Dr. Broquard/Lafayette

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lafayette parent community has a loud, obnoxious minority of parents that are just plain toxic. They are smug, upper middle class professionals who want a sweet, elementary school experience like they had in the 1970s and are so oblivious that they don't have any understanding of how education has advanced since then.

I distinctly remember the strong pushback when Dr. Broquard instituted a system of assessing reading levels in the early grades and parents insisted that this was too much testing - they believed that their privileged kids could read why should anyone be tested to identify kids who are falling behind? It was so unbelievably self-absorbed and selfish - and stupid because I'm sure some of those kids had undiagnosed gaps in their skills. As a parent whose child was moving from another school which had already modernized its approach to education, it was shocking how behind the times the place was when Dr. B started.

You can make the case for a small group of loud parents protesting change - but it's been a decade. None of those parents have kids there anymore. And yet, she is still reviled and teacher turnover remains high.

Maybe the chaos at Miner is such that she will be a breath of fresh air. She has upsides: good with logistics and large-scale plans, good communicator (she knows how to write and spell), generally organized, and seemingly liked by DCPS admin. In which case, this could be a net benefit. But I don't think there are too many teachers or parents at Lafayette who aren't happy to be welcoming in someone new.

She is very good with logistics, organization, and dealing with Central Office. But she also has a lot of faults and we are not sorry to see her go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taking a job like this if asked by DCPS is the fastest path to an IS job if you can hack it for a few years & leave things better than you found them.

+1. This is what Dr. Pritchard did.

[Anonymous]

She is very good with logistics, organization, and dealing with Central Office. But she also has a lot of faults and we are not sorry to see her go.

Our youngest finished last year. I think Dr. Broquard was a great principal for the challenge of the renovation and have no complaints related to my neurotypical kids. However, for my child who is not neurotypical it was a disaster in no small part to Dr. Broquard, she micromanaged and shut things down (on the line of certain requests related to our kid's IEP were already being met or couldn't be met any other way; until an advocate was present at a meeting, then absolutely that was in line with IDEA and the IEP - go figure!) Can't say if this was her individually or the direction she was receiving from the Central Office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
She is very good with logistics, organization, and dealing with Central Office. But she also has a lot of faults and we are not sorry to see her go.

Our youngest finished last year. I think Dr. Broquard was a great principal for the challenge of the renovation and have no complaints related to my neurotypical kids. However, for my child who is not neurotypical it was a disaster in no small part to Dr. Broquard, she micromanaged and shut things down (on the line of certain requests related to our kid's IEP were already being met or couldn't be met any other way; until an advocate was present at a meeting, then absolutely that was in line with IDEA and the IEP - go figure!) Can't say if this was her individually or the direction she was receiving from the Central Office.

That was my experience too: she ran logistics well, my NT kid did fine, she was a huge barrier to my kid with disabilities getting FAPE.

[Anonymous]

Dr. B cares and does what is best for ALL the kids. Many detractors wanted special treatment for their individual child and were told no. That upsets parents and many hold grudges. But that doesn't make her a bad principal. As for teacher turnover, c'mon. Pick up a newspaper or google teacher shortage. Or maybe look in the mirror and think 'maybe it wasn't just the principal that drove teachers away from Lafayette?'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. B cares and does what is best for ALL the kids. Many detractors wanted special treatment for their individual child and were told no. That upsets parents and many hold grudges. But that doesn't make her a bad principal. As for teacher turnover, c'mon. Pick up a newspaper or google teacher shortage. Or maybe look in the mirror and think 'maybe it wasn't just the principal that drove teachers away from Lafayette?'

Why are you invalidating the numerous parents of students with disabilities concerns about her?

She’s bad with students who are not NT period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. B cares and does what is best for ALL the kids. Many detractors wanted special treatment for their individual child and were told no. That upsets parents and many hold grudges. But that doesn't make her a bad principal. As for teacher turnover, c'mon. Pick up a newspaper or google teacher shortage. Or maybe look in the mirror and think 'maybe it wasn't just the principal that drove teachers away from Lafayette?'

Are you saying that she optimized the school around the entire student body as opposed to delivering the targeted supports that children with special needs are entitled to by law?
If that is what you are saying - that was our experience.
It is a shame because there would be a lot more $$ available in the DC budget for schools if they did not need to fight lawsuits due to her leadership.

[Anonymous]

If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

Honest answer: private placement due to failure to provide FAPE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

She absolutely did not care about my autistic child. And the hearing officer in our due process case agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

Honest answer: private placement due to failure to provide FAPE.

Meant to include:
1. The decision that FAPE was not provided meant that DCPS was responsible for all legal fees (ours and the cost of the attorney for DCPS - more expenses for taxpayers)
2. It is not DC policy and law that Dr. Broquard was upholding, it is federal law (IDEA), and the decision that FAPE was not provided meant that federal law was not upheld.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. B cares and does what is best for ALL the kids. Many detractors wanted special treatment for their individual child and were told no. That upsets parents and many hold grudges. But that doesn't make her a bad principal. As for teacher turnover, c'mon. Pick up a newspaper or google teacher shortage. Or maybe look in the mirror and think 'maybe it wasn't just the principal that drove teachers away from Lafayette?'

There's a lot more to the criticisms of her than just that. There's no need to hash that all out here. Good luck to her and Miner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

She absolutely did not care about my autistic child. And the hearing officer in our due process case agreed.

Unlikely that a hearing officer found the principal "did not care." But great that you were able to get a successful outcome for your child! Dr. B has faults like everyone else, but no need to vilify her. She is a mom too. Of course she cares about children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

She absolutely did not care about my autistic child. And the hearing officer in our due process case agreed.

Unlikely that a hearing officer found the principal "did not care." But great that you were able to get a successful outcome for your child! Dr. B has faults like everyone else, but no need to vilify her. She is a mom too. Of course she cares about children.

I'm sure she cares about children in general, but the pp said that she cares about all children, and she did not care about mine. She lied, made disparaging remarks about autistic children, and, ultimately, denied my child FAPE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't understand the difference between "special treatment" and "special needs" that's on you. And blanket claim "she's bad with students who are not NT period" just shows how some critics try to unfairly project their individual feelings onto the masses. I think Dr. B is a hardworking, caring educator. She cares about ALL the kids - every single one, regardless of ability or who their parents are. And yes, it is unfortunate so much money meant for education ends up getting spent on litigation. But that's not Dr. B's fault - she upholds DC policy and law; she doesn't make it. And how have those lawsuits gone? Honest question.

She absolutely did not care about my autistic child. And the hearing officer in our due process case agreed.

Unlikely that a hearing officer found the principal "did not care." But great that you were able to get a successful outcome for your child! Dr. B has faults like everyone else, but no need to vilify her. She is a mom too. Of course she cares about children.

In our case - she did not care about providing FAPE for my child. There were records around this.
She talked a good talk when she met you - but given the # of families who have won cases during her tenure this was systematic and a part of her leadership. Winning a case is not easy. I have gone through the process multiple times and I do not wish this on anyone.
To get to the point that you are filing a complaint, your child has seriously suffered with what the school has provided. To win a case - it is not about not crossing a "T" or dotting an "i"