Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite part is that, when it all comes crashing down in a few months, CW will try to paint himself as a victim. "I tried to hard to raise the money for our school, but THEY didn't believe." Will take zero responsibility for mismanaging it into the ground.

CW is already doing that and having his stooges on the Parent (No)Capital (No)Strategy Committee parroting the lines... "Chris has sacrificed so much for the school". The truth is he played a dangerous game of three card monte and chicken combined but in the end ended up as the patsy.

Unlike the PP, I don't think he completely believes his own BS. But he inhales enough of it to at least pass the plausible deniability test..

[Anonymous]

Whittle is on barrowed time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whittle is on barrowed time.

Borrowed

[Anonymous]

Are there any parents who are currently at the school who can tell us about the quality of the education this year and/or last?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Of course they think that. The classism and utter privilege these folks exhibit is disgusting! They’d rather pay out the wazoo to send their kids to a Wild West traveling salesman that have their kids mix with the “poors” (who may not actually be poor). Wilson High has a hell of a lot of problems, but teachers are getting paid and not fleeing en masse (any more than any other school these days, anyway). But it’s not shiny and “innovative”

Whittle parents wanted a disruptor and by god they got one!

I think that’s a misread. My belief is that most of the Whittle students were from families who wanted something better from their kids but did not have the money to send to a major private. Whittle discounted tuition dramatically making it an option - and maybe the only affordable option - for lots of families. This was not the typical DCUM family that neurotically applied to 28 schools trying to convince others that St. Bullshit was really a Big 3.

Said differently, there are lots of people who don’t obsess over which school is the prettiest handbag that the can flex at their next cocktail party. That doesn’t mean they deserve to get screwed by a schemer or that they don’t love their children.

Of course the kids don’t deserve that but the original comment was that private schools should chip in and help Whittle out. Hard pass. There is absolutely zero reason why that should ever happen. That’s where the vitriol was coming from, I imagine. Sure that comment may have been off regarding the attitudes and intentions of Whittle parents (any sweeping by generalization usually is), but to have one suggest that anyone else should help dig them out of this hole is inane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

A professional needs to step in and wind this down in an orderly way before further damage occurs

[Anonymous]

Second payroll due date for February is tomorrow, so the teachers are about to go a full month without pay… Apparently you didn't just need to be affluent to attend the school, you also needed to be affluent to afford to teach at it…

This is truly disgraceful. And as long as CW is allowed to remain in charge, there is no chance of an orderly or dignified wind down

[Anonymous]

Please Whittle, chose Scenario A. It is the right thing to do for the families.

Just a piece of advice....you might want to request them now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please Whittle, chose Scenario A. It is the right thing to do for the families.

Just a piece of advice....you might want to request them now.

Too late. When they tried to reopen this semester, despite not having a plan to pay the teachers, they chose Scenario B.

[Anonymous]

The parents are really mad at DCUM. It keeps coming up in conversations and on the school chat. We got an update today and one of the parents ask that we not post on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents are really mad at DCUM. It keeps coming up in conversations and on the school chat. We got an update today and one of the parents ask that we not post on DCUM.

Misdirected anger. Why are people reading it?

[Anonymous]

If parents not willing to post an update, whatever happened must not be positive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents are really mad at DCUM. It keeps coming up in conversations and on the school chat. We got an update today and one of the parents ask that we not post on DCUM.

Because they're embarassed?

What was the update?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If parents not willing to post an update, whatever happened must not be positive.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whittle is on barrowed time.

Borrowed

Yeah, that’s right.