Removal of Eaton Principal Steven Eskay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They change principle every year

You don’t sound like you know much.

[Anonymous]

Needs to stop thinking out loud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t his principal announcement have some sketchy wording? I remember it being brought up on DCUM at the time

“teaching the U.S. Constitution to 14–16-year-old brown and black boys, some facing life behind bars”
https://dcps.dc.gov/biography/steven-eskay%C2%A0

I mean, “incarcerated teens” sounds 100% less racist, but that’s just my opinion!

[Anonymous]

Was he fired?

[Anonymous]

Eaton parent here- From what I hear… things were going on all year but seemed quiet because most staff thought his egregious behaviors of racism, sexism, and ableism was only happening to them. Once one person said it aloud a month ago, it was a domino effect. Then everyone started sharing their own stories and piecing together that this was a pattern. One staff member said that it was a lot of “this is happening to you, too?!! I thought it was just me!” … 100% of staff signatures says it all. Good on the staff for standing up against it. I stand behind the teachers 100%

[Anonymous]

Staff at Payne had also reported issues with his competency and interpersonal relationship skills.

[Anonymous]

Kudos to whoever organized the petition. 100% is hard to achieve in almost any circumstances. Good organizing.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, this is what the Hardy teachers meant when they were upset a month ago. Proud of the Eaton teachers for speaking out and thankful they had agency over their choices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, this is what the Hardy teachers meant when they were upset a month ago. Proud of the Eaton teachers for speaking out and thankful they had agency over their choices

Ok. Having kids at both schools at the moment, the Hardy narrative here was we should have given him more time and you’re racist because he’s Black. The Eaton principal has been in residence the same amount of time, but is white, and his removal is being called for by the teachers. In one instance people are being decried, in another praised. I noticed no difference at Eaton as parent this year versus Hardy which was a hot mess. My time went to dealing with Hardy. I give the Eaton teachers a lot of credit for being able to deliver an excellent school year in the face of these allegations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, this is what the Hardy teachers meant when they were upset a month ago. Proud of the Eaton teachers for speaking out and thankful they had agency over their choices

Only teachers have the right to complain about a bad experience? Not students and their families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, this is what the Hardy teachers meant when they were upset a month ago. Proud of the Eaton teachers for speaking out and thankful they had agency over their choices

Ok. Having kids at both schools at the moment, the Hardy narrative here was we should have given him more time and you’re racist because he’s Black. The Eaton principal has been in residence the same amount of time, but is white, and his removal is being called for by the teachers. In one instance people are being decried, in another praised. I noticed no difference at Eaton as parent this year versus Hardy which was a hot mess. My time went to dealing with Hardy. I give the Eaton teachers a lot of credit for being able to deliver an excellent school year in the face of these allegations.

This is my take away. Most parents had no idea what the teachers were going through. That the parents were so blindsided by the letter and the 100% agreement of the teachers shows the professionalism they were able to maintain and the focus they had on the kids. Eaton is an amazing school and I hope we, as a community can come together, to keep it amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Are you surprised that I knew it was you?" when confronting a staff member who had filed a specific grievance; Stating. "Yeah. I have connections." when discussing how he caused that specific grievance to be delayed- April 27. 2023

Emphasizing for anyone questioning why the teachers were quiet. This guy was clearly protected by DCPS admin, and thought he could get away with this behaviour.

I seriously feel for the educators just trying to do their job while being bullied by this creep.

[Anonymous]

Teacher (not Eaton) here. I don’t condone any of the behavior described here. Overall, it is REALLY tough to be a DCPS principal these days. I wouldn’t do it for any amount of money! If you fail to do everything exactly by the book you risk legal jeopardy. But if you do everything y the book you face the wrath of some parents and teachers (e.g. - and this is an imaginary example- if policy requires indoor recess when there is a storm watch but skies are actually 100% blue, you keep students indoors and get 20 calls from angry parents and frustrated teachers and students, or if policy requires you to not restrain a violent student and that student attacks another child, or if policy states you must have 3 adults in a given situation but you literally do not have enough adults in the building to cover every room…). A wrong step in each of these situations can put you in legal or professional jeopardy. The stakes are very high and there are so many stakeholders to please and satisfy. You have to be tough as nails and willing to be criticized by all parties when you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

[Anonymous]

Why are parents on this thread praising the ‘professionalism’ of teachers who tolerated abuse? Would you say your kids were ‘professional’ when they stayed in a toxic work environment. Is being ‘professional’ having no respect for yourself.
If the environment was as bad as they claim- it’s not professionalism that made them meek. It’s fear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are parents on this thread praising the ‘professionalism’ of teachers who tolerated abuse? Would you say your kids were ‘professional’ when they stayed in a toxic work environment. Is being ‘professional’ having no respect for yourself.
If the environment was as bad as they claim- it’s not professionalism that made them meek. It’s fear.

I’m a pp who praised their professionalism. I praise them because despite whatever was happening with their principal, their priority was the kids. The toxicity didn’t bleed into their classrooms (as far as we know). They did their jobs and tried to find solutions to the problem. In the end, they banded together to go public and demand the removal of the source of the toxicity. That doesn’t seem meek to me.

You are certainly entitled to believe they should have done things differently but I see professionals who were committed to serving the kids. Now I don’t think they are perfect. I have quibbles with them (individually and collectively) for unrelated reasons but I stand by my praise for them.