Springbrook HS Staff Letter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never said I worked there. I’m sure that if it were a white man acting the same way, no one would care. But as you stated, it’s only a group of white teachers targeting a Black female leader because their feelings are hurt. Of course, there will always be a negative narrative about the school. It’s unfortunate that these white teachers are upset simply because a Black leader is holding them accountable for ensuring that Black and Brown students have the same opportunities and advantages as their white peers. How ironic — this group of teachers wants to attack anyone who supports Valentine, yet they expect everyone else to offer them unwavering support.

Finally, someone said it.

[Anonymous]

Valentine’s flunkies are trying to weaponize race to shield her from valid criticism. There are PLENTY of Black people in the Springbrook community who find Valentine to be a bully and abusive. Cut the crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems there are a lot of rumors and assumptions circulating. It’s important to note that not everyone at Springbrook agrees with the letter. While it represents a group of teachers, it does not reflect the views of all teachers.

I believe cultural differences and misunderstandings are at play. Yes, she is flawed—like all people—but everyone deserves the opportunity for redemption. Now that their voices have been heard, she should be given the chance to address the concerns and make the necessary changes.

Just as teachers are placed on improvement plans, she should be given a plan to develop her leadership skills. While her tactics may not work for everyone, data shows some positive outcomes: there are fewer students in the hallways, graduation rates have improved, and she has created opportunities for educators who might have otherwise been overlooked.

Principal evaluations are a joke. Remember that Joel Beidleman had excellent evaluations cited for his promotion to Paint Branch. What do you think evaluations measure?

This is what MCPS uses to evaluate principals:
https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/forms/pdf/430-69.pdf

It's basically "cherry-pick a time they did something correctly and write a paragraph about it". Climate for staff has been historically ignored. Bring up staff retention at a school as a data point and you'll here blabbering from any MCPS official about why it's not valid or worth looking at. School climate surveys? Always some excuse as to why the answer is never inside the building.

I'm not going to pretend that there are any fully comprehensive evaluations for any staff in our building, but it is insane that there are so many cultural issues and it takes the news reporting on serial sexual harrassment to have an impact on a single one. The bar is too low for a job that starts a 130k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no affiliation with Springbrook HS but everything mentioned in the letter seems so minor. It is as if the principals before were very relaxed and then she comes in and puts rules and practices in place. Observations are a given, it does not matter how many times a year. You can have one every day…. I don’t understand how teachers hate her and then expect a glowing reference from her when they try to leave. Nicknames to students is not unheard of and unless a child stated it made them uncomfortable, then it’s not a big deal. I was expecting her to call people crackers and the n word as a nickname. Transfer out teachers. There is a teacher shortage.

The details in the letter appear to make staff look weak but reflect why it is difficult to get rid of oppressive principals. What principals "are allowed to do" -for example, observe daily and what "best practices" resemble are very different. If staff are being observed excessively but not given supportive, practical feedback, they are most likely being bullied. Structured Discourse is a sound practice. Mandating that 50% of every class implement Structured Discourse where there is no trust, where the curriculum moves too fast for many students and mandated in every subject is NOT pedagogically sound and is more likely something the principal touts in her meetings with HER bosses.

Often,these principals look good on paper but are a nightmare to work with. There must be stronger improvement plans for principals for the well-being of the community. Telling teachers to transfer does nothing for the Spring Brook community and is a sad comment - essentially- ' Save yourself. You owe nothing to nobody.' I hope the person who wrote this comment does not work in public education.

[Anonymous]

No way. White admin would not be successful as bullies, its too slave driveresque. But when black admin rise through the ranks bullying and then get million dollar payouts for playing the race card. We get what we get...Donald Trump. Thanks for playing. GAME Over

[Anonymous]

Also, bully admin use the "improvement plan" as retaliation for reporting crime. It's a conflict of interest that ruins careers if teachers. They have to have blemishes on their record because they wanted to keep students safe meanwhile admin has no consequences when they disregard reports and even worse retaliate against teachers who at times fear for their lives as students have violent outbursts in the class- that we are suppose to ignore or we get a bad review or lise our job. It's a conflict of interest.

[Anonymous]

I can confirm. I am a survivor of her bullying and reported to union and Central office, heard "crickets."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can confirm. I am a survivor of her bullying and reported to union and Central office, heard "crickets."

