SSFS HOS leaving

[Anonymous]

You are right..it won’t be stable for a while..thanks for that perspective

[Anonymous]

Even it’s it bumpy better to start none then let him drag the school down further. I applaud the board for taking this courageous step.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How sad. I liked him. He was an inspirational speaker with great vision.

Maybe you saw him speak at a few public engagements and thought he was good. Yes. Great speaker. But an even greater spinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew he would not last after publishing a letter or article stating he was being racially profiled by a teenage who was a summer camp counselor who approached him in his car on his first day of work at SSFS.

By a 16 year old counselor who was following camp policy of asking visitors what their deal was.

This happened recently?

[Anonymous]

current family- relieved the board finally made this decision; best for the school in the long run; wondering if any who staff who resigned will return in the future

[Anonymous]

New family here feeling some serious whiplash. Please tell me it’s going to be ok?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New family here feeling some serious whiplash. Please tell me it’s going to be ok?

Well that’s a tough one. In the short term it’s not going to be easy. Rodney’s leaving a mess. In the long run, Rodney leaving can only make things better. Hopefully you have time to ride this through to see better times. Or maybe if you have an option look at alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New family here feeling some serious whiplash. Please tell me it’s going to be ok?

If you’re a new high schooler I would seriously consider other options. US was already a mess and this isn’t going to make it any better. Even if you lose some money for your kids sake, a different school would be better. It’s going to take a few years to fix all the issues. Come back later when things are better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This gives me hope for ssfs. Rodney never had ssfs interests at heart. He was a bully, mismanaged money, never gave a straight answer to any of the schools staffing or financial problems. He was the cause of everything that’s gone downhill at the school in the last few years. He ran his own business in the side, using his position at ssfs for his business’ benefit. Families have been withdrawing all spring. It is extremely fortunate that the board took this step. They can now focus on recovering the school even if the damage Rodney has done takes years to fix. This has nothing to do with race or gender though it wouldn’t surprise me if he plays that card. Any parent who has paid any attention the last few years saw his sheer incompetence in action. He deserved to be gone before this, but happy to see it finally happen. Best of luck to the school, they deserve much better than this fraud.

We have our kids at a similar school that took this step in 2021. In case anyone from the SSFS board is up late on DCUM, it's going to be a long climb out. Our enrollment is still recovering and our finances will take a while to stabilize from the carelessness of our former HOS and his lackeys who covered for him.

We had an interim head for a year and are going into year 3 of our new head. I would NOT hire a local or internal interim head (which is what we did). Contact a HOS placement firm that provides interim Head services- they give you someone who is typically a recently retired HOS and they have seen it all and can handle the weird year you're going to experience.

I would also stay optimistic about your hiring process- this is a great time prepare for an early fall search, and any quality candidate is going to want to give notice to their current position by late fall. Ideally you'll have a new HOS before the final admissions Open House.

Finally, you are going to see enrollment numbers decline. There's no way around that. What you need to do right now as a Board is solidify your school's brand and mission, especially if they're fuzzy. Every member of the Board, faculty, and current families needs to have an elevator pitch that you give them that's 2-3 reasons why SSFS is their school of choice- they'll think its for admissions purposes and outreach, but it's really for themselves. More importantly: people will want to pick apart what went wrong and point fingers and dissect the situation. Give it a week or two but then all conversations need to move to focusing on the future and not explaining the past. Most importantly: listening sessions with faculty and staff need to be held right away and they need to be super engaged in the hiring process. You can't afford to lose teachers (even the bad ones) right now.

[Anonymous]

The board played a big role in this emperors new clothes situation. The degree they hyped Rodney was over the top, as if the school community was lucky to be graced by his presence rather than as co-stakeholders. I do hope they got some sense and fired him but to be honest I have little confidence in the board either. I hope there is at least recognition between them that they also made some missteps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew he would not last after publishing a letter or article stating he was being racially profiled by a teenage who was a summer camp counselor who approached him in his car on his first day of work at SSFS.

By a 16 year old counselor who was following camp policy of asking visitors what their deal was.

+++++
Sorry, but those innocent teenage camp counselors often follow different rules for white parents at pick-up. Our multiracial family had a horrible with this at Landon last year.

[Anonymous]

Agreed - the board fumbled this from start to finish and the School community should be asking for a board revamp as well to get capable board to lead it through the road ahead. They are going to need a steady hand that is steeped in the community and change management- and with serious fundraising potential. They may need to also change their bylaws - which per their website seem to lock them into this requirement to have a board full of Quakers from the silver spring meeting house. Oddly the board message that went out yesterday listed an acting interim clerk of the board - query what happened to the existing clerk and what level of dysfunction the board may be operating under right now. There will be no room for a dysfunctional board in the coming months if they are going to get to smoother sailing.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Glasgow said Sandy Springs was like a plantation. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew he would not last after publishing a letter or article stating he was being racially profiled by a teenage who was a summer camp counselor who approached him in his car on his first day of work at SSFS.

By a 16 year old counselor who was following camp policy of asking visitors what their deal was.

+++++
Sorry, but those innocent teenage camp counselors often follow different rules for white parents at pick-up. Our multiracial family had a horrible with this at Landon last year.

I don’t doubt it and it’s terrible that happened to your family. This example with the counselor is different in that Rodney described absolutely nothing horrible happening, just that a friendly teenager specifically assigned to ask visitors where they were headed as they drove in asked him where he was headed as he drove in.

[Anonymous]

We were a new family ths past year and my DC in 9th had a great experience. I attended a few events but am not sure why Rodney is bad. He seemed ok with my limited interactions. What made him so toxic?