LAMB Sued for $20M by 2 families of sexual abuse victims

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB families who can’t handle the understandable reactions from observers that there must be something fundamentally broken at their school need to step away from threads like this. Telling people they can’t have opinions or to “stop talking” is pretty telling. It screams “nothing to see here” which is precisely the attitude that allowed this tradedy to happen. Most parents get it. You have sent your child to a school so you have to believe it’s a good place, a good environment otherwise you’re a bad parent. So you have to convince yourself that you’re doing right by your kid. And I’m sure Lamb does have a strong community and committed teachers but you’re being naive to assume it will be able
weather the storm of lawsuits it’s about to get hit by. Insurance has limits.

Thanks for this uninformed opinion. The next time you start ranting, consider using spellcheck or learning some basic principles of grammar.

This thread is really painting the LAMB community in an awful light.

+1 When the only comeback is spellcheck and grammar they know they're in trouble.

So agree with this initial post. Parents who are so defensive of LAMB and the actions of the leadership are probably feeling guilty for keeping their kids in a school that sweeps sexual abuse under the rug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if LAMB is going to try to rehire the teachers who left in disgust or who were basically forced out because they were told they “had it out” for Fernandez?

When the Board notified the community about the staff firings, they publicly thanked the teachers who tried to protect th kids. Careers were harmed and/or disrupted.

+1 Many parents would like our new administration, when it is in place, to do just this.

Probably only works if they were to also push out the apologist staffers who are still there and are still hanging out with the fired administrators socially.

[Anonymous]

I can't even with this thread. Why are people so full of hate? Those who were personally impacted, fine. But I don't think the trolls on here are those people. If they are, I can understand the emotions. But really, is it just a very high level of schadenfreude??

Also, yes, LAMB was the top charter in the city this year. It should be supported and helped in its ongoing reform efforts. Not slammed by an angry mob with pitchforks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap. as the saying goes, no matter how flat you make a pancake, it has two sides. so obviously there lawsuit is one side, written with a lot of hindsight. But if even 20% of it is accurate, my god.

I would argue very strenuously that LAMB is not the safest place right now. Because the lesson that seems to have been learned is that whistleblowers will be fired or will leave, the board will do anything to protect its own, and there will be no ramifications. HOW THE HELL DOES COTTMAN STILL WORK THERE??!! and according to at least one LAMB insider posting here, she appears to think she is blameless and a victim herself. This is really disturbing.

And I would respond that you are not informed enough to have that opinion.

I know it is delightful to trash a school, but you aren't aware of the new policies put in place and the resilience of the teachers and parents.

Diane is delusional, but she is there for kingsbury alone.

Well by all means deals over kids. Sounds like a wonderful and safe place for children!!

This lawsuit will kill the school— thankfully. The teachers will find new jobs and the kids will find new schools. The Board should be gone too. JFYI. What they have done is disgusting. The fact that any of them agree to have their name and picture on the website is gross. Just plain gross. When you know of a problem— which they knew in Feb you correct it. They did nothing.

Troll score: 2.

The people responsible have been terminated or are being forced to resign. I agree that Diane should be fired, but she will be gone soon enough. Hopefully the Board will be slowly replaced over the next couple years.

The lawsuit will not kill the school. The insurance carrier will settle with the parents.

LAMB is a strong school with excellent and committed teachers. The parents are working hard to support the families affected while still moving forward. Despite what this terrible man did, LAMB will not be ripped apart. He will not win.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I find so many posts on this thread so deeply problematic.

All of this rah-rah-we-are-such-a-strong-community is such a slap in the face to the victims and their families.

Nobody is winning here.

I agree; the lengths parents are going to defend this school and its terrible actions are a slap in the face to the victims. And I am sorry you endured childhood sexual abuse. That is terrible and I hope that you are ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't even with this thread. Why are people so full of hate? Those who were personally impacted, fine. But I don't think the trolls on here are those people. If they are, I can understand the emotions. But really, is it just a very high level of schadenfreude??

