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DC Public and Public Charter Schools
Removal of Eaton Principal Steven Eskay
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Anonymous
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So all the teachers have signed a petition asking for the investigation of serious allegations and some parents here begin to think of why now, what is really behind it, how the principal pool is now depleted, and if it was really 100% of teachers.
This says so much about some parents. So sad. |
Anonymous
It's disgusting when people state things that are bold face lies. Making a change in leadership will not make 4 principals in 5 years at Eaton. Stop it! I'd like to see you get a boss that delivers the same kinds of rude, nasty behavior as this principal. What would you do? To the new parent, you should only be worried if the school leader is allowed to continue in a work environment where 100% of his instructional staff has cast a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The instructional staff will not change much, Eaton is known for having a high retention rate for teachers. That is a good sign for a school community. Teachers deliver the most child-contact service in a school setting, not the principal. The allegations mentioned in this case all seem to point at the principal's treatment of staff and his verbalizing inappropriate things about children to staff. Stay involved, participate in your parent-community groups, talk to your child's teacher, listen to your child about how he/she feels about school and the adults at school. Stay off this site because too many people here are clearly out of the loop! |
Anonymous
Current Eaton parent here. My oldest child (no longer at Eaton) receives specialized instruction. We moved our child to Eaton because of their track record with students in special populations. I have had good interactions with the AP and see her engaging many parents, especially at drop off and pick up. My husband and I found her to be professional and knowledgable about sped. It seems you are generalizing your interactions and a group of others who I hope don't mind your putting their business in the street. (Shouldn't privacy be a matter for students (and their families) who are receiving specialized education services?) DCPS actually made the decision to change specialized classroom classifications across the city. The changing of programming was openly discussed in our community meetings by school leadership last year before the changes were to happen since this impacted school budgets. If your allegations are true, it seems school leadership and/or central office would be more concerned with this than you. Sped compliance is closely followed by district office to avoid litigation. You can ask of a school's compliancy record when you are seeking the best placement for your child with special needs. A good advocate can tell you that. It seems really odd that the teacher reported to the LSAT when DCPS has offices that you can file complaints and concerns with (Trust me on this, I've done it from my former school). The LSAT board has no authority over staff. What's clear to me is that this thread is about a principal who has done a ton of s**t and you have tried to redirect the spot light on someone you clearly have an issue with. The AP is your number one threat? Sorry, you are ridiculous! Let's keep the focus where it should be! We have a tyrant leading our school, bullying the staff. |
Anonymous
| It is weird that there are parents that seem to be attacking the AP, teachers and parents to distract from the real issue: removal of an abusive and unethical Principal. Whatever pans out from the investigation, every single teacher signing the letter means trust in his leadership is totally gone. The Eaton community and teachers are strong and will get through this, but it is strange that the current HSA/LSAT leaders didn't act sooner and it leaves us wondering if some had early information and chose to protect Eskay (and still may be) then place the blame on everyone else to distract. Something to think about... |
Anonymous
We are not saying we don’t believe them. It has been reported and will be investigated. Jumping on a bandwagon of ill-informed rage is not helpful it’s mob justice. What ever happened to due process? As a minority, I am always cautious of angry mobs. We are not saying ignore it, we are saying that parents are not the appropriate ones to demand removal in this situation at this moment. |
Anonymous
Sorry, because the HSA and LSAT leaders didn’t act sooner you wonder if they had early information & are protecting the principal? What would look different if they were totally blindsided just like everyone else? Way to randomly attack people on the internet with no evidence. If you are an average AP Dance supporter, well… |
Anonymous
Mann - Anderson - Eskay - Replacement principal ... that's in the last 5 years |
Anonymous
Mann left for medical reasons. Anderson was interim principal. You are technically correct, but don’t give the whole picture. Eaton, as a school community, is strong and can get through this. As the pp says, new families should get involved with the actually school and not just listen to anonymous posters here. |
Anonymous
| Mann also started in 2011 |
Anonymous
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There seems to be ALOT of confusion here about Principal Eskay and Assistant Principal Dance. We have had both our children go through Eaton and I have friends with kids still at the school. The principals may come and go but the staff does have pretty good retention. We always liked the teachers and felt like there was a good sense of community.
My understanding is that the letter does not mention anything related to the AP. This forum has posted examples from the letter related to Eskays behaviors. If there is a person on here who had a poor interaction with the AP; it doesn’t feel appropriate to air those complaints on this forum. Especially breaking other families/children’s FERPA in your wake of anger against her. There is a process for how to handle complaints for a reason and you should follow it. It seems the teachers tried to follow their process and it was unsuccessful because of his interference which is why it came to this. It is unfortunate that this guy was allowed in this position. The staff are very competent and I believe them 100% |
Anonymous
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The parents didn’t ask for the teachers to wait until June to bring up their issues, when it was too late to pick a new principal.
Gaslighting parents into not being able to ask any questions, less you make them anti-teacher doesn’t serve anyone at the school. As the teachers have made clear, WHO is principal is important. |
Anonymous
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These are alarming allegations, which I'm sure we can agree have at least some truth. No sane person would want a principal like him at their school. However, in fairness this seems a bit conjured and reeking of mob justice. Put away your torches and pitchforks (i.e., don't mass sign letters, don't email the Chancellor, get off off DCUM, etc.) to think through what the smoking guns are and how should they be reported or addressed. Being upset that he was allegedly "referring to certain staff as "the good ones" with the implication that others are not good" will not tilt the needle against him. However, if he has violated FERPA or some other black and white policy or procedure of substance and it can be proven that will have significant weight. Anyone who is truly concerned about this should think through how to identify the issues of substance and properly report them if that has not been done and no, DCUM is not the place for that. If nothing of substance was violated and/or it can't be proven this will likely be for naught and he'll likely continue as principal. That is a real possibility. Also, DCPS has had a number of employees terminated, for whatever reason, who fought to win their job back and even receive back pay (example below). That too is a real possibility if they move too quickly on this and terminate him. Considering how big of a mess this has become I do not think Eaton's kids need him in that role as there is no way teachers can teach effectively moving forward with him at the helm.
https://dcist.com/story/22/11/07/dcps-rehire-wrongfully-terminated-teacher/ |
Anonymous
Good point 4 in 13 years! Don’t worry, the op who said 4 in five years is technically right but clearly doesn’t realize we can make data support our story. too. Mann left due to personal issues most likely exacerbated by the pandemic. Anderson was amazing but was interim and retired. This is a unique, unforeseen situation. |
Anonymous
After being at Eaton and another popular NW school, I agree that Eatons staff/teachers are uniquely talented and engaged. I wouldn’t care about the principal so as long as the teachers are staying. We had the best teachers ever at Eaton. Don’t let them go. Support them. They are the ones with your kids day in and day out. A principal will get figured out. |
Anonymous
| One thing I don't understand: There has been a lot of talk here about when Eaton's PTA knew about the claims. Is the thought that teachers have been raising concerns to the PTA for a long time and the PTA has somehow held teachers back from raising those concerns with DCPS? (Could a PTA even do that?) And why would teachers complain to the PTA in the first place rather than to DCPS? What am I missing? |