Thoughts on the new Churchill principal?

[Anonymous]

Is there a rescheduled PTA meeting on the books soon?

[Anonymous]

The announcement below is from the last PTSA email I received. I believe this is the regular October PTSA meeting date. It would be great for Mrs. Heckert to attend this meeting to hear directly from parents but it is unclear from the announcement that she is scheduled to attend. Previously, she was scheduled to attend the September meeting but that meeting was cancelled.

October 17 is our PTSA Meeting at 6:45 pm - Guest Speaker – Dr. Peter Moran, Director of Learning, Achievement, and Administration, Albert Einstein, Richard Montgomery, Winston Churchill Clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Current athletes need to be educated as to what is considered appropriate and inappropriate standards of conduct for coaches. The damage is deep on some of the large coed teams at Churchill. Many students may need counseling services. Confidential investigations as to coaching conduct should be done on every team at the school to gage where help is needed. Ultimately, the previous school administration let this environment propagate and cleaning house is necessary to fix the situation.

I hope this gets addressed. I've told my child that s/he can't try out for track or cross country because of what I've heard.

Thus far, Heckert isn't doing anything to improve the climate in the school athletic programs. No new initiatives to focus on respect and safety of athletes. No new coaches. No message that past behavior by coaches will not be tolerated.

Perhaps she can address parents at the Winter Athletic parent meeting to say how she is using her leadership to move athletics in a positive direction. Something needs to be done. Ignoring problems is what the past principal did and children were hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Current athletes need to be educated as to what is considered appropriate and inappropriate standards of conduct for coaches. The damage is deep on some of the large coed teams at Churchill. Many students may need counseling services. Confidential investigations as to coaching conduct should be done on every team at the school to gage where help is needed. Ultimately, the previous school administration let this environment propagate and cleaning house is necessary to fix the situation.

I hope this gets addressed. I've told my child that s/he can't try out for track or cross country because of what I've heard.

Thus far, Heckert isn't doing anything to improve the climate in the school athletic programs. No new initiatives to focus on respect and safety of athletes. No new coaches. No message that past behavior by coaches will not be tolerated.

Perhaps she can address parents at the Winter Athletic parent meeting to say how she is using her leadership to move athletics in a positive direction. Something needs to be done. Ignoring problems is what the past principal did and children were hurt.

She really does need to address parents since this is such a public issue. But we have no idea if she has said something to coaches, initiated different policies/procedures internally, etc. This is something that would not be visible to the outside. The only thing we will see is if inappropriate behavior stops (or not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Current athletes need to be educated as to what is considered appropriate and inappropriate standards of conduct for coaches. The damage is deep on some of the large coed teams at Churchill. Many students may need counseling services. Confidential investigations as to coaching conduct should be done on every team at the school to gage where help is needed. Ultimately, the previous school administration let this environment propagate and cleaning house is necessary to fix the situation.

I hope this gets addressed. I've told my child that s/he can't try out for track or cross country because of what I've heard.

Thus far, Heckert isn't doing anything to improve the climate in the school athletic programs. No new initiatives to focus on respect and safety of athletes. No new coaches. No message that past behavior by coaches will not be tolerated.

Perhaps she can address parents at the Winter Athletic parent meeting to say how she is using her leadership to move athletics in a positive direction. Something needs to be done. Ignoring problems is what the past principal did and children were hurt.

Coaches are told in the spring before the end of the school year whether or not they are coaching for the following year. This would mean that the current Athletic Director would be responsible for rehiring all the current coaches for 2018-2019.

[Anonymous]

Coaches are hired on a season by season basis. The contract states the contract can be terminated or not renewed for any reason.

What is visible to everyone, especially the athletes who spoke up last year regarding sexual harassment and verbal abuse, the coaches are back. Heckert is principal now and she can't bury her head in the sand on this one. She needs to fix what the AD and last principal failed to fix. It would be a great improvement to hire a new AD that would fix the culture of disrespect on Churchill athletic teams in addition to firing the known offenders.

[Anonymous]

Advertising the vacancies now would allow time for new coaches to be hired, including from staff who teach at Churchill. Teachers actually are supposed to have priority under Maryland law for all coaching positions and teams are not supposed to have more than 50% non-teachers as coaches on a team. Churchill has repeatedly renewed coaching contracts of horrendous people without advertising to see if better candidates are interested. This is one reason Churchill has little female representation in the athletic program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Current athletes need to be educated as to what is considered appropriate and inappropriate standards of conduct for coaches. The damage is deep on some of the large coed teams at Churchill. Many students may need counseling services. Confidential investigations as to coaching conduct should be done on every team at the school to gage where help is needed. Ultimately, the previous school administration let this environment propagate and cleaning house is necessary to fix the situation.

I hope this gets addressed. I've told my child that s/he can't try out for track or cross country because of what I've heard.

Thus far, Heckert isn't doing anything to improve the climate in the school athletic programs. No new initiatives to focus on respect and safety of athletes. No new coaches. No message that past behavior by coaches will not be tolerated.

