July 7, 2010 - 2:00PM - I present the details of my previous posts to Principal Tish Howard and Fairfax County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Cluster Four Scott Brabrand. Having discussed my concerns with each of them separately, I follow the Assistant Superintendent's recommendation and meet with the two together. The meeting went as expected with very little consideration from Scott Brabrand of FCPS. The death threat and harassment at Washington Mill Elementary was downplayed and my concerns with Tish Howard's leadership and achievement failures were not addressed. I received the standardized thanks for the feedback from Scott Brabrand and was sent on my way.Most noteworthy during this meeting was Dr. Tish Howard denial of multiple statements made in person and on email including “There were NO adults negligent for whatever behaviors your son incurred in the restroom and there were not two threats of shooting.” - HIGHLIGHTED BELOW... I had this email printed and the statement highlighted but when I offered it to Scott Brabrand he was not interested.
On the bathroom harassment incident, Dr. Tish Howard claimed she never knew the name of the child or children involved. I reminded her the subject line of the email ABOVE containing her denial of responsibility for the incident was the name of the only child my son was able to identify. Again Scott Brabrand was not interested.
During this meeting Tish Howard also denied making two statements in our first meeting where she belittled my concerns, but I had recorded her comments:
"What do you think this is the twilight zone?"
“You are moving to aspirin in schools”
Tish Howard's memory on these two statements was not so good but ironically she remembered and admitted to saying "I could care less about the VDOE (Virginia Department of Education)." On all of these, NO reaction from Scott Brabrand.
Throughout our first meeting Assistant Superintendent Scott Brabrand mentioned numerous times how he gets thing done. Twice exclaiming how he had removed the principal of nearby middle school Carl Sandberg after only six months. Now, one year into his appointment Scott Brabrand seems disinterested in my concerns and protective of his administrator.
I questioned how after three years of failing SOL's this principal was allowed to publish a book using the guise of success in her role at Washington Mill to profit financially. Scott Brabrand's only response was the book approval was granted before his time. Tish Howard's "Poverty is Not a Learning Disability" sold thousands of copies during her period of regular absences from Washington Mill and multiple years of failing to meet the state AYP (Virginia's Adequate Yearly Progress). The book proclaims her success during this period but the tests tell the real story.
I raised the issue of Tish Howard regularly being out of her office at the school, something I experienced during each of the incidents involving my son. This was something both current and former staff of the school voice as contributing to questionable leadership. Numerous staff members have privately confided they are best served when Tish Howard is not around and that her tone with both staff and children is often unprofessional and inappropriate. The response on this from Scott Brabrand was "That's great feedback!".
Our meeting concluded with Scott Brabrand reminding me that if I knew other parents with concerns to direct them to his office so they could be addressed. I'm not sure his office is capable of identifying or addressing issues.
Here is a list of local schools and their 2009 3rd grade SOL's from greatschools.org (Order: Math / Reading / History / Science)
Washington Mill Elementary School 63% 76% 67% 65%
Woodley Hills Elementary School 81% 81% 91% 85%
Woodlawn Elementary School 66% 66% 82% 65%
Riverside Elementary School 87% 88% 92% 84%
Fort Belvoir Elementary School 84% 83% 89% 90%
Fort Hunt Elementary School 93% 92% 94% 95%
Stratford Landing Elementary School 94% 95% 100% 97%
Mt Vernon Woods Elementary School 85% 80% 87% 79%
Waynewood Elementary School 89% 87% 91% 91%
Hollin Meadows Elementary School 85% 85% 88% 89%
Hayfield Elementary School 92% 91% 96% 95%
Hybla Valley Elementary School 88% 88% 97% 94%
Groveton Elementary School 84% 88% 93% 87%
Island Creek Elementary School 87% 91% 93% 96%
Bucknell Elementary School 70% 78% 94% 80%
Lane Elementary School 91% 92% 93% 87%
Stratford Landing Elementary School 94% 95% 100% 97%
Mt Vernon Woods Elementary School 85% 80% 87% 79%
Waynewood Elementary School 89% 87% 91% 91%
Hollin Meadows Elementary School 85% 85% 88% 89%
Hayfield Elementary School 92% 91% 96% 95%
Hybla Valley Elementary School 88% 88% 97% 94%
Groveton Elementary School 84% 88% 93% 87%
Please email me or post a comment if you have questions about anything in this post. My goal is to have death threats, harassment and bullying be taken more seriously.
Jason
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