Forum Index
»
Private & Independent Schools
Will Whittle be around next year?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
As a privately held business, I don't think they had to have a board of directors, strictly speaking.... But in the Big Book of Lies that won CW participants from around the world, they do prominently mention a so-called Global Advisory Board.....When I read that the board had quit, I figured it must be this board. But who knows, really? .....And I was curious about whether this board really had walked -- because one of the co-chairs was Benno Schmidt. He's criticized CW and asked for him to have some executive power taken away from him in some previous ventures, but he's also seemed pretty joined at the hip to him. The Global Advisory Board supposedly had these members -- Co-chairs Benno Schmidt and Jean Liu. She's president of the big Chinese ride-share company Didi Chuxing. As part of China's overseer contingent, she'ls obviously no longer relevant, although I don't know that we've ever heard exactly when the Chinese participation ended either.... The Global Advisory Board is not a Board of Directors and it includes very few people who seem to have little knowledge or experience in running for-profit businesses or running pre-k to 12 schools. But I'm sure that would be a feature not a bug, in CW's view. There are a ton of them, and they're confusingly listed in the book -- First the two co-chairs are listed, then a group of random-seeming people, including an Indian art historian and the architect who's now suing for nonpayment, are listed with photographs. And then there's a subheading "Board Members" and a bunch more people are mentioned, these without photos. This final group are mostly investment types. Among the people with headshots is this one that I find interesting -- way controversial, former Novartis CEO who left the drugmaker amid outrage over his being way overpaid even by big-pharma standards, Dan Vasella. So I wonder whether these are the people who allegedly left? Were they ever consulted as a true board of any kind to begin with? Or what? |
Anonymous
| Thanks for that insight. |
Anonymous
| That same book (or at least a version of it) also included the original fiscal board. The advisory board did not have any governance authority. Also have heard that the original investors left and Chris lost control of the board at some point, some other people (Cottonwood?) came in and called the shots for a while and Chris lost his management authority, and then Chris eventually found a way to reclaim it. |
Anonymous
|
The irony of this on their website "A distinguishing characteristic of a Whittle School & Studios education is the absence of expected donations more typical at other independent schools."
LOL, except of course the part where you have to pay teachers their salary. |
Anonymous
| What happens to the seniors, especially the boarding students if the school closes in March? |
Anonymous
Sad to even think about. This school is definitely in its terminal stage, and to think that the seniors will not be able to have their graduation is very saddening. I really hope they are able to graduate. They will not be able to have a school to call for their high school reunion. Sad indeed! |
Anonymous
This might be the most sad development yet. These parents need to accept that they made a very poor decision that could have been easily avoided and move on with their lives. Put this place out to pasture and stop throwing money down a whole just so you can say your kid was an educational innovator or some such. This is the problem when people have more money than sense- everything eventually becomes a competition and/or battle of egos. |
Anonymous
| Doesn’t look like Whittle is going anywhere. They are bidding to buy their building which is in bankruptcy |
Anonymous
They don't have enough money to pay their teachers. With what money will they buy the building? |
Anonymous
|
This is the false narrative that Whittle has been spinning to distract attention from the fact that the school doesn't have money to pay salaries, utilities or rent. The reason the building is subject to foreclosure is because Whittle hasn't been paying rent which is why the landlord hasn't been able to pay the bank!
Even if by some miracle, Whittle came up with the money to buy the building, the loan he'd have to take out for that would soon be in foreclosure as well because - surprise, surprise - the underlying tenant (the school) is still in the same shambolic financial condition. All that Whittle is doing by talking about buying the building is buying himself more time to keep the illusion of his failed school alive. |
Anonymous
To be fair, they said its a gift to the teachers, not a donation to the school... 
