Beauvoir Scandal?

[Anonymous]

Jeff, I appreciate your comment above. Have you considered perhaps closing this thread for comments or taking it down?

Our children do not attend Beauvoir. In fact, my daughter was wait-listed by Beauvoir TWICE (pre-K and K), so we would have reason to be bitter and to enjoy the gossip. (My daughter attends a different independent school.) BUT, we do use the summer camp and have very good friends who send their children there. I think the rampant speculation and gossip on this thread is really harmful to the community of parents and children there. As a parent in another independent school community who has a lot of empathy for what the B parents are going through, I really feel this thread is harmful and hope somehow it can be shut down, since it appears it is unwilling to die a natural death through lack of interest.

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the PP regarding removing this thread.

I recognize that this is an anonymous forum, and that as a result the veracity of postings cannot be tested. That is true, though, for all of the threads on this site. I am a thinking adult, however, and believe that it should be left largely to me to determine which posts I believe and which I do not. If, for example, several additional posters provide input that this teacher was essentially living in the classroom, then I would be more likely to change my view of the adequacy of the school's actions to protect the kids in its care. Without additional posts, I'll likely assume that this is a stray post not worth taking too seriously. This issue is of direct significance to me as I am considering whether to apply for my child to attend Beauvoir next year, and, while recognizing that the "truth" may be both subjective and somewhat unknowable, I would like to have access to as many perspectives as possible before deciding whether I'd like for my child to spend his days at this school.

I think that one reason that this string is so upsetting is that it is about something that is critically important to all of us - the safety of our children and the efforts of schools and authorities to attempt to ensure that safety. I am so sorry for what the Beauvoir community has been going through, but I believe that this type of open and anonymous forum has more benefits than drawbacks, especially for those of us who are deciding whether or not to join the school community. FWIW, I have been in the area a very long time, attended a different independent school in the area but had friends at the Cathedral schools, and until this thread had only heard positive things about Beauvoir.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I am so sorry for what the Beauvoir community has been going through, but I believe that this type of open and anonymous forum has more benefits than drawbacks ...

This excerpt from the above message very much reflects my thinking. This topic has a lot of victims. First and foremost the children who attend Beauvoir and perhaps many who don't. The Beauvoir families -- and again perhaps many non-Beauvoir families -- for whom this incident has caused a lot of pain and distress. And, for the Beauvoir teachers and staff, for whom this must be a complete nightmare. I even have some sympathy for the teacher who also has a family that surely has some understandable concerns. It troubles me that this website that was created to assist parents is now being used in such a manner and I am truly sorry that many have suffered as a result. Yet, I feel there is value in free and unfettered discussion. Admittedly, it is getting harder and harder to articulate just what that value is.

One reason -- but not the only reason -- that I have resisted shutting down this thread is that such an action would be seen almost universally as having done Beauvoir's bidding. It is important to me that I act independently and that I not be seen as succumbing to pressure. Maybe that's a stupid bit of machismo, but it is how I feel. So, with that in mind, I want to say the following. The members of the Beauvoir community with whom I have interacted as a result of this discussion -- including parents and staff -- have been among the most decent people with whom I have ever dealt. The fact that this thread continues without a hint of pressure from what many understand to be a very powerful community is a testament to the school's values. I think that there can be fair disagreement about some of the events that have occurred, as well as some of the so-called "judgements". Whether the decisions that were made were right or wrong, I can't say. But, I have no doubt about the commitment of the people making those decisions to the the students, families, and the rest of the Beauvoir community. On the other hand, I do have serious doubts about the motives of some of those who are so eager to tear the school down. I hope that group of individuals -- small though it may be -- will give some serious thought to the damage they are causing.

Let's never forget that there are real people out there who are affected by what happens here on DCUM. Please try to be responsible in how you participate in this discussion.

[Anonymous]

I was one of the posters about the teacher (supposedly) living in the classroom. My information comes from attending one of the Beauvoir community meetings held in June. Discussion went on about the concept that he may have been living there. People believed certainly he slept there but this is unclear if that happened once (like pulled an all nighter working away and just stayed) or repeatedly. The administration asked him about staying late -- or over, I'm not sure which -- and he supposedly had an answer that he felt it was not safe to drive home since he had taken some medication. I don't know what medication, I don't even know if that conversation happened as that is hearsay only and certainly not admissable in court. I only repeat what I heard directly at this meeting I attended. I am not trying to rile anyone up. This is a sad enough situation, but as numerous posters have said, information is incomplete as not everyone knows everything, including the police who are continuing their investigation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was one of the posters about the teacher (supposedly) living in the classroom. My information comes from attending one of the Beauvoir community meetings held in June. Discussion went on about the concept that he may have been living there. People believed certainly he slept there but this is unclear if that happened once (like pulled an all nighter working away and just stayed) or repeatedly. The administration asked him about staying late -- or over, I'm not sure which -- and he supposedly had an answer that he felt it was not safe to drive home since he had taken some medication. I don't know what medication, I don't even know if that conversation happened as that is hearsay only and certainly not admissable in court. I only repeat what I heard directly at this meeting I attended. I am not trying to rile anyone up. This is a sad enough situation, but as numerous posters have said, information is incomplete as not everyone knows everything, including the police who are continuing their investigation.

