Mad at the Board

[Anonymous]

There will likely be several years of more than average turnover. The school will lose some good faculty but replace with strong teachers as well; independent school teaching is a solid job.

Other schools have been through rocky transitions before. It's not great, but the level of conspiratorial thinking and panic on this thread seems disproportionate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big deal that he was fired. Sometimes you hire someone and, for various reasons, he or she does not perform well. That happens. What I do think is that you have to be utterly incompetent to fire someone and then let them continue working for an additional eight months. Most likely, they didn’t want to break the contract, but when you fire someone, you do it immediately so as not to disrupt operations. The board is completely unable to make sound managerial decisions. A better approach would have been to fire the HoS in July and appoint an interim HoS for this year. As it stands, the school is effectively headless. This does not give a good impression at all.

It is weird to have a lame duck head. But what weirder is the board being like, “nothing to see here!”🙄

And you have no clue how many responsibilities a head of school actually has from day-to-day whether they’re under contract for the next year or not.
To me the weirdest thing is how obsessed some of you Maret people are that the board is lying to you, and that you just can’t accept that Dennis didn’t want to negotiate a renewal. It’s hard to blame him. I mean, judging by the way some of you show up with the anonymous vitriol here it does look like there’re a lot of crazies at that school. I certainly wouldn’t want that job.

That’s precisely why a lame-duck head shouldn’t exist. You don’t want someone who is actively looking for a new job to remain head of school. It would be too distracting to do the job properly, which is why appointing an interim head would have been a wiser choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will likely be several years of more than average turnover. The school will lose some good faculty but replace with strong teachers as well; independent school teaching is a solid job.

Other schools have been through rocky transitions before. It's not great, but the level of conspiratorial thinking and panic on this thread seems disproportionate.

The only thing that seems disproportionate to me is the level of incompetence of the board.

[Anonymous]

The board made a mistake with this hire. Yes. The board didn’t recognize how bad it was. Yes. The board rushed to make a decision. Yes. The board is allowing him to finish out the year despite him having lost the respect of most faculty and being ineffective. Yes. All of this is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m at the school in question and agree with your lack of confidence in the decision making of the board (though I wouldn’t say I’m “mad at the board”). I also share your concerns about the instability it causes the school.

I hope this thread is constructive and doesn’t get side railed by other grievances with the school as happened in other threads…

I really hope this is Maret. ‘bout time to take the trash out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an outside observer who has watched countless Maret threads get locked and deleted in recent months, y’all are nuts. Your HoS probably said to himself that this job just isn’t worth the aggravation. So you come here wondering what you can do to force a better decision from your search committee and your board? Thats rich.

Look at this HoS as having been your interim- which probably would’ve been a really good idea of following a 30 year head- and now there’ll be a whole new pool of applicants, and maybe a better fit is available this time.

But I also don’t think any HoS will be successful there until they’ve endured several years of vitriol, and until enough current families graduate to the point where the school becomes filled with families that did not know previous heads.

The guy’s unemployable. He was lucky (read: did favors to wealthy Whittle donors) to land this job. He is awful, snobby and corrupt imho and architects all his own disasters. Caveat emptor. Good riddance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was also disappointed in the search when it happened. I don't think people were in love with any of the three finalists who came to campus, especially since it was known that a very well-loved candidate didn't make the cut for the final round for reasons no one outside of the board knows. I sincerely hope they will do a better job of working with the search firm this time around and actually bring the highest quality candidates to the final round.

That being said, what else do you want from the board? For some reason, they picked someone who (somewhat predictably) turned out to be a lemon to succeed MT. It seems obvious that they told him they weren't going to renew his contract and gave him an out to say he is resigning. It's exactly what they need to do right now. Beyond looking at just the HoS, though, they've been good stewards of the school's long term interests: acquiring the field space at ECC solves a problem the school has had forever, and the school is in solid financial shape. They are executing much-needed planned campus improvements without taking on debt, and the faculty is finally moving forward with important programmatic work like articulating an educational philosophy, writing a portrait of a graduate, and reviewing graduation requirements.

The baffling thing about Maret since the pandemic is that various members of the community seem to be deriving some sort of satisfaction from being upset or angry no matter what is happening. Someone always seems to be demanding that some other party apologize more or repent harder for whatever "sin" they've decided others are guilty of. In the meantime, the students are getting a great education and are generally enjoying their experience, despite what a flop Dennis has been.

If Dennis weren't on the way out, a deeper dive into the board would make sense, but no board bylaws prevent an error in judgement (which I think we all agree the board made). Bylaws should ensure that a board does what it needs to in order to correct such an error, which _is_ happening. And we absolutely should hold the highest possible standards for the upcoming search. But why OP feels the need for some governance investigation or for any specific board member to publicly flog themselves or whatever they're after to show "accountability" is just lame and counterproductive. Let's just be happy we are getting rid of a dud and put our energy towards finding fantastic candidates to be the next HoS.

That sounds fine in theory. In reality, if the board made such a major error once, why should we trust it not to make others? And the board can’t claim credit for the school’s financial strength when it comes largely from higher tuition paid by families. So what exactly is the board doing?

Raising tuition is certainly a way to make a school financially sound, and tuition is typically a Board decision. So they would be responsible for that.

All Boards make errors at times. The governance documents will provide for Board terms/replacements/etc. already. Asking an entire Board to resign would be a colossal error in and of itself.

Ok. But at the end the money comes from the parents not the board. Haven’t seen any attempt to improve efficiency, but on the contrary to hire more administrative staff, like the assistant to the head of school, which was hired in an opaque process.