Perhaps she can address parents at the Winter Athletic parent meeting to say how she is using her leadership to move athletics in a positive direction. Something needs to be done. Ignoring problems is what the past principal did and children were hurt.

Coaches are told in the spring before the end of the school year whether or not they are coaching for the following year. This would mean that the current Athletic Director would be responsible for rehiring all the current coaches for 2018-2019.

Online there are plenty of current athletic vacancies (even at Churchill). Not all contracts are done in the spring and the current contracts should have waited for Mrs. Heckert's approval in July. As principal, she is the one ultimately responsible if her staff doesn't follow the rules of behavior.

Frankly, I am concerned at the continuity that was lost with change in both a principal and director at the same time. Surely both of them can't possibly think that was someone else's hire and then even though I am here now, I am new so I don't know what is going on in my school? That would be a stupid response if more cases continue to come forward.

Wasn't there a case file or something left by the predecessor's to bring the new staff up to speed for ongoing problems? Are Heckert and Moran closely monitoring the coaching situation at Churchill to improve the climate and protect children?

[Anonymous]

Heckert and Moran are like a deer caught in headlights. They are probably thinking "What sh#t show of a school did I inherit?"

A descent person would look in the mirror and ask, "Would I want my child in that class?" or "Would I want my child on that team?"

A political climber will ignore the school and proclaim everything is puppy dogs and unicorns. Still trying to figure out which category Heckert and Moran fit into but thus far they seem to fit in as a proponent of puppy dogs and unicorns. We will see what they come prepared to say on October 17th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Haven't heard any problems from my daughter about her team. What kind of bullying and sexual harassment is going on? It is terrible the school hasn't addressed this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Haven't heard any problems from my daughter about her team. What kind of bullying and sexual harassment is going on? It is terrible the school hasn't addressed this.

Ex. My daughter's experience - a middle age male coach commenting on her appearance including how her shorts or sports bra looked. His offers to drive girls in his car. Sometimes the vulgarity of his language like calling the girls b**ches. Invading a girl's personal space to the point of it being uncomfortable. Girls make a point to NEVER purposely be alone with him and always try to stick together in a group to have each other's back. Girls do not feel comfortable around him.

Not every girl experiences this type of treatment but some are witnesses even if it isn't specific to them. At a minimum, I would support adding a female assistant coach to the team to add a new perspective and eyes to the situation as a precaution for the safety of the girls particularly if the contracts cannot be changed for the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The lack of female representation in the Athletic Department is a more urgent and dangerous problem than traffic. Heckert really needs to roll up her sleeves and fix the long standing patterns of employee misconduct by her current staff. Children have been hurt on athletic teams at Churchill and very little has been done to address the problems of bullying and sexual harassment by coaches on multiple teams.

Current athletes need to be educated as to what is considered appropriate and inappropriate standards of conduct for coaches. The damage is deep on some of the large coed teams at Churchill. Many students may need counseling services. Confidential investigations as to coaching conduct should be done on every team at the school to gage where help is needed. Ultimately, the previous school administration let this environment propagate and cleaning house is necessary to fix the situation.

I hope this gets addressed. I've told my child that s/he can't try out for track or cross country because of what I've heard.

Thus far, Heckert isn't doing anything to improve the climate in the school athletic programs. No new initiatives to focus on respect and safety of athletes. No new coaches. No message that past behavior by coaches will not be tolerated.

Perhaps she can address parents at the Winter Athletic parent meeting to say how she is using her leadership to move athletics in a positive direction. Something needs to be done. Ignoring problems is what the past principal did and children were hurt.

Coaches are told in the spring before the end of the school year whether or not they are coaching for the following year. This would mean that the current Athletic Director would be responsible for rehiring all the current coaches for 2018-2019.

Online there are plenty of current athletic vacancies (even at Churchill). Not all contracts are done in the spring and the current contracts should have waited for Mrs. Heckert's approval in July. As principal, she is the one ultimately responsible if her staff doesn't follow the rules of behavior.

Frankly, I am concerned at the continuity that was lost with change in both a principal and director at the same time. Surely both of them can't possibly think that was someone else's hire and then even though I am here now, I am new so I don't know what is going on in my school? That would be a stupid response if more cases continue to come forward.

Wasn't there a case file or something left by the predecessor's to bring the new staff up to speed for ongoing problems? Are Heckert and Moran closely monitoring the coaching situation at Churchill to improve the climate and protect children?

What Director are you referring to? Jesse Smith is the Athletic Director and was here last year. There are two vacancies at Churchill, JV Baseball and JV Girls Lacrosse. Based on my understanding, Coaches are told in the Spring if there contracts will be renewed. Certainly some will not accept as they either decide to step down from Coaching, or apply for other open positions. Looking at the job postings for Coaches they are from June and from September. Most of the September coaching positions seem to be in the Spring.

Waiting till July would have been difficult for fall coaching.

[Anonymous]

she's talking about the principal's director, not the athletic director. it was jennifer webster and now it's peter moran.

[Anonymous]

greg edmundson is the title IX contact.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't able to go to the Open House. Does anyone have impressions?