I was at one of the Beauvoir community meetings, as well. The account of the conversation given in this post is consistent with what I remember being told there. That is, it was known to the school that on at least one occasion he stayed in the classroom overnight. The excuse he offered was that he sometimes worked late and was taking a medication that made him drowsy, which made him reluctant to get behind the wheel to go home. How that translates into "he was living in the classroom" is beyond me. In that sense, it is consistent with many of the postings in this thread.

Jeff, you come across as a reasonable person, so I certainly hope you were kidding when you implied that you hesitate to close the thread down because it might make you look weak. I appreciate your call on those individuals who are using the thread for their own malicious purposes to stop doing so. Frankly, I would be startled if it were to work: how do you shame people who have no shame? Whether you close down the thread is up to you. I am in the fortunate position of not having to make that decision. But there is a decision I can make, which is to stop patronizing this thread and this website. Responding to the lunatic fringe on this thread only encourages them. I no longer wish to be complicit in this. I encourage any of those who are likewise outraged by much of what they see here to "follow me out the door."

[Anonymous]

I think this is an important, though unpleasant thread. I do not have a child at Beauvoir and I am not applying there, but I suspect prospective parents would like to have some insight into what happened. I personally think the Beauvoir administration mishandled the situation by not calling the police as soon as they discovered the photos and before the teacher had left town.

[Anonymous]

I am the "incoherent" PP who attempted to raise the serious and subtle question regarding the judgment of the Beauvoir administration.

I appreciate the additional information about the assistant teacher remaining an employee, which, in my opinion, speaks to the judgment issue I raised. I also appreciate the new revelation that the individual in question reportedly slept in the classroom. And kudos to Jeff for his open, even-handed approach.


I can't help but wonder if the personal vitriol aimed at me in several subsequent posts is a result of the information hitting a bit too close to home. It also makes me wonder if these personal attacks are from people in the Beauvoir administration trying to discredit the message by attacking the messenger.


One PP wrote:

"The PP should be removed any current parents at the school who know about the changes in administration can put two and two together and figure out who the PP is speaking about. This is a breech of policy and possible could make parents feel a certain way about the new Division Director. Very unfair spectulations."

[end quote]

My view is that the new Division Director is an adult and the concern should be for the children, not for her. I would flip that post around and ask: If she did make a serious error in judgment, shouldn't parents be aware of that and allowed to take that into account in their opinions? Or should the whole thing simply be swept under the rug as if it never happened? Another way to say it would be that it's okay to forgive - everyone makes mistakes. It's not okay to deliberately help people to forget. That enables history to more easily repeat itself.


Here's a second interesting response.


09/08/2008 11:37

"The words below are taken directly taken from your most recent post. My God, listen to yourself. This is the most ridiculous jumble of gossip and speculation. What value have you added to the discussion? You would do everyone a favor to go back on vacation and stop your unhelpful and mean spirited gossiping.

I guess. but I don't know that - just speculation - I've been told - I understand - But, the story I heard is - I heard someone went to xxxx and told her - I was told by a person with a child in the class - I can't imagine - this year a friend said - but I'm going to withhold judgment until more comes out, if it ever does."

[end quote]

After IMMEDIATELY calling my travel agent, I looked back through this thread to see how other posts were phrased.

From 6/24 13:53 (page 15)
"I have posted a few times already on this topic. I have heard a lot of things from other non-Beauvoir parents, from Beauvoir parents, and from conversations with other school administrators (my children's) in the region. I have posted some of the things I have heard, like about the teacher in question being missing. Maybe I shouldn't have but, I value information and felt obliged to share what I was hearing."

From 06/25/2008 13:33? (page 17)
"My understanding is that the teacher had already tendered his resignation because he had taken another job."

From 06/30/2008 18:04
"I understand from a Beauvoir parent that the pictures were of a boy's private parts."

From 08/20/2008 21:54? (page 31)
"I also heard from a Beauvoir parent with a child in the specific class that the pictures did not involve touching and were not of a Beauvoir student."

