SSFS HOS leaving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inflation rates for the prior year resulted in many schools having a 6-7% increase for that year.

If RG said that he was hiking tuition and that other schools were doing likewise, then I suspect that was only part of what he said. The other part that seems to have gotten lost would have been soemthing like this.

Teacher income fell sharply when adjusted for inflation from 2020-2023. At the same time that teachers faced extraordinary challenges due to Covid and student anxiety.

Every good school that valued their faculty and staff gave bigger than usual salary adjustments. If SSFS hadn’t done so, they’d have risked losing more teachers. I don’t know what the school’s endowment is, but unless it’s really substantial, those salary increases had to come from tuition increases. No mystery and totally justifiable.

[Anonymous]

When the 1st hike of 5% happened he did say it was to give the teacher salaries a boost. Back then that seemed like a good reason. The two subsequent hikes had no such reasoning. This year he made a presentation about why the tuition needed to go up again. In the whole presentation he never showed that teacher salaries would get a boost. What he did show in his charts was that this was necessary because 100% of the students did not make substantial donations to the school (his chart indicated that this included students who also receive substantial aid), and 100% of grandparents don’t donate substantially.

If his motivation was always only taking care of teachers it’s a wonder that he’s been hemorrhaging teachers and this year students too.

[Anonymous]

You guys need to slow walk the next HOS selection. Figure out what you want in a HOS and how you want to position the school before you bring anyone into this mess.

[Anonymous]

There are several issues impacting SSFS.

1) Toxic leadership that eroded SSFS's mission and goals
2) Departure of Toxic leader
3) Rebuilding the school
4) Managing finances
5) Enrollment management
6) Re-inventing the school's image, rejuvenating the faculty, staff and students
7) Finding a responsible and competent HOS
8) Fundraising and confidence in the long term goals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that the assistant head of athletic dept was also let go?

Yes, she was laid off in June.

While she was being laid off, BN knew he was seeking a job in PA. He left for Botswana the day after she was laid off and gave his resignation while there. Absolutely disgusting, unethical, and shameful. Now SSFS has no one with AD experience and is going to have the Head of PE step into that role and cover both. The Department is down 3 people from last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are several issues impacting SSFS.

1) Toxic leadership that eroded SSFS's mission and goals
2) Departure of Toxic leader
3) Rebuilding the school
4) Managing finances
5) Enrollment management
6) Re-inventing the school's image, rejuvenating the faculty, staff and students
7) Finding a responsible and competent HOS
8) Fundraising and confidence in the long term goals

I concur.

I think they really need to do some soul searching before they hire the next HOS.

They should try to get an interim to just keep this moving along while they figure some things out. It will probably be very painful in the short term, but a stronger school with a clear identity can emerge if they get the community’s buy-in and they manage it well.

[Anonymous]

This list of priorities is solid plus a need to bolster governance and generate revenue beyond tuition through auxiliary programs, rentals, etc. A 1-2 year interim head will give SSFS time to reframe its value proposition. Interims fall into two categories. Some keep momentum to ensure a smooth transition. Others are tasked to manage essential changes so the incoming head can be successful. If there is big debt, the board/interim head should start eliminating it or refinancing a loan. At one point in time, the board agreed to carry debt so they own the responsibility. Undoing debt may allow for better teacher support, programs, etc. Some schools suffer financially when they get too top heavy on the administrative side to support daily needs, so perhaps there's opportunity for rightsizing here?

With its Quaker identity, SSFS may benefit from a retired Quaker school head with a strong business, marketing, and fundraising skillsets to lead its transitional period. Many independent schools, regionally and nationally, are facing the exact same issues of increased competition, challenged fundraising, debt, governance disfunction, and faculty turnover. SSFS is not alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that the assistant head of athletic dept was also let go?

Yes, she was laid off in June.

While she was being laid off, BN knew he was seeking a job in PA. He left for Botswana the day after she was laid off and gave his resignation while there. Absolutely disgusting, unethical, and shameful. Now SSFS has no one with AD experience and is going to have the Head of PE step into that role and cover both. The Department is down 3 people from last year.

She would have made a great AD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that the assistant head of athletic dept was also let go?

Yes, she was laid off in June.

While she was being laid off, BN knew he was seeking a job in PA. He left for Botswana the day after she was laid off and gave his resignation while there. Absolutely disgusting, unethical, and shameful. Now SSFS has no one with AD experience and is going to have the Head of PE step into that role and cover both. The Department is down 3 people from last year.

Not that I know how this went down but at this point I’m willing to give staff (BN) the bigger benefit of the doubt. The athletics families knew all spring that he wanted to leave. His son had graduated and he was looking to leave. So if RG makes it seem like the school was completely blindsighted I’d question that.

[Anonymous]

Then why layoff the Assistant AD, who was more than willing to stay? Now there’s NO AD. It was such a short-sighted decision. Athletics over the past few years has blossomed at SSFS, now coaches are resigning, and we will be lucky to field teams at various levels.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate what the AD did for athletics during his two years there. Thought he was sticking around for a bit longer though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then why layoff the Assistant AD, who was more than willing to stay? Now there’s NO AD. It was such a short-sighted decision. Athletics over the past few years has blossomed at SSFS, now coaches are resigning, and we will be lucky to field teams at various levels.

Maybe SSFS could reach out to her and see if she is willing to come back. Although what if BN did speak up and see if she (assistant AD) could be retained and the answer was no. Perhaps the timing of his new job offer did not align with any deadlines that he could have been facing. All of this is just guessing, though he seemed dedicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then why layoff the Assistant AD, who was more than willing to stay? Now there’s NO AD. It was such a short-sighted decision. Athletics over the past few years has blossomed at SSFS, now coaches are resigning, and we will be lucky to field teams at various levels.

She was laid off due financial problems.

[Anonymous]

Reading all this makes me really appreciate our school's longtime head and other veteran leaders and teachers in our community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading all this makes me really appreciate our school's longtime head and other veteran leaders and teachers in our community.

What school is that?