Anonymous wrote:Matter is hush hush at central but rumors flying around central office are that it has to do with his push back to reopening Francis Stevens. The mayor has decided that schools have to reopen no matter what. No dissent tolerated.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, there is no reliable information out there on why he was fired. Certainly Perry Stein's reporting is incomplete and appears to be based on people's guesswork.
Seems people are going off the rails here assuming this has to do with the reopening of the elementary school. I can say that he was a hugely negative figure at the high school and engaged in some very controversial and widely criticized behavior with the admissions process for the high school last year. I know of many HS students who turned down offers to Walls in part due to the widely criticized weak administration of the school. It is very possible that the HR process for firing him based on that admissions shenanigans just concluded.
+1
People have no idea what goes on at the HS in terms of leadership. And there have been shady things going on with kids admitted late to the school for years. There are a range of feelings towards Walls leadership.
That being said, the timing of this is terrible.
Anonymous wrote:People are unreal. A black chancellor was fired for this. You think the white principal should be held to a different standard. Racism in DC.
Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, there is no reliable information out there on why he was fired. Certainly Perry Stein's reporting is incomplete and appears to be based on people's guesswork.
Seems people are going off the rails here assuming this has to do with the reopening of the elementary school. I can say that he was a hugely negative figure at the high school and engaged in some very controversial and widely criticized behavior with the admissions process for the high school last year. I know of many HS students who turned down offers to Walls in part due to the widely criticized weak administration of the school. It is very possible that the HR process for firing him based on that admissions shenanigans just concluded.
Anonymous wrote:People are unreal. A black chancellor was fired for this. You think the white principal should be held to a different standard. Racism in DC.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am a long time parent at the high school. I have mixed feelings. He did not really know the students. That is true. The other administrators don't really know the students either. They don't know the parents unless you are very active in the school. However, right now is not the best time to make such a big change. The students are very stressed with their course loads and lack of socialization. Throw in college applications for seniors, the stress of what is happening in the world. On top of that, now they will have a temporary principal who doesn't know the school? Unless he did something harmful to the children, this could have waited. I think that he cares about the school and advocates for it. I don't believe he let someone "jump ahead" in admissions. Wouldn't that have occurred in the spring? Why was he fired now. I also never liked him leading two schools because he can't be completely there for both schools. But who agreed to that? That is not his fault. The mayor and chancellor need to consult parents and (high school students) more. Meanwhile there are some lazy principals who lead poorly run schools who are still there.
Not sure what to make of all these comments saying he didn’t know the students. I have 3 kids at Wilson. One actually just graduated so two there presently. Kim Martin doesn’t know any of my kids or their friends. They joke about whether they have a principal because they never see her. She doesn’t know our family even though I try to volunteer sometimes
Not exactly a valid comparison. Wilson has 1800 students, SWW has 600 students. Completely different situations in terms of staff to student interactions. I think SWW talks up the close connections.
He has way more than 600 students given that he also was in charge of Francis Stevens. I don’t know him very well at all but his one saving grace was hiring competent people under him. Wilson, OTH, APs and Academy Directors are mostly all incompetent.