|
Anonymous
|
Scenario A
A clear date of closure is declared and communicated two weeks ahead A exit packet is developed for each student that includes transcripts, teacher references and curriculum descriptions of what they've learned this year A reconfigured tuition bill stating what is owed back to families that details number of school days needed to complete the year elsewhere, is included A communication with the the tuition insurance company, is on the ready A planned communication with the principals of each local public is developed so families can have a thoughtful immediate on-ramp to their next school A letter of apology that assumes full responsibility for the failure is sent A heartfelt and proper closing ceremony with CW present in person is scheduled A similar packet is made for each faculty member with reference letters and testimonials from parents, and a clear statement of what salary is currently owed, which benefits will be extended A phone call from HOS is made to every single family. The Same with the faculty/admins. Own it, close it, and exit with class and sincere appreciation/celebration for what worked. OR Scenario B The search for the needle in a haystack look-the-other-way-and hold-my-nose investor continues Press explodes with stories-some accurate--many not More bank accounts not previously disclosed get locked and garnished Faculty blow up and leave angry in no predictable order with no notice DCRA shows up and closes the place down for code violations, infestation, payments due. Keith Racine opens an investigation and blasts it over the local papers As the building sells, chaos emerges over what happens next and who the new owner is Frau Dulent-Lee gets a twitter account and becomes a meme Manny Rivera goes silent Confidential communications and financial statements get leaked Parents point fingers at each other claiming they were duped about false funding prospects Students and faculty internalize a deep sense of institutional shame and failure Which closing scenario would you pick ? Is there a grown-up in the room? |
Anonymous
| Well put PP. Sadly, it is all too evident which path Whittle, his cronies and enablers are choosing |
Anonymous
Oh -- and so the fiscal is probably the very cryptically listed "Board Members." .... the no-photo people who are named in small type after a weird, subhead that comes right after the "Global Advisory Board." So when you're reading you can't tell whether it's more members of that board or members of some different Board That Has No Name..... Notable, I'd say, that a name like "Board of Directors" never appears. "Directors" would suggest that these people have been the authority to provide some direction. But Whittle never seems to have been a fan of that. This unnamed board with its small-type members lists these people - - Xihong Deng, managing director of Hony Capital Thomas Franco, partner in private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Benson Lu, managing director of I.C.B.C. International Michael Moe, CEO of G.S.V. Asset Management Janice Want, executive director of Golden Eagle Retail Group John Wang, CEO of WTT Investment Ltd. David Yeung, managing director of Starcrest Capital Yuan Bing, managing director of Hony Capital And finally, Mike Stakias, CEO of private-equity firm Liberty Partners -- This one baffles me because Liberty Partners has been hooked up with CW since back in the Edison days and reportedly has been on the losing side of his deals more than once. Here's some of what Class Clowns had to say about Liberty Partners some years ago.....This section starts in the Edison days and suggests that this group, at least a while ago, had no concerns at all about screwing over teachers: - 'Who was Liberty Partners and what were they thinking? The fund had been created in 1992 by former Merrill Lynch buyout group executives to specialize in so-called middle market investments. What made the fund unusual was that the entire fund was financed by the Florida pension funds. Although this arrangement avoided the expense of fundraising and managing diverse limited partners in the fund, according to an independent firm hired by the state to review overall performance by Liberty, fees charged were actually higher than typical while returns were “unequivocally unacceptable” and contained “far too much risk for the returns involved.” At the time of the buyout, Florida teachers were horrified to learn that their pension funds were being used to back Whittle. 'Conversations with those familiar with Liberty decision making at the time say they were genuinely influenced by the “mission orientation” of the enterprise. What is harder to understand, however, is how the same firm, having lost money in such a venture, would then back Whittle in entirely new ones.' 'One theory relates to the idiosyncratic structure of the arrangement between Liberty and Florida. Liberty Liberty received numerous fees above the traditional management fees for sitting on boards and making investments but “paid no penalty” for money-losing investments. Furthermore, rather than returning any cash from harvested investments, as would be typical, “Liberty’s profits were recycled into the fund, guaranteeing the managers a continuous investment stream."' Makes you wonder if that might be more than a theory. And, if so, how many deals like that were and are involved. |
Anonymous
|
Mike Stakias ( probably "Jr") was one of the first employees--since 2015 with Whittle......and claims on his Linkedin to be responsible for closing series A and B rounds of financing for the venture...so maybe that's part of your answer PP..
|