Call to discuss the state of Hardy 05/15/23

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

My lord you think a lot of yourselves.

I do. I've worked hard to become a great teacher, and I take a lot of pride in my work. I don't like the way this went down and some of my colleages feel the same. I don't think its a negative to be confident in your abilities and assured that you can find a better role elsewhere. Adjusting to new administration can often be an additional burden and I'd rather do that at a school that doesn't have this sort of parent - school relationship.

I’m not a Hardy parent but you sound nuts. If you are mad at how this went down, you should be mad at the Chancellor and Central Office. They are the ones who decided to remove him immediately. Parents have limited power. Central Office doesn’t care what teachers think as you know full well. It is pretty clear they felt that this principal could not handle Hardy. Perhaps he will be better in elementary school. It reminds me of the situation where the old Janney Principal was put in charge of Brookland Middle School. That was a complete disaster and after 2 years she moved back to being an Elementary School Principal (Brent).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was the decision to remove before school year's end about trying to get families to not move over the summer?

The parents wanted a plan to find a new principal for the next school year before the principal hiring window soon closes.

Why the current principal was removed before the end of this school year is unknown outside of DCPS, as far as I know. Perhaps DCPS had reasons, perhaps PJ preferred to be done in the circumstance -- random parents like me do not know.

This statement is incorrect. The petition everyone signed demands his immediate removal. The idea came from the group of hysterical parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

My lord you think a lot of yourselves.

I do. I've worked hard to become a great teacher, and I take a lot of pride in my work. I don't like the way this went down and some of my colleages feel the same. I don't think its a negative to be confident in your abilities and assured that you can find a better role elsewhere. Adjusting to new administration can often be an additional burden and I'd rather do that at a school that doesn't have this sort of parent - school relationship.

I’m not a Hardy parent but you sound nuts. If you are mad at how this went down, you should be mad at the Chancellor and Central Office. They are the ones who decided to remove him immediately. Parents have limited power. Central Office doesn’t care what teachers think as you know full well. It is pretty clear they felt that this principal could not handle Hardy. Perhaps he will be better in elementary school. It reminds me of the situation where the old Janney Principal was put in charge of Brookland Middle School. That was a complete disaster and after 2 years she moved back to being an Elementary School Principal (Brent).

I'm fine if you think I sound nuts. None of this happens without extreme parent overreach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

This line of thinking confuses me. DCPS did have an opportunity to act at year end, not act at all or take the action they took. They could have put him on a PIP. They could have provided additional support. DCPS had all available information. The parents who complained didn't, the staff didn't and you didn't. The party that had the most information made a decision to remove him. Seems pretty egotistical of you to be second-guessing DCPS.

But it's not egotistical of you to second-guess a teacher in the building? Hmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was the decision to remove before school year's end about trying to get families to not move over the summer?

The parents wanted a plan to find a new principal for the next school year before the principal hiring window soon closes.

Why the current principal was removed before the end of this school year is unknown outside of DCPS, as far as I know. Perhaps DCPS had reasons, perhaps PJ preferred to be done in the circumstance -- random parents like me do not know.

This statement is incorrect. The petition everyone signed demands his immediate removal. The idea came from the group of hysterical parents.

Not so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

My lord you think a lot of yourselves.

I do. I've worked hard to become a great teacher, and I take a lot of pride in my work. I don't like the way this went down and some of my colleages feel the same. I don't think its a negative to be confident in your abilities and assured that you can find a better role elsewhere. Adjusting to new administration can often be an additional burden and I'd rather do that at a school that doesn't have this sort of parent - school relationship.

I’m not a Hardy parent but you sound nuts. If you are mad at how this went down, you should be mad at the Chancellor and Central Office. They are the ones who decided to remove him immediately. Parents have limited power. Central Office doesn’t care what teachers think as you know full well. It is pretty clear they felt that this principal could not handle Hardy. Perhaps he will be better in elementary school. It reminds me of the situation where the old Janney Principal was put in charge of Brookland Middle School. That was a complete disaster and after 2 years she moved back to being an Elementary School Principal (Brent).

I'm fine if you think I sound nuts. None of this happens without extreme parent overreach

Being concerned about the safety of their children and the quality of their education is "extreme parent overreach"? Quite to the contrary, the PTO, LSAT, and grade liaisons have done the Hardy community proud for demanding accountability from DCPS. What they did was by no means easy, but should be a model for others to follow throughout the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

This line of thinking confuses me. DCPS did have an opportunity to act at year end, not act at all or take the action they took. They could have put him on a PIP. They could have provided additional support. DCPS had all available information. The parents who complained didn't, the staff didn't and you didn't. The party that had the most information made a decision to remove him. Seems pretty egotistical of you to be second-guessing DCPS.

