Student rejected by 13 schools case may go to Supreme Court

Parent Cafe
181

Maybe. Maybe not. Be aware of the amount of speculation here.

Nothing tells us she was a logical candidate for tippy tops. Not Commended and not a 720 chem score. One thing it seems we know is she’d didn’t include a range of matches and safeties.

I’d guess (while we’re all guessing,) that the school pressed Spelman. Not because she’s Nigerian or they don’t like her. But because that’s where she did match. I can imagine them needing a lot of convincing her it was a good choice, to get her to agree. Then she dropped it. Why? Because she thought he ws really tippy top material? No one should assume.

Lots we don’t know.

182

I must admit I rifle at the rather targeted use of ’ dumb’ and ‘stupid’ in assessing some of the choices this family and student made in going forward with a college application list so top-heavy with <10% admit rates.

Yes, I am sensitive that way.

So much of what I have gleaned of this situation has resonated with me, from the concern of a differential grading policy where one of my kids was concerned, to being perceived as a parental ‘PITA’ (my favorite) by some in administration, to the attendant worries of retaliation and lukewarm recommendations, both before and during the period of college selection and application.

These issues have resonated deeply, but, of course, there are differences in actions taken and choices made, both by me and (I would have to presume) the Head of School, where a top-down modeling of how to proceed resulted in my being able to say to this day that I think the Head of School is great. I still consider our family to be part of that school community/that school family.

Our oldest kid, a HS '14 graduate, had a list which was, we know now, top-heavy also (including the state flagship- no safety by anyone’s standards). It seemed reasonable to us, though, when looking at the literature from the respective colleges, so we thought nothing of it. It all worked out.

Like our family, I am presuming the family looked at the kid and kid’s strengths, drive and overall profile, as well as the long exposure to a quality education with teachers who were excited to see kid walk onto campus each morning, and thought “Of course this is going to go well, so much already has, this seems to be a natural next step.”

No, we never sued or even threatened to sue the school, though it occurs to me that my use of certain phrasing (“protected class”) in the most tense of meetings may have lent itself to sounding as if that were an avenue of approach I was ready to take (it was not).

Many of the fine points of this case to which our attention has been drawn by some posters, like QuantMech, warrant a less dismissive and eyeball-rolling tone than I think some are wont to give.

183

Parents are rarely objective judges of their student’s strengths, drive, and overall profile compared to their classmates, which is why the college counselors there perform such a valuable service and reality check.

184

W2E, just remember that how we may relate isn’t necessarily the facts. All we have in this case are the claims.

This reminds me of another big news lawsuit, where plaintiffs insist there’s smoke, and fire. It still remains to be proven. But meanwhile, think of all the posters so sure the suit is worthy, because the plaintifs say so.

Just not enough.

185

I don’t think people are saying that just because someone brought a lawsuit, it automatically has merit, but you can still believe some of what the plaintiff says and agree with the court’s decision. The shredding of evidence, the settlement money the school gave out would show that the there could be some merit.

“No one should assume.”

Right but we also shouldn’t assume everything with the math teacher was the up and up, we know from a lot of current research that people have many unconscious biases, so without even knowing, the teacher could have penalized the student because of her race or her parents causing trouble, things that have happened before and will happen again.

186

“Parents are rarely objective judges of their student’s strengths, drive, and overall profile compared to their classmates, which is why the college counselors there perform such a valuable service and reality check.”

Interesting comment, as it takes on the perspective of making a comparative assessment at all - which is the job of the counselors.

I think my view, and comment, were meant to convey that when one looks at one’s kid (in the most objective way possible) in light of what the university seems to be looking for and offers, and finds one’s kid a good fit (again, as much as one can tell) it is more than a cold wind on a cavity to find one has been that wrong.

In such instances, if there is an environment where one has had credible reason to know and feel injury has been done to the kid by someone with auhority enough to impact a child’s educational trajectory, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to always view as suspect the motives and actions of that someone and that convening body n matters regarding the child.

They may ever hold the administration and faculty suspect, though perhaps the findings of the court, not to mention the undisputed upward tilt of fortune the young lady has known in her admission to and graduation from Penn, will now allow them enough reason to lay that bag of hurt down.

187

We don’t really know enough to be dismissive of the claim, nor do we know enough to feel confident of its validity. I don’t understand why so many posters have decided to ridicule the plaintiff, as if their intuition in this case is somehow a reflection of more than speculation. If the lower court rejection is all we need to take the school’s side in this issue, I think we’re missing out on a situation more complicated than might appear on the surface.

My personal supposition is that certain individuals at the school behaved inappropriately, not necessarily in concert with one another, and probably as vindictive retribution for what they perceived as an annoying (or worse) family. I also expect that the plaintiff can’t prove the charges, and probably never will. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t true, and maybe Sidwell’s reputation deserves to take a hit, provable or not.

188

I’m still puzzled as to what harm plaintiff claims to have suffered-was Penn not enough? She wanted more choices than just Penn and Williams? She should have been admitted everywhere? Many parents have been surprised as to the results given to their average excellent children, to quote one poster.

