BASIS attrition after middle school- why?
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Anonymous
| He's a controlling and insecure egomaniac without being a serious person. Not a good, astute, brave or mature leader. He's peppy and cheery without substance, can't make difficult decisions. He loves to reassure parents that nothing's wrong, that everything's in hand, to paper over deepening problems requiring urgent attention. He's not all bad, has improved ECs, has made some good hiring decisions and has bolstered high school retention overall (but not in time for the current senior group of around 40). From my perspective, it's unwise to trust him, respect him or believe in him. In a nutshell, if you're in a position to move on to a HS with capable leadership, you leave. |
Anonymous
| Accurate. BASIS wouldn’t have lost us with a better head. |
Anonymous
Agree with all of this, except that the extracurriculars are still very weak. I find him to be the worst kind of coward. He lies because he can’t handle confrontation or difficult decisions. I can respect someone who is a straight shooter, even if I don’t agree with their ultimate decision making. But it’s very frustrating to be dealing with someone who is both extremely disingenuous and a poor decision maker. There are just no leadership skills there. |
Anonymous
My favorite is at EVERY town hall or small meeting he finds a way to get out of answering a difficult question by say "It's a legal thing" You would think congress had approval in the school running |
Anonymous
This 100%. Apart from being a moral and intellectual weakling, he's awfully slick. Maddening how he stops at pretending to want parent input in decision-making, even where parents could provide valuable insight and grounded, constructive suggestions. I didn't grasp what a lousy leader he is until 7th grade. We couldn't wait to leave for high school. |
Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
I haven't had issues with him, but then again my kids have done well and we generally don't have any unmet needs at Basis. I have a senior that's graduating this year, and his high school experience has been great. That being said, I'd caution against drawing conclusions based on a few anonymous posters. After, people that are generally happy aren't going onto DCUM to complain. |
Anonymous
| If only it were just a few anonymous posters. Since this is your 8th year at BASIS, you know full well that a sizeable group of parents has been organizing and pushing back in a big way in the last couple years, particularly in regard to the hiring of unqualified and inexperienced MS teachers. They attend board meetings and make noise. Your kids don't have any unmet needs? Give us a break. What kind of colleges are you shooting for? What have your kids done for extra-curriculars? Not buying that it's all been kittens and roses for your family. We a stupid amount for music and sports outside the school and hire a private college counselor. All the BASIS counselor seems to do is tell my capable eldest to take more AP exams by spring of jr. year and that he has no shot at being admitted to colleges he's interested in attending. |
Anonymous
| I haven't had issues with him and my kids have also done well. But he's still a crappy principal that needs to go. |
Anonymous
Yes, I'm aware there there is a number of parents that have attempted to organize and "push back" (whatever that means in this context). I've heard, through my kids, about various issues with teachers, and I'm aware of the teacher retention problems - especially during covid. My kids do sports in-school, and outside of school, along with other ECs (the usual ones), and they are targeting a range of schools in T25 and a handful of safeties (with a handful of acceptances already). As for college counseling - understand that they will likely give you a target list that you many not like. If you haven't noticed, college acceptance is far more competitive than in years past and I'm assuming that the counselors are merely setting expectations. If you don't like what you're hearing, you don't have to listen - they aren't going to stop you from applying. |
Anonymous
Hasn't this guy been there for only like 3 or 4 years? Half of which was during the cluster that was COVID? There are some weak teachers at BASIS but take a moment and read DCUM and talk to friends outside of DC. Teachers are fleeing the professional and hiring is hard all around. Do you think there are no weak teachers in other schools? Seems like someone would have to be a kind of a self-centered jerk to think teacher retention and hiring was all about their kid and their school? Are you angry that the college counselors didn't tell you what you wanted to hear Do you think they are wrong? Are you mad that they may be right and you blame BASIS? |
Anonymous
Not the PP you are responding to. The teacher retention problems that all schools are facing are compounded by the HOS’s lack of leadership skills. He is making a difficult situation worse. |
Anonymous
| Agree with the above post. We wouldn't have stayed for HS for our eldest if we'd figured out what kind of manager the HoS is earlier on. Our 8th grader wants out; we're casting a wide net in search of a better option. We have zero confidence in the HoS and his guidance counselors (and not because they don't tell us what we want to hear). The narrow BASIS focus on kids scoring high on AP to shine in college admissions is out of date here in 2024. The HoS is an arrogant jerk who doesn't get it. He seems to go out of his way to alienate some of his most capable and experienced teachers. No question at all. |
Anonymous
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What can be done when there is a weak leader at a charter school? In DCPS the principals are being watched by their instructional superintendent, and assessed on various markers (teacher retention is a big one).
What's the process for formally assessing a HOS at a place like BASIS? |
Anonymous
| Nothing can be done. Corporate BASIS AZ HQ decides who runs BASIS DC, period. The DC Public Charter School Board has much bigger fish to fry than pressuring high-performing BASIS to ditch a HoS who hasn't broken DC law or to stabilize the school's leadership for that matter. That's why BASIS could burn through at least eight heads in their first decade in DC without pushback from the DCPCSB. BASIS DC parents are given surveys by the franchise annually to weigh in with opinions/concerns. My strong impression is that DC parent concerns are irrelevant to the DCPSCB, the Mayor's Office and top brass in faraway AZ. The DC public school system as a whole is much too fraught for BASIS to need to change a thing. |