the Fernandez situation; however, I pray its premise and mission can live on. I hope we can all be a part of that process.

[Anonymous]

I hope that the victims and their families can focus on healing now that the investigation by the Board, and the sentencing of Fernandez, has concluded. And I hope that all LAMB families will band together to help ensure transparency and accountability from the next set of school leaders.

[Anonymous]

because lamb hires Sara but has experience in a Montessori school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:because lamb hires Sara but has experience in a Montessori school.

What?