I just saw a video of the entire Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security board meeting from this evening. Since I’m the only blog (or media at this point) really writing about DAPSS these days, I feel it is safe to assume Board President Margie Lopez-Waite was talking about “the blog”. But an even bigger question is where the Delaware Charter School Network was? Isn’t their job to support charter schools? Where was Kendall Massett?
Margie did all the talking for the entire board. She played a game of bait and switch with the members of the audience. On one hand, she said she became the “scapegoat” for the slew of termination notices that went out Monday. She said Head of School Herb Sheldon played a direct role in that. She is trying to make it sound like those were his decisions to make and carry out. But then, on the other hand, she has the board pass a motion to revisit those terminations. She said, “A school can’t function if we don’t let the leaders lead”. But she is attempting to play to the crowd.
In terms of the DAPSS programs going away, Margie said emphatically they are not going away. But she said several times she wants to essentially marry DAPSS and her long-term goal of having an ASPIRA high school. That is her vision. No one else is screaming for that vision. Do not let her fool you. She saw an opportunity and struck.
“When I look in the mirror, I know who I am…And I hope that one day you guys learn the person I am. Cause I have no agenda here. I have no motivation other than helping children. So you can read all you want on the blog. You can get your information from those sources but they’re all completely wrong. That person doesn’t know me. They are just trying to feed you information. “
You are absolutely right Margie. I don’t know you. I’ve seen you a handful of times prior to your involvement in DAPSS. I’ve never written about anything big at ASPIRA as I have other Delaware charter schools. But what you seem to forget is the nature of this blog. I don’t pull stuff out of the air. It comes to me. From multiple sources. If I have nothing to write about, I don’t write. Plain and simple. And yes, I am trying to feed information. What is the purpose of this blog if it isn’t to inform? I don’t get paid. I could care less if 10 people read this or 5,000. I’m just getting it out there because once upon a time I needed information. Guess where I found a lot of it? Not in mainstream media articles. I found it on blogs. From people that were there. From comments on blogs. From what I heard, YOU didn’t know a lot of the staff that were fired the other day either. In fact, one staff member pointed out how you had never once said hello to him during your many visits to the school.
You said that less than 20% of the teachers were cut. But at the same time you said other teachers “resigned” because they weren’t able to take alternative positions. When you tell a full-time teacher they have to become a part-time teacher and they can’t afford that, you aren’t offering them an opportunity. You are basically saying “you mean nothing but I don’t have the guts to just come out and fire you so I’ll let you quit first.” Which, in my opinion, is extremely scummy. So if those people are getting the “demote or leave” slip, what does the percentage come out to factoring that in Margie? I get the financial perspective and sometimes there is fat to be trimmed. But we both know this was more than that. Don’t try to downplay it at a board meeting. Say those numbers in public including staff members.
You sit there and say you have no agenda or motivation while at the same time you are telling people who were just screaming at you that you want to merge DAPSS with your ASPIRA high school. You say you don’t want to interfere with the Head of School but you effectively took over the board, got folks who you KNOW will vote with you (hello Joanne Schlossberg from Newark Charter School), and all of a sudden pink slips are going out left and right. You talked about the Charter School Accountability Committee meetings and how you wished folks came down to Dover. I did. I was there. I heard you say you were going to make tough decisions people were not going to like. Not the board. Not the Head of School. But you. Not once did I hear a damn thing about your plan to merge DAPSS and this ASPIRA high school. I heard the rumors that you have always wanted that. Nor did you mention this HUGE need to have Spanish and Chinese programs at DAPSS. So don’t try to spin this as if you are some scapegoat. You initiated all of this. Like you are the damn superhero that “saved the school”. You didn’t save anything. You are an opportunist who saw a chance to get your precious dual language high school on the cheap without just doing it yourself. And you pissed off a ton of people along the way. I don’t need to know you. I need to listen, and hear, and report. You also don’t know me. Nor have you ever made a point to. And I’m okay with that.
As for the part where she started conversing with a parent DURING public comment IN SPANISH, that happened when the father stated he was Puerto Rican like her. She began speaking in Spanish to him but he shot her down and explained that even though he knows the language he speaks English in his house and his kids do as well. He said Spanish is NOT the most important language in the world. But when folks are complaining about having dual language programs at their school, that probably isn’t the best time to start talking in Spanish during a board meeting when someone else is giving public comment. The fact I have to point this out speaks volumes!
Lopez-Waite listened to what parents had to say. She took the jabs and expressed her opinions about them. But never once did she say anything about reconsidering HER vision for an ASPIRA high school. Even though the parents, former students, and current students loudly said they didn’t want the current programming diluted by HER vision. When you fail to truly listen and act on what you are hearing, by ignoring the will of the people (and that audience was the DAPSS family), you disrespect them.
Did DAPSS need changes? Well, yeah, they were under formal review and about to get shut down. The only thing that shocked me about all that is how long it took the Delaware DOE to initiate that formal review. But Lopez-Waite came in like a bear and wanted to tear the camp apart. And she did. Take responsibility for your actions. Own them. Be accountable. That’s what we want our students to learn. But when the adults can’t do it, how the hell do you think the students will?
When you have a “vision”, it is often a coin toss. If you fail to see the other side of the coin, you can’t be shocked when that coin comes up tails. That’s exactly what happened with Margie Lopez-Waite tonight. She underestimated parents, staff, and students. She assumed it was the same crowd she has at ASPIRA. It backfired big time! With this crowd, you wouldn’t dare pull your next move, which was to make yourself Head of School at DAPSS. They would have fileted you alive and you knew it. Which was why the board meeting was cut short before you could even get through the agenda.
And once more, for the record, where’s Kendall?
The Season Of Myths 