Just unbelievable! Did you file an administrative complaint?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never said I worked there. I’m sure that if it were a white man acting the same way, no one would care. But as you stated, it’s only a group of white teachers targeting a Black female leader because their feelings are hurt. Of course, there will always be a negative narrative about the school. It’s unfortunate that these white teachers are upset simply because a Black leader is holding them accountable for ensuring that Black and Brown students have the same opportunities and advantages as their white peers. How ironic — this group of teachers wants to attack anyone who supports Valentine, yet they expect everyone else to offer them unwavering support.

DP…
But if you don’t work there, how would you know anything about the working conditions in the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Valentine’s flunkies are trying to weaponize race to shield her from valid criticism. There are PLENTY of Black people in the Springbrook community who find Valentine to be a bully and abusive. Cut the crap.

Translation: How dare a black woman tells us what to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17
18
To MCPS Admin, Board of Education members, SBHS Admin & Management team, MCEA RE: Leadership Issues at Springbrook High School
We are a small collaborative group of teachers at Springbrook who have written and revised this letter together throughout the past 5 months. We believe we represent the large majority of staff. We deliver this information like this because we fear and have all seen retaliation from Stephanie Valentine over the years she has been the Principal at SBHS.
We hope this important, serious and time-sensitive message finds you well. This letter is to bring to your attention the very harmful workplace culture at Springbrook High School that has been fostered under the leadership of Principal Stephanie Valentine. Over time, a pattern of bullying, intimidation, and unprofessional behavior has developed, creating a toxic work environment that significantly affects the morale and well-being of the staff. We are reaching out in hopes that you can provide support in addressing these issues. Some of the key concerns we want to include:
1. Aggressive Communication and Bullying: Principal Valentine frequently uses a negative and aggressive tone when addressing staff. This aggressive communication was common over the walkie-talkies that could be heard by many staff, students, and families in the building. When comments were made to her about this, she took walkie talkies away from many on the leadership team. Her tone exacerbates stress and anxiety among staff.
2. Retaliation Against Staff: There have been numerous instances where teachers who have spoken out against decisions made by Principal Valentine are subjected to excessive scrutiny.
Observations in classrooms and meetings are used as tools of retaliation, creating an atmosphere of fear where staff are reluctant to voice concerns or offer constructive feedback. She uses the evaluation process to prevent and control staff ability to transfer out of the worksite to a more positive work environment. For example, she will not return requests for references to other jobs or not "allow" or support some staff she feels are "essential" to her team to interview for new positions at different sites. Several times over her time here she has directed her Administration team to formally and informally observe people who have spoken out against her- often these people are NOT in an evaluation year. She has also changed teachers assignments at the end of the school year for those who have spoken out against her.
3. Abuse of Power: Principal Valentine often makes school-wide decisions unilaterally, without consulting the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) or considering the input of those who are directly affected. During the 2024-25 school year Principal Valentine has ignored ILT agenda item requests and made unilateral decisions in changing the master schedule to have restrictive
"interdisciplinary pairs" of English and social studies classes that have significantly impacted the way teachers teach and students' ability to access elective and CTE pathway courses, among other serious issues.
4. Inappropriate and Derogatory Nicknames: Principal Valentine's use of inappropriate nicknames for both staff and students is also troubling. For example, Principal Valentine has referred to staff members as "babyface" and to students as "cookie monster" or "trouble" and has even referred to herself as "Mommy and Daddy" in front of staff. These nicknames are patronizing, unprofessional and demeaning, and they contribute to an atmosphere of disrespect. Additionally, she refuses to call staff and students by their preferred names and/or pronouns and has purposefully outed students to their families, further undermining their dignity.
5. Micromanagement and Excessive Documentation: There is an overwhelming amount of repetitive, additional documentation being requested of staff. Teachers this year have been asked to document an exorbitant amount of data regarding student grades, interventions, and strategies in multiple locations (spreadsheets, communication logs, and in PLC notes). This not only creates an unsustainable workload but also takes valuable time away from meaningful planning, teaching and engagement with the students.
6. PLCs & SLOs: This year she has become fixated on ALL staff including "structured student discourse" in our planning and instruction to the point that it was a MANDATED topic objective on
ALL STAFF SLOs. Select Teachers are subjected to micromanagement via "target" PLCS which are observed by the entire administration team regularly (sometimes up to 10 people) with follow up observations the following day to document what is "actually" taught. Also, she has mandated that 50% of ALL instruction in ALL CLASSES be dedicated to "structured student discourse". It is impossible to do this daily in some classes such as PE or Math. It is also impossible to cover State and County mandated objectives and standards in addition to this 50% "structured student discourse" mandate. We suspect she is collecting our data for a personal dissertation or research project of some kind. We would appreciate it if you could look into this.
Lack of Clear Communication: While working under Principal Valentine's leadership there is a lack of clear and consistent communication. Decisions are often made without prior notice or explanation, leaving staff confused and unsure of expectations. Meeting dates are often added to calendars or changed with little to no notice.
8. Undocumented suspensions according to MCPS policy: Inconsistent transparency for student discipline & related staff communication. Ms. Valentine has been known to suspend students verbally, use the suspension as a threat to the student- and then excuse or not document the suspension at all.
9. The 2023-2024 School-Based Staff Climate Survey for Springbrook High School, as compared to all MCPS High Schools, has 22 of 33 areas of possible improvement and no areas of school strength.
a. Two relevant questions were question 14, "Overall, how positive is the working environment at your school?" and question 16,
"How positive is the tone that school leaders set for the
culture of the school?" The results from these questions dropped more than 20% from the year prior. These results demonstrate the effect Principal Valentine has created on the school's climate and culture.
We believe these issues, if left unaddressed, will continue to have a very negative impact on the working conditions at Springbrook High School. Staff members (and some students) are feeling unsafe, demoralized, undervalued, and trapped in an environment where our attempts at professionalism and collaborative discourse are met with punishment rather than support or collaboration. People are literally terrified to sign a letter like this and that is why it is being sent anonymously.