189

I would guess that schools, like companies, carry insurance for situations like this. When a company is sued, they usually have to let the insurance company defend the claim. Insurance companies typically settle and pay out rather than incur the cost of a long drawn out trial. I mention this because there have been several comments that the school must have done something wrong to have paid $50 000 (probably as a tuition refund. ) Based on my experience in the business and nonprofit world, I don’t think we can conclude anything except that something happened earlier that was resolved with $ – at someone’s prodding perhaps.

190

No one. But if she doesn’t get hired, she will sue. ?

191

Thank you for your comments, RandyErika and WaitingtoExhale.

With regard to roycroftmom’s question as to what harm the plaintiff has suffered: It is my understanding that if a person has been discriminated against on the basis of race, the person has suffered a harm, regardless of how splendiferously everything else may have worked out for the person. I think this is correct legally, though a lawyer on the thread might weigh in on this issue. I am not by any means certain that the student was discriminated against on the basis of race, but neither am I certain that she was not.

Also, with regard to all of the posts arguing that “everyone encounters unfair teachers who grade unfairly–get over it,”
I think there is a difference between getting a grade lower than one wants and getting a grade that cuts off enrollment in the next class that one wants–in this case Math III, which appears to be “better” than the calculus track the student took.

On the one hand, I understand that educators do not want a student to take a high-school class that is really too hard for the student. So they use grades in earlier courses to prevent enrollment in higher-level math, preventing that from happening.

However, I am not sure that was in danger of happening in this case. The student clearly missed some classes in order to travel to out-of-state track meets. The Math II teacher does not seem to have been very accommodating of this. The student would have missed some of the classroom instruction that might have been important to showing understanding at a deeper level. (I have found in my own experiences in the past that getting other students’ notes does not fully compensate for missing classes.) The student may have been precluded from taking a test that significantly impacted her grade. The teacher shredded the work and the original grade records, despite being instructed by the headmaster to preserve them. So I think there is a possibility that the student might have been just fine in Math III.

My spouse is of the opinion that at lot of grading in the prerequisites for advanced math courses in high schools comes down to “social compliance math.” No adverse effects in our family, but I do see his point.

Finally, sheesh, lookingforward, I am the standardized-test-score snob here! :). I think a 720 on the SAT II Chemistry exam could be fine. Perhaps everyone else at Sidwell Friends who took this SAT II scored 800 and the chemistry class covered everything needed. But maybe it didn’t. Perhaps some topics were postponed to second-year high school chemistry (if offered) and the student in question did not take it. I would have no qualms working with a student with a 720 Chem score. Also, since the student was in DC, her commended status might have been due to a PSAT score of 220 (probably not, but this is numerically possible). I would not throw rocks at a PSAT score above 210, and the student’s score appears to have been above 207, at the very least.

192

Emotional damages for breach of contract. (I guess the gap year delay caused emotional distress?)

193

So let me outline the plot.

They welcomed her as a student for 14 years, offering her the tools to achieve at such a high level.

The administration, math teacher and academic counselors then decide to conspire to submarine her applications.

They did so based on her race and Nigerian heritage.

This latent racism, unable to be kept in check was so overpowering they chose to wait until she is about to leave ? Right when her success would make them look great. Help their ivy rankings and diversity scores.

This plan occurring within the nation’s most prestigious, socially aware Quaker school, all at the same time being under the watchful eyes of DC progressives and the team’s monitoring both Sasha and Malia Obama’s every move.

Come on people. Does this sound reasonable or even remotely possible.

Set aside any preexisting world view for a moment.

194

I feel also perhaps some are missing here in declaring her academic accomplishments and test scores as average is that she would be evaluated by perspective schools as an URM. No?

One of the reasons I read her family was upset about the counselor portraying her as Nigerian, and not African American, is that she wouldn’t qualify for Affirmative action benefit perspectives.

As one of the top 14 African American PSAT scorers, a state champion athlete , and a student of one of the most elite schools in the Country, she should have been a very viable candidate for all those schools from an affirmative action perspective. As a URM, she had great credentials, especially when compared against peer URMs from DC.

From this perspective, she was a viable ivy/top school candidate- evidenced that she was indeed recruited by several ivy athletic coaches and eventually accepted into Penn and Williams. While her family may have been crazy (IMO) to litigate this, I don’t think they were crazy with respect to gauging her academic/ college caliber potential.

I find it baffling that Sidwell paid 50K in damages and changed multiple grades that were miscalculated to the student’s determent …that isn’t business as usual. -(not just in the two Math classes, there was also mention of an incorrect grade put in the transcript for her Black Liberation in America class that was subsequently changed).

Is this common that teachers would have so many erroneous grades put in the transcript especially for a URM student? How does a top school like this stay in business when they have such difficulty calculating grades appropriately?

I also feel sympathy for Dayo here when I read so many posters saying she should never get a job because of this. She has had a successful collegiate career and black female engineers are a minority in the industry. To be held back by something in HS, that really wasn’t her fault, seems extreme and would be to the industry’s loss IMO.