She’s out too I hope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an outside observer who has watched countless Maret threads get locked and deleted in recent months, y’all are nuts. Your HoS probably said to himself that this job just isn’t worth the aggravation. So you come here wondering what you can do to force a better decision from your search committee and your board? Thats rich.

Look at this HoS as having been your interim- which probably would’ve been a really good idea of following a 30 year head- and now there’ll be a whole new pool of applicants, and maybe a better fit is available this time.

But I also don’t think any HoS will be successful there until they’ve endured several years of vitriol, and until enough current families graduate to the point where the school becomes filled with families that did not know previous heads.

Yep

Looks like Dennis has entered the chat again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It often feels like any thread about Maret, including this one, is being closely watched by people connected to the school, whether that’s the communications team, faculty parents, alumni who work there, or board members. It’s hard to share honest disappointment or a negative personal experience without an immediate wave of defensive responses that clearly come from insiders.

Other schools seem able to tolerate open, unfiltered discussions without threads getting locked or removed. It makes me wonder whether the level of vigilance and defensiveness says more about what the school hopes to manage or control than what it’s confident enough to let stand on its own. If things are truly going well, then some critical commentary shouldn’t be such a threat — especially given everything currently happening that might warrant public attention.

I’m sure even this comment will prompt angry replies or attempts to dismiss what I’m saying. That in itself is pretty sad, and frankly a little concerning.

If people want to keep repeating “the kids are fine,” that’s their prerogative. But many of us know that when the adults responsible for creating a stable environment aren’t actually okay, that tension eventually filters down. Kids absorb the energy around them, good or bad.

All I’m asking for is space for open, honest discussion without immediate shutdowns or defensiveness. Free conversation shouldn’t feel threatening to a healthy community.

I agree. I’m the one people call the “Maret troll.” All my posts raising concerns about the HoS were either deleted or blocked. It just took a bit of time for my concerns to be confirmed.

Mine too. IMHO The man is as morally corrupt as they come. Wife is worse. I’m entitled to this well supported opinion. Proof is in the pudding. Bye bye to both

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m rolling my eyes reading all these people that think the board should resign because they failed to hire a better head of school three years ago. They actually hired a guy with a ton of experience and successes, but a handful of you decided to relentlessly denigrate him because of his previous employer. So maybe this time around a less controversial candidate will make it through as a finalist. But whoever comes next is also going to have to endure years of vitriol from this anonymous community.

Those statements are contradictory. It's not success to lead a school into combustion.

No, you’re wrong. And your comment is simply guided by anger toward Whittle himself. Whittle was the crook. People that worked for him and left when they saw the mess are not at the same level of malfeasance. So to say Dennis had no experience or successes during his many years in administration before the Whittle implosion is just ignorant.

When Maret hired him, it’s apparent that there was no candidate that was more qualified or more impressive, or that person would’ve been hired. I’m sorry if that’s hard for you to understand.

But they didn’t. Dennis and his wife were at Whittles side to the bitter end when there was nothing left to take and gain. They’re more corrupt than Whittles imho
Also completely overrated all hype and no substance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love that some of you are back on the associate head rant again. Plenty of schools have an associate head that did not “go through a process.” Yes some of them do. But some of you act like it was the greatest sin of all, that the leader of your organization can’t hire the team he wants. That perceived restriction doesn’t happen in any other industry. And then somebody among you makes the comment that Maret doesn’t need an associate head plus assistant heads? It’s pretty hard to assess what it takes to run Maret or any school from your sofa, especially if you’ve never worked as a school administrator, and especially considering the exceptional neediness and demands shown by the Maret community in this forum. For anyone that thinks these heads are overpaid and that anyone could do the job, here’s a guy walking away from a job paying him several hundred thousand dollars a year. It couldn’t have been that easy of a job.

And regarding that decision, correct me if I’m wrong: his letter to the community says that he chose not to seek a new contract. The letter from your board president did not say anything different than that. Why are people here saying he’s being let go? Is there any evidence to that?

Worth noting: hundreds of Maret parents are not on this message board piling on. My guess is this thread is driven by the most aggrieved among you, and that the condemnation of Dennis is not universal beyond this forum.

I love how some parents prefer to live in denial. I just want to make sure you understand a few things:

1. Who do you think pays for the salary of the Associate Head of School, the tooth fairy? No, the parents. And we want to ensure that any extra spending at the school is fully justified.

2. Can a HoS work without an Associate HoS? Yes. Marjo did it. It was never explained why we suddenly need one.

3. Does Maret hire staff through a competitive process? Yes, for all positions. Why was there an exception for the Associate HoS?

4. This thread is about improving the selection of the next HoS, so we don’t repeat the same degree of arbitrariness we’ve seen in the past few years

Hope it’s clear.

What’s clear is that you’re obsessed and terribly aggrieved by the hiring decision. And that you think you're entitled to oversee the budget, board decisions, and school operations. But mostly it’s clear that your next head is going to struggle as much as the current one, and not due to a lack of qualifications, but due to the relentless pressure of leading Maret.

Speaking of budget, I’d audit the accounts before he leaves. Count the forks and such

[Anonymous]

I speak from experience. Never again

[Anonymous]

Besides complaining in dcum (which is fun to read) I was wondering if something concrete and actionable can be done. I think most parents in school are not happy but at the same time they do not want to pick a fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Besides complaining in dcum (which is fun to read) I was wondering if something concrete and actionable can be done. I think most parents in school are not happy but at the same time they do not want to pick a fight.

I think that when the board fires a worker and wants to hide the reasons, there is not much credibility to engage them. I think the approach is take it or leave it like in most private schools.

[Anonymous]

4th Hottest Thread, almost 30,000 views.