We respectfully request that you assist or that the Office of School Support and Improvement intervene address these concerns.
Thank you for your attention to these critical issues.
March 11, 2025

I have no idea if it's true but the order of their grievances makes them look petty. Next time please get someone to help you with a letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Valentine’s flunkies are trying to weaponize race to shield her from valid criticism. There are PLENTY of Black people in the Springbrook community who find Valentine to be a bully and abusive. Cut the crap.

Translation: How dare a black woman tells us what to do.

So pathetic. Nice try at race baiting but it’s not going to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Valentine’s flunkies are trying to weaponize race to shield her from valid criticism. There are PLENTY of Black people in the Springbrook community who find Valentine to be a bully and abusive. Cut the crap.

Translation: How dare a black woman tells us what to do.

Way to deflect from a real issue. Black, white, or purple doesn’t give anyone the right to bully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17
18
To MCPS Admin, Board of Education members, SBHS Admin & Management team, MCEA RE: Leadership Issues at Springbrook High School

I have no idea if it's true but the order of their grievances makes them look petty. Next time please get someone to help you with a letter.

DP. How about mcps pays them a little more $ so they can "get someone to help" them "with a letter."?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at Springbrook, and am aware of the letter but do not have a copy. The morale of the staff is abysmal, with constant micromanaging by the principal and her assistants. Armed with her two years of teaching art, it is laughable when she tries to dictate pedagogy to content areas. She shuts down and silences students who question administration. Any bad publicity is covered up, from fighting and vaping, to mold in classrooms, to the three teachers dismissed in the last calendar year for inappropriate interactions with children. We have contacted the union for support, but we just get told to be patient and follow the process. Please, parents: complain. Complain about everything you don’t like, and send it to the superintendent, the Board of Ed, and probably the media at this point.

She is not the only MCPS HS principal who does this. It appears to be the playbook for all of them.

This is going on in a lot of high schools. The staff who speak out are dismissed by administrators as being negative. Principals especially seem only worried about their positions, the appearance of greatness, and fudging graduation rates. There is a huge failure to hold students accountable, clean up the mess going on, or keep people safe (passing students who never show up -- except maybe to sell drugs - there is Fentanyl in schools!!!!, allowing for "credit recovery" which really means that parents or someone else can do minimal "work"/assignments on the students behalf in an online platform outside of school with no supervision to "earn" credits for failed classes, there are 18-21 year old students in schools but year after year failing to make progress toward graduation, but wait - then they are suddenly promoted so that the data looks good, leadership funnels an exorbitant amount of resources to select populations, dismissing data that shows anything negative, bullying teachers into passing students, and on an on.) It's hard to believe them when they profess to "care" about students when you see the inner workings and decision-making. Is anyone trying to improve things for ALL of our children or consider the long term impact of graduating students ill-prepared for the world? The county has lost focus and there are a lot of us who feel helpless yet do the best we can in some pretty toxic environments.