Dream On and Reign of Terror

[R. T.]

There won’t be any meeting with the Trustees. No questions will be answered. The Board and Mr. Watson have won by simply refusing to be honest. It works in politics, why not in a school?

Meanwhile, we employees are under the gun, harassed daily for the most insignificant infractions of so-called “norms” that only apply to teachers, not to administrators.

Several fine teachers are looking for other jogs or planning to quit. Just what the administration wants to happen–the new Academy will be docile, apolitical, and staffed by technocrats, not educators.

[Martin]

Andy just announced that this Friday there will be a meeting of senior staff to address leaks. His note says in part:

We will be joined by Walter Stern, our past board chair, who will participate in
his capacity as one of the school’s legal counsels to present some
explicit and implicit ideas about participating in leadership for any
organization. Some of these ideas are already contained in the
documents many of us, and the board of trustees, sign each year.

Gag orders? threats? is this a school or a military junta? Is the school focused on kids and learning or covering up the gross incompetence of the Head and the Board?

[Shocked]

“Leaks?”

What on earth? This is crazy! Does Andy realize how paranoid he sounds?

How is this school ever going to hire good people in the future? Who would move to NM to work in an environment like this?

The problem isn’t leaks. The problem is the board and administration’s abject refusal to accept any responsibility whatsoever for what they’ve done to the school.

[Freedom of Speech]

As I’m sure everyone reading this knows, there is no right to free speech at a private school. That said, at a healthy institution dedicated to educating children, I can think of no legitimate reason for employees to be required to sign nondisclosure agreements (likely to what Andy is referring). The Academy has no need to protect intellectual property or trade secrets! I have many problems with the Academy, all of which have been aired in this forum, but it I were to learn that educators at this school are required to sign NDAs or any other confidentiality clauses that cover decisions related to our children’s education, I would have to pull my children from this school. I would also do everything I could to get this to the press. (Obviously, educators are required to abide by FERPA and not disclose personal student information.) Freedom of speech is one of the most sacred principles in our country, and while a certain president may wish this were not so, I can’t imagine aligning my family with such anti-democratic principles.

[SemperFi]

Martin, thank you for your courageous post. You have done the Academy a huge service. Readers of this blog will know that leaks are an essential part of the democratic process, when normal channels of constructive discourse are blocked by threats and abuse of power.

Mark Felt, a.k.a “Deep Throat, and Daniel Ellsberg were the heroes of Watergate era. If it had not been for their willingness to expose the monstrous crimes of the Nixon administration in its last years, the nation would not have been able to rid itself of absolutely corrupt leadership.

The parallels with the Academy are striking. Mr. Hibbett’s two letters ring out the truth, backed every step of the way with undeniable facts. The Board is silent. And the Watson administration abuses power every step of the way in its effort to silence Academy employees.

Please, Martin, keep up the good work. Let the whole world know what these disgraceful “leaders” are up to. And know that all members of the Academy community who value the truth are with you.

[ClassOf19]

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to record the official statements of the administration and board attempting to hide the complete failure of their fiduciary responsibility. This should prove very, very useful later use in court in regard to staff intimidation, retaliation, whistle blowing.

Everyone present should record every word said – iphones out.

. $150,000,000.00 – Mr. Watson, can you please state, exactly, to the court where, exactly, did it go? Who on the board supported you in these efforts? Who, on the board, financially benefited from decisions made by the board? CFO? Who positioned the CFO? Why should the teachers be silenced on these issues? What, exactly, are you attempting to hide with these intimidation efforts? Lots of material here, it need to be documented, recorded, in full.

[tanzimat]

Great suggestion, ClassOf19.

Freedom of Speech, I enjoyed your post, too. I think you are right that there is no inherent right of free speech at a private school, since employer and employee enter into their relationship of their own free will. As long as the school makes clear in its contract that this or that form of speech will not be tolerated, then clamping down is probably not illegal.

But the Academy actually DOES make a strong protection of free speech in the Faculty and Staff Handbook. The policy, on p. 40, is called “The Right to Dissent.” Its first line reads, “The right to dissent is an essential element in the maintenance of academic freedom.”

Since the Handbook governs the Academy’s employment contract, I am pretty sure that by stifling or forbidding dissent, the Academy is likely in breach of contract. You add that to the written claim by Mr. Honegger that Andy got no raises during the two years he froze salaries, in spite of the Form 990s, and you start seeing some very serious problems for the Academy. There may also be a legal requirement to manage the endowment responsibly, in which case the problems are even worse.

[Step up folks]

+another1 for Martin. Under normal circumstances, upper administration are asked to sign documents to keep sensitive information within the inner circle. These are not normal times.

The veil of “don’t ask because we won’t tell” has been blown. Parents, faculty and students are now asking. The response? A massive waiting game and continued threats to those who speak up. No action on the part of the board is a clear action – basically, we don’t have to show any evidence because we answer to no one of significance.

More than a few faculty still think “facts” as reported by the board in defense of the Watson team are not valid. Until the documents are presented and upper level “leadership” (those above division head & chairs level) continue to refuse to recognize the real problems, take responsibilty for their lack of leadership skills and start asking Why, then this entire fiasco will continue to spiral down.

I laugh when I think I’d ever treat my students this way. I give them the respect they deserve. When we disagree, we talk honestly and learn from each other. So sad upper admins don’t know more about how to work through differences without attacks and, in my opinion, lies and intimidation.

Parent group: you do have support. Please don’t let this action die from exhaustion.

[savetheacademy]

Step Up, thank you for your words of support. We are not giving up and we are not going away; our goal is to ensure that the board does answer, and we will keep pressuring them.

[Not surprised]

Can the Form 990s please be posted so we can see all the data? Part II of Schedule J of those forms show Watson and all the others getting healthy base pay and incentive raises.

[savetheacademy]

There is now a link under “Our Principal Concerns” which will take you to Academy’s IRS filings for the years 2001-2016.

[Author]

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