Head of School searches: How did it go
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Anonymous
It was only "unmanaged" spending when the budgeted investments that Whittle was supposed to receive fell through when COVID hit 6 months into the school's first year and blew up its funding plans. This was a new, start-up school that depended on financing for it to get established and grow. Sure, in hindsight, the upfront spending in the first year could seem outrageous when you look at money out vs. money in, but you can't look at it without the context of the school relying on $100 million in funding that fell through. Per the WaPo "The pandemic dealt a formidable blow to his launch plans, he said, derailing the development of a Brooklyn campus, delaying other expansions and leading investors to abruptly withhold $60 million that had been committed to the enterprise. He said an almost-done deal for another $40 million also dissolved in early 2020. The net result: $100 million had suddenly vanished from the school’s grasp. That was more than a third of the total investment ($270 million) Whittle had been counting on at the time". I'm not going to apologize for Whittle but I don't see how this is a sign that the HOS had poor management skills or mismanaged a budget that unexpectedly cratered to the tune of 9 figures due to an unprecedented global health crisis. |
Anonymous
| Maret board told who to vote for. The HOS and Board chair had already decided. |
Anonymous
Yes - exactly how these things are supposed to work. Why else would the Board create a search committee to interview candidates and make a recommendation if the Board was supposed to do all of the sleeves-up diligence itself? |
Anonymous
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Probably why most schools ask HOS to leave before conducting a search.
I do think Pandemic has encouraged promotion from within for current teachers and staff. It’s nice to see the growth potential in these jobs! |
Anonymous
18 month notice is the standard notice when it is a retirement that is amicable between the head and the board. And then the search usually happens in the fall of the head's final year, with the new head named around 6 months before starting. So what Maret did differently here was accelerate the search for the new head. Which may be due to Marjo's desire to continue to have influence. But a school having to resort to an interim head is usually indicative of some sort of unplanned departure--firing, health reasons, the head leaving for a new headship, that sort of thing. |
Anonymous
OP here- while I am mainly interested in hearing about how schools have transitioned to a new Head and how the process went, I have to chime in that this sounds crazy. I somehow highly doubt Marjo Talbott would have voted for the candidate who ultimately got the job- in fact, it almost seems like the board chose him because he is nothing like her. As for the board chair, certainly a nice person but power hungry? Another bizmare allegation. Maret used to be a fringe school, sort of artsy- at least when Strutevant was in charge- loads of debt, some really bad teachers. Marjo Talbott might not be the friendliest, but she really put Maret on the map and brought it to where it is. While I think she should have retired a while ago, I respect the work she did for the school. Maret was founded by three women- I personally am sad the position did not go to a female, since few of the co-ed schools in this area are headed by women. Just so very disappointed in the whole process and certainly with the ultimate selection. |
Anonymous
Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender? |
Anonymous
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Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender? Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle. Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over. Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters. Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo. |
Anonymous
During his presentation to families, he talked about how much Maret and Whittle are alike. Not only are Maret and Whittle completely different, the vast majority Maret families do not want the school to become more like Whittle in any way. While he may or may not be responsible for the mishandling of Whittle finances, he went to that school knowing (or at least he should have known since it was public knowledge) that Chris Whittle is a fraud. That shows awful judgment. This HOS choice has caused our family to reassess whether Maret is the right school for our children. I'm sure we aren't alone. |
Anonymous
Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle. Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over. Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters. Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo. Seems mostly like you have gripes about the process and not about him as an individual, other than his gender and a previous job he held for a tiny percentage of his professional life. That's unfortunate as far as I see it. I like the fact that Maret did not promote from within. They have had the same leadership for decades - why not bring in an outsider to move the community forward. |
Anonymous
| That tells you all you need to know because as a prospective Whittle Parent he personally went on and on about how different Whittle was from Sidwell, St Albans, Maret , and he even referenced WIS. And how happy he was to never have to fundraise again!...whoops. |
Anonymous
He never said he wanted Maret to become like Whittle. And do you have kids at both Maret and Whittle so you can make such a statement that the similarities he mentioned are, in fact, completely different? The similarities he pointed out made sense to me. The complete hysteria about his time at Whittle is just too much. Dude mentions briefly some similarities between this new job and his old one in an introduction to the community and people are up in arms that he's a crusader looking to make Maret into a global, for-profit school like Whittle. |
Anonymous
Maret’s announcement literally has his full resume: Friends School of Baltimore Baltimore, MD The Northwest School Seattle, WA Whittle School & Studios Washington, DC Kingswood Oxford School West Hartford, CT |
Anonymous
What a nice strawman you have built! |
Anonymous
Took a job next year in Minnesota private school; this was announced months ago before kicking off the search. New principal was teacher at Dalton. |