Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

Unemployment helps the teachers pay their bills.

Why is helping Whittle students avoid public school any more my responsibility than helping any other students in currently in public school who would prefer private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

Unemployment helps the teachers pay their bills.

Why is helping Whittle students avoid public school any more my responsibility than helping any other students in currently in public school who would prefer private school?

This. What makes Whittle students so special that other schools should dip into their endowments just so they can avoid public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

This may come across as unsympathetic (or even cold and uncaring), but the questions I am more interested in asking remaining Whittle parents are:

1. Why did you sign up for the '21-'22 year despite all the warning signs? The email from the GEMS administrators that was shared on this forum before the end of the last school year was eerily prescient in noting that Whittle's finances were not as GEMS had been led to believe.
2. Why didn't you take decisive action and look for alternatives like several of your peers did after the December email from CW that was a shocking indictment of the state of the school and its finances?
3. Even if you failed to act above, why wasn't the failure of the school to make payroll for the entire month of February enough to galvanize you into action to do something?

CW is a charlatan - I think we can all agree on that. But those that have stuck around despite the 5 alarm blaze raging around them really can't act completely surprised

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

I have read through 110 or whatever pages of this with zero responses but this comment is RIDICULOUS. Why would be be on other schools to save this one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

Sorry, but no. These kids didn't HAVE to go to Whittle. They could have gone to DCPS. For free. You really think that would have been worse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

On top of all the other responses about why this idea is a non-starter, I'm pretty sure that any independent school board that did this would be violating its fiduciary duty to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

On top of all the other responses about why this idea is a non-starter, I'm pretty sure that any independent school board that did this would be violating its fiduciary duty to the school.

Yeah, no school is going to throw their good money into a sinking ship. Sorry. The best schools could do is open up a mid-year seat or two for kids who meet their admissions criteria. I'm sure there are some who are willing to do this but Whittle parents need to call around to find that out. I'm also sure that these schools, many of whom are in need of subs, would be happy to help Whittle teachers fill the gap with sub jobs between now and when they can find a permanent job for next school year. But there's also public school, online school or home school for the rest of this year. I truly feel for the Whittle families, but while they many not be ideal, they do have options for the rest of the year, and hopefully their parents have already applied them to other schools for September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

On top of all the other responses about why this idea is a non-starter, I'm pretty sure that any independent school board that did this would be violating its fiduciary duty to the school.

Yeah, no school is going to throw their good money into a sinking ship. Sorry. The best schools could do is open up a mid-year seat or two for kids who meet their admissions criteria. I'm sure there are some who are willing to do this but Whittle parents need to call around to find that out. I'm also sure that these schools, many of whom are in need of subs, would be happy to help Whittle teachers fill the gap with sub jobs between now and when they can find a permanent job for next school year. But there's also public school, online school or home school for the rest of this year. I truly feel for the Whittle families, but while they many not be ideal, they do have options for the rest of the year, and hopefully their parents have already applied them to other schools for September.

This. I hope that if students applied for next year and are accepted, a school would consider letting them start right away instead of waiting until fall.

[Anonymous]

Unless the coursework is comparable (like an AP class or an established level of math and science) bringing students into a new school this late could be very problematic. They won't be in any position to take final exams if they haven't covered the required topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

Why would other private schools do this? What about unemployment? Or a civil suit against Whittle himself for fraud.

How is unemployment going to help these kids finish out the school year?

Ask your own kids, do they think it's the right thing to help the Whittle kids out? If they don't say yes, you've got some cold, uncaring children.

I'm sure if you were in that situation, you wouldn't want to upend their lives when we're just a few months till the end of the semester. Show some compassion.

On top of all the other responses about why this idea is a non-starter, I'm pretty sure that any independent school board that did this would be violating its fiduciary duty to the school.

Yeah, no school is going to throw their good money into a sinking ship. Sorry. The best schools could do is open up a mid-year seat or two for kids who meet their admissions criteria. I'm sure there are some who are willing to do this but Whittle parents need to call around to find that out. I'm also sure that these schools, many of whom are in need of subs, would be happy to help Whittle teachers fill the gap with sub jobs between now and when they can find a permanent job for next school year. But there's also public school, online school or home school for the rest of this year. I truly feel for the Whittle families, but while they many not be ideal, they do have options for the rest of the year, and hopefully their parents have already applied them to other schools for September.

This. I hope that if students applied for next year and are accepted, a school would consider letting them start right away instead of waiting until fall.

Given the huge gaps in learning the Whittle students have faced this year, especially because of subpar or unqualified teachers, a lack of learning resources, etc., I would not be surprised if most of them have to repeat a year when they transfer.

[Anonymous]

When do we predict that Whittle will shut its doors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When do we predict that Whittle will shut its doors?

Not until Chris Whittle is dragged kicking and screaming from the property. And even then he will be insisting that the money is just around the corner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

My children’s private school had better not involve themselves (or my tuition/annual fund donations) in this Whittle clusterflick!

+1. I pay enough to a well managed school and what I can to the annual fund which was well stewarded for years. That money is to help grow the student body at the school our family is invested in socially and monetarily NOT subsidize a corporate educator's mismanagement. What a ridiculous ask. If possible, local privates should hire Whittle teachers to there own staffs and consider admitting students though that may be difficult if the students are behind and the remaining teachers inexperienced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a skeleton crew at this point. The local private school community (with enormous endowments) should band together and provide minimal funding to keep the teachers paid through end of semester. ZERO dollars going to Chris, admin staff at reduced wages, teachers full if possible. It is the right thing to do for the students and families. A lifeline. When the school year ends, prepare transcripts and letters of recommendation as needed, and shut this embarrassment down.

This is a positively Whittlesque suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Civil suit would be helpful if CW were not indebted to the tune of eight figures with apparently no assets besides his equity in the school

I'm surprised no one has picked up on this - this is very accurate from all accounts. In fact his personal debts may be closer to 9 figures and with the loss of his house in the Hamptons he has nothing tangible to show as collateral. The equity in the school is his only remaining "asset" which is probably why he continues to insist that all is well. The day the school closes also looks to be a day of reckoning for CW personally. Can't say there will be any sympathy