[end quotes]

Doesn't sound much different, except these other posts are about the alleged perpetrator and mine were about the school administration. Rather than state all things as fact, I prefer to use qualifiers/attributions to enable a reader to determine opinion from reported information from personally observed fact. In the end, the relayed information I reported was limited to that which I thought credible. What I didn't report was all the "information" I filtered out because I didn't think it met that test, at least for me. In the future, you can be sure that any post that begins "According to a parental source speaking on condition of anonymity..." comes from me. I'm sure that will make it sound more authoritative and make all the journalist parents on the Close proud.

As for the "value" of my post, judgment is a highly valuable commodity, particularly in elementary school leadership. A serious discussion about how much of it was displayed, and continues to be displayed, seems to be highly worthwhile for - and worthy of - a community as involved and intelligent as this one - and by that I mean the entire DC community, not just Beauvoir. My post did elicit information about the assistant teacher in the same classroom being invited back and the person in question sleeping in the classroom. That was news to me and that's helpful in enabling one to understand the total picture. Is there more to know?

For example, I'm very curious whether anyone knows anything more about xxxx being warned about the alleged perpetrator in the Spring of the 2006-2007 school year and still having him come back. Reading this thread, the teacher in question was very well-liked by parents and not there was not much about this individual's behavior that might have provided any clues. But, was one that did come to light missed, or ignored?

Finally, I believe there is someone out there reading this thread who is not telling us all he/she knows. I infer that from this post, which is my favorite:

09/09/2008 19:10 ?
"Who are you? You sound very incoherent. Your post is full of hearsay and a lot of misinformation.
A current Beauvoir parent."

[end quote]

On the lighter side, I find it hilarious that, in a post from "Anonymous," I would be asked who I am. I do believe that is the first time in the hundreds of anonymous posts in this thread (the only exceptions I recall are Jeff and the sincere note from the former kindergarten teacher) that anyone has been asked to identify him or herself.

On the deadly serious side - because it has to do with everyone's children, if you want to discredit the serious information I have heard and relayed in good faith, on what I believe is one of the most critical topics to focus on in the wake of this incident, as being inaccurate, then back it up. Until convinced otherwise, I stand by what I was told and previously wrote. If you have incontrovertible facts or first-hand knowledge, you OWE IT TO EVERY PARENT to tell us what that is. Otherwise, don't try to discredit through bluster and name-calling what you don't know to be inaccurate. I might ask you, who are YOU, really, and what is YOUR agenda in being so caustic and dismissive?

[Anonymous]

In response to the PP - 09/11/2008 09:57

This is what is so frustrating about this blog. People who don't know what they are talking about keep saying stuff that is just WRONG. I am the father of a Beavoir third grader from last year. I know my facts. The school called the police IMMEDIATELY upon discovering the photos. The Cathedral police were there in minutes. (BTW, they are a "real" police department - not a private security force.) Cathedral Police called MPD minutes later and MPD responded within the hour. Special squad at MPD that deals with these matters had a detective assigned IMMEDIATELY. The teacher was escorted off the property BY THE POLICE without being allowed to return to the classroom.

The PP concludes that "the Beauvoir administration mishandled the situation by not calling the police as soon as they discovered the photos and before the teacher had left town." Clearly the PP doesnt have the facts right. The police knew where to find the teacher and they knew what the allegations were against the teacher. The police secured the classroom and found additional images and potential evidence later in the day. As was appropriate, the police took control of the situation. If there is criticism of the way the police have conducted their investigation, dont blame the school. I am unclear as to why the police didn't get an arrest warrant that day and I am uncelar as to why they waited for him to leave town. And I am unclear why they do not release his name, etc.

But the criticism I may have of the law enforcement agencies who are handling this case, should not extend to the school. I do not see how the administration "mishandled" anything. They responded appropriately and immediately. And, as a parent, I can say first hand that they have been extremely open, communicative and supportive to their constituencies with information, assistance and counseling.

Let's be clear, this sort of unfortunate incident could happen in any school in any community; - and sadly it does happen more often than we may want to admit. No school, church or organization is immune from this. I think that Beauvoir has done a very good job trying to be open, trying to learn from the incident, and trying to be sure that they are taking appropriate steps to reduce the chances of this sort of thing happening again. Other schools could learn a great deal from how well Beauvoir as handeld this difficult situation.

[Anonymous]

One thing to note about these contriversial and active threads is they do have negative effects on the school. Can it be a coincidence that St. Columba's can't fill a few spots this year? I, for one, would have no idea about that scandal except from this board and I believe that many prospective parents did probably see the thread. Nevertheless, I am sure St. Columba's and Beauvoir are wonderful places and lapses in judgement and errors are to be expected. These schools are just run by regular folk who are not infallible, no matter how exclusive the school.

Which is to say...give them a break!