Also, yes, LAMB was the top charter in the city this year. It should be supported and helped in its ongoing reform efforts. Not slammed by an angry mob with pitchforks.

The circle of people 'personally impacted' is wider than you imagine.

Over his years Fernandez taught at least 100 children. More than 21 of them have gone to the police with credible allegations of sexual abuse. Do you include the teachers who quit / were pushed out for speaking out against Fernandez among the 'personally impacted?" How about people who gave and raised money for the school who now see it being spent on lawyers, investigators and management consultants to implement common sense reforms that should have been there from day 1?

Many of the people you accuse of hate are profoundly hurt. They trusted the school with their children and that trust was violated. \Nothing being said here will hurt the school as much as its own actions.

The school's Board and administrators brought this on themselves. Had they FIRED Fernandez back in 2015, which they had ample grounds to do under an at-will employment agreement, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble. And no one would be grabbing pitchforks.

[Anonymous]

LAMB has always wanted to operate secretly within its own sphere to the point where it has continued to refuse to participate in the centralized lottery unlike almost every other charter school in the District. I think this is telling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't even with this thread. Why are people so full of hate? Those who were personally impacted, fine. But I don't think the trolls on here are those people. If they are, I can understand the emotions. But really, is it just a very high level of schadenfreude??

Also, yes, LAMB was the top charter in the city this year. It should be supported and helped in its ongoing reform efforts. Not slammed by an angry mob with pitchforks.

Everyone should be an angry mom with pitchforks when this happens for years at a school. When adults sit back and allow children to be molested I do get my pitchfork out. If everyone sits around and thinks of ways to quietly improve the situation (which they didn't) while not addressing the situation head on (which they still haven't) you have LAMB 2015-2017 where more children were harmed potentially for the rest of their lives.

You don't see the angry mob and pitchforks out for Oyster do you? No because they immediately went into action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no reason for any teacher or staff member in any type of school to take kids to a basement and lock the door. Just think of the PTSD impact on those kids. 8 years? Unreal.

All the kids went to the basement, pretty regularly (according to my LAMB kid from that classroom) to help Mr Fernandez retrieve or put away 'science materials.' The kids understood it to be part and parcel of the Montessori curriculum where students help care for the classroom environment.

So far as my kid will admit, nothing happened when he was down there with the teacher. But I still worry.

I've been a special ed teacher and now a school psychologist for many years. We're not allowed to take any students of any age to a place like a basement---and certainly now with a closed door--much less a locked one!

I worked in a school that had two classrooms, the cafeteria, teacher's lounge and materials room in the basement. I worked in another where the basement was a dirt floor that ran underneath the building, had no walls/rooms and was just used for storage. Whether it was the former or the latter type of basement, teachers couldn't just take kids to non-classroom spaces on their own and then lock the door. I worked in one school, where the principal's rule was no closed doors. This whole thing is just so terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't even with this thread. Why are people so full of hate? Those who were personally impacted, fine. But I don't think the trolls on here are those people. If they are, I can understand the emotions. But really, is it just a very high level of schadenfreude??

Also, yes, LAMB was the top charter in the city this year. It should be supported and helped in its ongoing reform efforts. Not slammed by an angry mob with pitchforks.

Everyone should be an angry mom with pitchforks when this happens for years at a school. When adults sit back and allow children to be molested I do get my pitchfork out. If everyone sits around and thinks of ways to quietly improve the situation (which they didn't) while not addressing the situation head on (which they still haven't) you have LAMB 2015-2017 where more children were harmed potentially for the rest of their lives.

You don't see the angry mob and pitchforks out for Oyster do you? No because they immediately went into action.

THIS.

[Anonymous]

LAMB alumni parent who has followed this closely (kid had Fernandez as a teacher -- e.g. was on the camping trips and subjected to 'tick checks' of their genital area (hope that's 'directly affected' enough for the PP to give me permission to post).

I had not heard, before reading the lawsuit document, that he showed the students pornography, including child pornography.