IMO, As a HS student (and probably even now) its her family pushing the litigation. As a teenager you trust your family to handle things like this. If they say lets call a lawyer, I doubt she would be able to refuse, esp knowing that the school had not acted in her best interest. It is also my opinion that maybe the lawyer isnt acting in her best interests. Nor whoever sent this to multiple press outlets…

195

The math teacher had already hurt the student’s admissions chances, and no assumption of conspiracy is needed. The student got a C+/C in Math II. But worse, then the student could not take Math III. The top colleges presumably have a clue or are given a clue about the better math track at Sidwell Friends. The student was intending (and indeed has completed) a STEM major.

Setting aside any preexisting world view, I take the following as apparent facts: The student missed classes in Math II due to out-of-state athletic competitions. The Math II teacher does not seem to have accommodated this much. That certainly fits within the set of experiences I have heard about. At my university, some professors will not permit varsity athletes to take make-up exams, even though I believe that they are technically required to do so. I have heard some faculty complaining that they are expected to accommodate university varsity athletes in their classes. So a high school teacher does not want to accommodate an athlete on a non-school team? Seems very believable.

Then the girl alleges that she never took a test that she was given a 79 on. All the teacher would have had to do to shut this complaint down was to produce the test. Do you think she did that?

How do you view the apparent fact that the teacher shredded the work of the student and the original grade book? You think that did not happen? Maybe it did not. Of course I don’t know. But if a teacher assigned a grade to a test a student never took, being unable to produce it because it was shredded is a better excuse than being unable to produce it because it does not exist. Maybe the teacher just routinely shreds everything at the end of the year, and forgot there might be any questions about it. Maybe the teacher did not shred things, and the student’s claim that she did not take the test is false. I don’t really assume anything, but I tend to think some things are more probable than others.

Bias of math profs against athletes who miss class for competition is not unheard of in my world (non-athlete here).

196

The student declares their race and cultural ethnicity. She’s American and African. African American is checked. Next.

The counselor maybe sincerely mentioning a great life story or how she embraced her heritage positively is a coded negative?

Or they wrote negative things about Nigerian people or culture. And did this is writing?

And Ivy League college admissions people were part of the plot by exposing their bias of the Nigerian culture. They understood Nigerian is code for bad somehow and unattractive to them. The interviewers must have gotten a heads up too. Play the Nigerian card to ruin her college admissions.

Sorry. Nope. Didn’t happen. And to me this is some Bizzaro World of opposites. All of this is positive for an application. The URM preference. The great life story. The athletic prowess. The grades.
The African born parents. It’s all wonderful. How would this be biased.

Think of the political culture of an Ivy League or DC elite school. It’s just not plausible or part of the dna of the people or systems involved.

This would have been exposed by others including the school. They certainly wouldn’t be fighting this for the world to view after looking into the evidence and finding validity. It would have been a quick settlement, large money and NDAs.

Money is not an issue here for the accused. The reputational harm would be too severe if there was any truth to this at all. The board wouldn’t stand for it.

197

@privatebanker Read the case filings, the school did settle 50,000$ and had put wrong grades in her transcript that they had to change (at least 3 courses) throughout her HS experience. This had been an on going issue with the school. The school admitted to this.

The counselor portrayed her as Nigerian. Her parents are Nigerian, she is American. An African American that would get affirmative action benefits at schools as an American but NOT as a Nigerian.

198

If it doesn’t count as AA under the rules are they alleging that the school should have lied for her ?

She’s an American citizen. Not Nigerian. Many AA have Nigerian ancestry. The counselors do not fill out the ethnicity portion of the application. The student does. She checked off AA. Or she didn’t. That’s her choice, not the school.

And by the way did the counselor lie?

If it is as you stated, isn’t that the truth?

Should the counselor have shaped the answer to fit a narrative that isn’t true to help her get a preference she isn’t entitled to?

Either way. It counted because that’s what she declared. If it shouldn’t count as you suggest then it shouldn’t count as AA because it’s accurate. It did or it didn’t because it was true and factual.

199

We arent privy to the actual letter of rec that was written on her behalf, but the case filing said they were concerned that it portrayed her as Nigerian and not American. Therefore colleges might mistakenly not apply Affirmative Action benefits to her application based on what the counselor wrote.

The school erroneously recorded 3 wrong grades on her transcript and missed a date to change them by. They then changed these grades. They also paid her family 50,000$ for their misdoings, and agreed not to retaliate towards her.

Read the filings, it isn’t so cut and dry that the best school in the country acted without impunity.

200

At post #191:

That is not a legally cognizable claim.

I don’t want to rehash law school here, but basically, actions for breach of contract lie in a different realm than actions for personal injury. “Emotional damages” are allowed in the personal injury (tort) realm but not in the contract realm of the law. So no matter how upset a person may be over a breach of contract, that person cannot recover damages in a court of law because of that. They would have to plead and prove some tortious conduct beyond breach of contract.