[jsteele]

In my earlier posts I forgot to mention a new rule that I've decided to institute for this thread. Given that nearly everyone is posting anonymously, I am not going to allow any names to be mentioned. If I notice a name, I am going to remove it from the post. In accordance with this rule, I've edited one of the messages above to redact a name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
On the lighter side, I find it hilarious that, in a post from "Anonymous," I would be asked who I am. I do believe that is the first time in the hundreds of anonymous posts in this thread (the only exceptions I recall are Jeff and the sincere note from the former kindergarten teacher) that anyone has been asked to identify him or herself.

On the deadly serious side - because it has to do with everyone's children, if you want to discredit the serious information I have heard and relayed in good faith, on what I believe is one of the most critical topics to focus on in the wake of this incident, as being inaccurate, then back it up. Until convinced otherwise, I stand by what I was told and previously wrote. If you have incontrovertible facts or first-hand knowledge, you OWE IT TO EVERY PARENT to tell us what that is. Otherwise, don't try to discredit through bluster and name-calling what you don't know to be inaccurate. I might ask you, who are YOU, really, and what is YOUR agenda in being so caustic and dismissive?

It was a rhetorical question.

If current and prospective Beauvoir parents need to know the FACTS they can call the school and someone will be more than happy to address their questions with the TRUTH about what happened. This is not about discrediting serious information it is about discrediting hearsay and incorrect information. I'm sorry but I don't have the time you seem to have to engage in lengthy posts arguing with you about each of your so call facts. I owe you nothing. If I need to find something out, I ask at the school and I get the answer I need. To answer your question, I am a current Beauvoir parent and my agenda is simply to make people aware of the fact that not every thing they read in posts like yours is accurate even when they are supposedly handed down from a parent at the school and to urge prospective parents to seek information where the correct information can be found.
Your agenda, on the other hand, is clear for all to see.

[Anonymous]

Dear 14:11:

Calling people incoherent, stating essentially that nothing in my post was accurate and offering nothing is a fairly weak position to work from. It was a short post, though. Congratulations.

I also find it interesting that you state "If current and prospective Beauvoir parents need to know the FACTS." "IF" they need to know the facts? Are you serious?

As for calling the school, I may be going out on a limb here, and I am NOT saying this only or specifically about Beauvoir but about any level or agency of government, any business, any organization - sometimes the source of a problem - whether or not there is even an iota of culpability - is not the optimal source for complete, open and accurate answers.

You still refuse to respond to my primary question to you. Do you KNOW something I relayed is not true? Could you respond with a yes or a no and, if yes, could you please be specific? I would appreciate being corrected if something is inaccurate. Otherwise, I think you should stop saying that information I have every reason to believe is grounded in truth is false when you don't have any idea.

And of course, I didn't seriously imply that you owe it to people (I didn't say me, by the way). It was just a figure of speech, sort of like "Who are you?" If you have information, please hide it so everyone can call the school and find out on their own.

(That was sarcasm. You don't have to respond to it.)

[Anonymous]

15:50...I feel sorry for you. You need to get a life.

[Anonymous]

14:11-- I agree with you. Let's lawyer this up. What's your billable rate?

[Anonymous]

In fairness to 19:11, this is what Beauvoir's own website says about assistant teachers.

"Each academic year Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School, employs as many as sixteen well-qualified college graduates to serve as Associate Teachers. Typically joining the faculty for a one to two year appointment, the Associate Teacher will be introduced to a program of guided work in the classroom, instructional immersion, professional development, and exposure to the theories and methods of early childhood education. The Associate Teacher will gain a deeper sense of the many responsibilities and joys of the teaching profession. Associate Teachers take an active part in the life of the School and are integral in helping Beauvoir carry out its mission to instill a spirit of inquiry and a joy of learning in all students. Associate Teachers are appointed to positions in Kindergarten through Third Grade.

The Associate Teacher Program seeks to play an important role in the preparation and guidance of new teachers as they clarify their goals for future employment or further education. Primarily, Associate Teachers spend the academic year working closely with a mentor teacher, through observation, teaching, and planning. Associate Teachers regularly attend meetings of their grade level, division, and the faculty as a whole; they also meet with any curriculum committees to which they are appointed. Throughout the year, Associate Teachers participate in seminars and workshops on learning differences, classroom management, child development, and various areas of the curriculum. While working as instructors in the early childhood classroom, Associate Teachers learn not only from faculty mentors and opportunities for professional development, but also from self-assessment and evaluation. While engaging in this nurturing learning process, the Associate Teacher is expected, nevertheless, to exercise professional judgment and responsibility in keeping with the expectations of the School's faculty.

After teaching at Beauvoir, most Associate Teachers seek faculty positions in independent and public schools or opportunities for further education. Typically, Associate Teachers are not reappointed to the Beauvoir faculty. However, the School actively supports applications to other institutions and graduate programs."