[Anonymous]

It is heartbreaking and outrageous that the two students in this case graduated from LAMB in 2015 and all of this did not truly come to light until nearly two years after they graduated. I can only imagine the internal turmoil they carried alone for those two years while starting middle school, which is pretty much an awful time for kids. Just about everyone failed them.

So this case represents those two families. However, when he was finally arrested in 2017 it was due to reports by three other "current" LAMB students. So I'm guessing we'll be seeing additional civil cases.

And is there any criminal liability for the the former principal and Cottman? In reading #92 I was so dismayed that the administration allowed a meeting occur where an apparently unqualified staff member talked to the students (without parents present) and stressed secrecy. WTF?!??!

"In or around February 27, 2017, Defendant LAMB, through a LAMB employee, held a session with the current LAMB students who had been taught by Defendant Fernandez. During this meeting, the LAMB employee emphasized confidentiality and secrecy with the students. Upon information and belief, these students left this meeting with the impression that they should not discuss Defendant Fernandez’s sexual misconduct."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is heartbreaking and outrageous that the two students in this case graduated from LAMB in 2015 and all of this did not truly come to light until nearly two years after they graduated. I can only imagine the internal turmoil they carried alone for those two years while starting middle school, which is pretty much an awful time for kids. Just about everyone failed them.

So this case represents those two families. However, when he was finally arrested in 2017 it was due to reports by three other "current" LAMB students. So I'm guessing we'll be seeing additional civil cases.

And is there any criminal liability for the the former principal and Cottman? In reading #92 I was so dismayed that the administration allowed a meeting occur where an apparently unqualified staff member talked to the students (without parents present) and stressed secrecy. WTF?!??!

"In or around February 27, 2017, Defendant LAMB, through a LAMB employee, held a session with the current LAMB students who had been taught by Defendant Fernandez. During this meeting, the LAMB employee emphasized confidentiality and secrecy with the students. Upon information and belief, these students left this meeting with the impression that they should not discuss Defendant Fernandez’s sexual misconduct."

I totally agree.

It was also really messy. Fernandez had two of his own children enrolled in the school, at the same building where he worked. I think the staff member was trying to protect those kids from gossip about their father being arrested.

[Anonymous]

Here we go again protecting Fernandez and LAMB's ridiculous actions. No, that is not why the school was promoting secrecy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is heartbreaking and outrageous that the two students in this case graduated from LAMB in 2015 and all of this did not truly come to light until nearly two years after they graduated. I can only imagine the internal turmoil they carried alone for those two years while starting middle school, which is pretty much an awful time for kids. Just about everyone failed them.

So this case represents those two families. However, when he was finally arrested in 2017 it was due to reports by three other "current" LAMB students. So I'm guessing we'll be seeing additional civil cases.

And is there any criminal liability for the the former principal and Cottman? In reading #92 I was so dismayed that the administration allowed a meeting occur where an apparently unqualified staff member talked to the students (without parents present) and stressed secrecy. WTF?!??!

"In or around February 27, 2017, Defendant LAMB, through a LAMB employee, held a session with the current LAMB students who had been taught by Defendant Fernandez. During this meeting, the LAMB employee emphasized confidentiality and secrecy with the students. Upon information and belief, these students left this meeting with the impression that they should not discuss Defendant Fernandez’s sexual misconduct."

I totally agree.

It was also really messy. Fernandez had two of his own children enrolled in the school, at the same building where he worked. I think the staff member was trying to protect those kids from gossip about their father being arrested.

Huh. Well if that's LAMB's explanation for stressing secrecy with children (some of whom in that meeting WERE his victims) then perhaps the policy whereby charter staff get preference for their children to attend needs to be rescinded. If it creates a conflict that allows a school to put their students even more at risk then it's a bad policy.

[Anonymous]

I am tempted to be depressed and feel guilty.... but I want to keep it in perspective.

Guys-- is this a DC Public School problem? (My Monkey brain goes: What am I doing to my child putting her in DCPS?! before I rein it in). Or can this sort of thing really happen anywhere.... what are your thoughts?

I want to say this can happen in a lot of unpredictable places under a lot of circumstances. And to take standard care and keep up the communication with our kids.