But it's not egotistical of you to second-guess a teacher in the building? Hmm.

To second-guess a teacher about the Principal's HR issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

Holy Word Salad, Batman. Please tell me you "teach" PE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

Freudian slip aside (you have indeed done "none of this"), I can't find it on the almost 40 pages of preceding posts. I can find plenty of examples of people incorrectly claiming the parents went from nothing to removal in one meeting, but that has been debunked with facts and details. Why don't you point us to the posts where anyone suggests anything other than claiming removal was racism. Or just offer a suggestion for what could have been done?

Again, we'll wait...

You could let the people in charge of DCPS work with a new leader. They would have probably put him on a PIP, been more hands on with the school from the start next year, send in some swing support from central. You chose to overstep and its done now. I guess you will all have to live with whomever comes next, and whatever staff remains.

I can tell you though, as someone who works personnel, filling classrooms with bodies is easy. Filling them with good teachers who want to be there is tough. Any highly qualified teacher in DCPS is getting multiple offers these days, and I have no idea why they would choose Hardy after this.

My lord you think a lot of yourselves.

I do. I've worked hard to become a great teacher, and I take a lot of pride in my work. I don't like the way this went down and some of my colleages feel the same. I don't think its a negative to be confident in your abilities and assured that you can find a better role elsewhere. Adjusting to new administration can often be an additional burden and I'd rather do that at a school that doesn't have this sort of parent - school relationship.

I’m not a Hardy parent but you sound nuts. If you are mad at how this went down, you should be mad at the Chancellor and Central Office. They are the ones who decided to remove him immediately. Parents have limited power. Central Office doesn’t care what teachers think as you know full well. It is pretty clear they felt that this principal could not handle Hardy. Perhaps he will be better in elementary school. It reminds me of the situation where the old Janney Principal was put in charge of Brookland Middle School. That was a complete disaster and after 2 years she moved back to being an Elementary School Principal (Brent).

I'm fine if you think I sound nuts. None of this happens without extreme parent overreach

Being concerned about the safety of their children and the quality of their education is "extreme parent overreach"? Quite to the contrary, the PTO, LSAT, and grade liaisons have done the Hardy community proud for demanding accountability from DCPS. What they did was by no means easy, but should be a model for others to follow throughout the city.

The Hardy "community" doesn't seem that proud, IMO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IS and the new principal were outside greeting students as they arrived at the school. Compare that to months and months of no one bothering to be there for the kids when they arrived. The one man assigned to the entrance just played on his phone the entire time, sitting inside.

This is not a big thing. But it is telling. Do I care about my kid being greeted? Yes, but mainly because it is correlated with a lot of other things I really care about but cannot observe as easily.

Honeymoon period

Johnson was asked, time and time again, to have staff greet the students each day to guide them into the school. It is a ritual worth practicing: each student learns "hey, I see you. I'm glad that you're here. Let's go have a good day together." Johnson had no interest. He didn't even bother to make sure Patterson was upstairs, albeit on a chair on his phone.

Likewise, he was instructed time and time again (I can point to personal communications from back in February on this) to have staff out front of Safeway after school. He never bothered to do this until the fight videos started circulating, and even then he didn't do it with any reliability. During the fight two weeks ago, he was standing on the other side of the street, not at the bus stop / safeway as the commotion unfolded. He appears in the background in one of the videos.

This is an example of the type of controlling parent behavior that will result in no qualified principal being interested in working at Hardy. Students have to be greeted at the door each morning as they had to go thru a metal detector and get their attendance taken ANYWAY. Therefor, telling a principal who has 3000 things to do that he has to greet students at the door is inappropriate, unless you're his boss. And how entitled does a parent have to be to "instruct" a principal greet their child at the door? I can see why anyone interacting with this mind numbing group of parents would stop doing anything they asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

You say that like there are 2 Black male principals in DC.

If you randomly pulled a DCPS principal out of a hat, are not they likely to be Black? Aren't about half of those men?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

No one here is calling any teachers such things. Only incoherent Macedonian trolls on here pretending to be teachers while spouting a bunch of tired racist nonsense. Meanwhile, everyone else who actually gives a damn about the educational experience at Hardy MS understands fairly clearly that the outcome, while not particularly pleasant, is in the best interests of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The IS and the new principal were outside greeting students as they arrived at the school. Compare that to months and months of no one bothering to be there for the kids when they arrived. The one man assigned to the entrance just played on his phone the entire time, sitting inside.

This is not a big thing. But it is telling. Do I care about my kid being greeted? Yes, but mainly because it is correlated with a lot of other things I really care about but cannot observe as easily.

Honeymoon period

Johnson was asked, time and time again, to have staff greet the students each day to guide them into the school. It is a ritual worth practicing: each student learns "hey, I see you. I'm glad that you're here. Let's go have a good day together." Johnson had no interest. He didn't even bother to make sure Patterson was upstairs, albeit on a chair on his phone.

Likewise, he was instructed time and time again (I can point to personal communications from back in February on this) to have staff out front of Safeway after school. He never bothered to do this until the fight videos started circulating, and even then he didn't do it with any reliability. During the fight two weeks ago, he was standing on the other side of the street, not at the bus stop / safeway as the commotion unfolded. He appears in the background in one of the videos.

This is an example of the type of controlling parent behavior that will result in no qualified principal being interested in working at Hardy. Students have to be greeted at the door each morning as they had to go thru a metal detector and get their attendance taken ANYWAY. Therefor, telling a principal who has 3000 things to do that he has to greet students at the door is inappropriate, unless you're his boss. And how entitled does a parent have to be to "instruct" a principal greet their child at the door? I can see why anyone interacting with this mind numbing group of parents would stop doing anything they asked.

I believe they mean instructed by DCPS; the poster just knows about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If tackling structural racism means asking a parent to not advocate for their kid in the best way they can, I don’t see how we’ll make progress.

I think what most people are trying to tell you on this thread is that you are not advocating for kids in the best way possible

Why is this not the best way? Because you have created a racism straw man to deflect from an actual discussion? Your starting position is because the principal was black people needed to be careful because he's brittle. Setting aside the offensive racist stereotype of a black leader who can't handle criticism or meet the standard, the way you've set up the "rules" means anything but stroking his hair and telling him he's wonderful for trying hard is racism.

You have lots of commentary for how this was not the right way to do it. Tell us (without injecting false accusations of racism) what should have been done. We'll wait...

I and many other posters have done none of this, so I don't really feel like there is anything to respond to here. I've shared above why this has damaged the school community not just this year but going forward.

And? Yes, the petition was an extreme action. The DCPS (or PJ?) decision to effect reassignment before the end of the year was dramatic.

The change is disruptive, but the situation was untenable.

If this situation is what you consider untenable, then you have had a blessed life. Not one person has argued that Hardy is idyllic; but people on here are acting as if no learning has happened, as if its impossible to survive a day without being injured, and none of that is true.

To not give a person one year to learn how to do an incredibly complex job is absolutely ridiculous. The way some of you continue to justify your behavior, despite the fact that you've set the school up for a miserable transition, is really disheartening.

It is telling that the best anyone can say in defense of the Principal is that no one died and it wasn't a hellscape. Also that he tried really hard and the job is hard.

That's all anyone can say of any middle school in DCPS. And none of those schools had their principals reassigned. None of them had a group of hysterical parents start a petition demanding his immediate removal. The one principal who's been removed mid year in recent memory happens to be a black man. That's telling. The other mid year removals of principals going back forever have been do to their being scapegoats for DCPS' poor policies. This one...looks to be the same.

Look, let's just call a spade a spade. The hysterical parents just didn't want him back next year but because they didn't think central office would listen, they demanded his immediate removal (again, because the PTO presidents are hysterical). The spineless IS, having been named personally in the petition and probably annoyed he had to actually do anything, decided to go ahead and remove him so parents wouldn't think he was the problem the way they already though PJ was the problem. And now that the parents have gotten everything they wanted and, in the process, ruined the collegiality they have enjoyed with the staff, are trying to say it's everyone else' fault but theirs. They want to call teachers drunk, egotistical, lazy, inconsistent and everything else even though all of those teachers and problems were the same ones in place when it was a magical unicorn fairy dust school the year before. Don't look anywhere else, parents. Congratulations, your white privilege worked.

Holy Word Salad, Batman. Please tell me you "teach" PE.

Everything is word salad to you, I'm sure.