School Administration Bullies Former Student
For 7 years at CWS, as a parent of three students, it was my belief that the school's objective was to create a safe and nurturing environment for children. It was a place where our children not only gained knowledge but also learned how to develop lifelong relationships with their peers, teachers, and the school itself. They were taught to learn from the adults around them and to trust them. The school succeeded in achieving these goals. As a result, my oldest son considers CWS his second home, and he still loves and misses his classmates and most of his teachers.
Unfortunately, recently my son has found himself in a situation where the school administration, specifically two individuals who hold the most influential positions at the school – [SL], Head of School, and [AC], Interim Chief Administrative Officer – have resorted to bullying him. These individuals have failed to clearly articulate the reasons for prohibiting him from visiting the school campus or even being nearby, a privilege that other former students are granted, except for him.
Should I describe my son's current emotions? Imagine the feelings of a 13-year-old boy who refuses to accept the fact that he has been betrayed by the very school where he spent more than half of his young life.
I do not understand the personal grudges these adults have against a 13-year-old boy. I tell my son that it is not his fault that these two individuals, who lack any sense of shame, find it appropriate to use authority to harass and bully a young boy who has done nothing wrong to them or anyone else.
P.S. Unprovoked bullying of my son started a month before I posted my review.
07/22/23 In her determination to punish me through bullying my son, [AC] has recently crossed the legal line. I have documented all the details and made them available below.
Comply and don't question the Party line, or your children will pay the price
In 1935 Joseph Stalin said a phrase that translates to English as "a son is not responsible for the acts of his father". I would like to believe that the CWS administration is also intelligent enough to understand that children have no control over their parents' actions. Unfortunately, as described below, the school administration chose to discriminate and harass my oldest son, who is only 12 years old, for the acts of his father (since they cannot punish me directly).
After I shared our experience with parents of current and future students, I thought I was done with the school, at least until the Woke ideology was removed from it. Fortunately or unfortunately, my oldest son [DF] developed strong relationships with the school and many of its students. This is what the CWS has encouraged and they did succeed in it since he still misses the school and his former classmates.
Most of his friends at CWS don't have emails or cell phones yet and so he cannot contact them directly. For this reason he asked to bring him to the school when possible so that he could meet and play with his former class during their recess time outside the school.
February 16-17, 2023
On February 16-17, 2023 [DF] had no school and so he asked me to drive him to the CWS to meet with his former classmates during their recess time. He did not plan to enter the school or talk to the teachers or administration, but just to play with his friends outside on the unfenced yard in front of the school.
As far as I remember, this was a normal practice for former students to visit the school, some even stayed in classes with their former classmates. So I brought him in, waited outside while he was playing with his friends, then we drove back home. Everything was great — he was happy to see his friends, his friends seemed to be happy to see him, they played together, some teachers and faculty waved "hello" to me when they saw me, I waved them back — things were peaceful.
Later that day I received an email from the Head of School [SL] who wrote:
"We do not allow students who are not enrolled to be on campus during the school day without prior permission. In addition, we have recently learned that D. spoke to a current student about their gender identity at the WInter Faire in a way that was inappropriate. Cedarwood stands behind the safety, feelings, and civil rights of all of our LGBTQ community members, and does not allow these microaggressions. For this reason, D. will not be granted permission to visit campus during the school day at Cedarwood in the future.".
I was not aware of the unfenced territory in front of the school being the school campus and thus being restricted, and so I asked for clarification. In my email I also asked for details about my son speaking "in a way that was inappropriate" to anyone during the Winter Faire. [SL] responded saying that the school rents the front yard from the City of Portland and so they can decide who can be there during school hours. In her response [SL] ignored my request to provide details about the accusation that she made against my son.
I replied and repeated my request to provide evidence of my son's misbehavior, but my email was ignored. I noticed that this is common for [SL] and other school officials to make harassing accusations, but ignore requests to back their accusations with proof. This time they crossed the line and made the accusation against my 12 year old son, the minor.
Since [SL] restricted my son from accessing the front-yard during school hours I told him that he can play with his classmates on the playground in the public park next to the school's front-yard. During recess students can play in the front-yard and in the park, so my son could play with them in the park without asking for the school's permission.
The next day, on February 17th, I dropped [DF] at lunch time by the school and instructed him to go and play in the park. When he was going through the front-yard to ask his friends to join him in the park he saw their teacher [JG]. He approached her and they had a brief conversation:
| [DF]: | Can I please stay at this playground? |
| [JG]: | D., you shouldn't be here. |
| [DF]: | Why? |
| [JG]: | Your parents don't have good relationships with the school. |
The teacher literally told my son that he is being punished for his parents' actions!
My son followed her request and went to the playground in the park, some of his friends followed him and they had a great time. While [DF] was on the playground, he was approached by [SL], they talked for a minute or two and then he went back to his friends. Later he told me that [SL] just asked whether he had the school that day or not.
Even though [SL] and [JG] clearly expressed their unwelcomeness to my son, he had no hard feelings and he even waved them "Thank you!" from the car when we were taking off after the recess was over.
Teacher's Attitude
It was interesting to observe a change in [JG]'s attitude towards my son and my family. We first met in August of 2022 when she organized an informal get together at the Sellwood Riverfront Park to meet with her students and their parents. We had left the school by then, but another parents invited [DF] and so my wife and I were there too. Kids had a great time, we had a good conversation with the new teacher, she even said that she would be pleased to see [DF] visiting his former classmates and even stay in the class with them.
On November 8th, 2022 my wife contacted [JG] and asked if our son can visit the school during recess time on November 10th. Initially [JG] responded with "yes" and she even did not mind him staying after the recess. Then she replied with "I’m sorry to do this but there is some concern with [DF] coming to school for that length of time without being an enrolled student".
Again, it was not unusual that a former student would visit his or her friends in school and on rare occasions even stay during class time (as described below). Apparently, the school administration informed the teacher that [DF]'s father has some disagreements with the school and so [DF] is no longer welcome.
March 10th, 2023
On March 9th, 2023 my son's former classmates told him that their former classmate [LM] who moved to another city is visiting Portland and she is staying in the school and in the class from Monday through Friday (in reality she stayed until Thursday).
When our son found out about [LM] not only visiting the school during recess time, but actually spending the entire week in the class, he naturally wanted to have another chance to see his friends (not [LM]). Remembering difficulties during his last visit a few weeks before and trying to avoid any conflicts I contacted [SL], reminded her about the situation with [LM] and asked for a formal permission for my son to visit the school on Friday, March 10th, 2023 and play with his classmates outside the school during recess time.
In her response [SL] not only denied my request for [DF] to visit the school, but she also accused my son of harassing some non-binary student in the school for 4 years!
Here is a part of her response mentioning harassment:
This accusation was a blatant lie for several reasons:
-
Until October 21, 2021 my son was an innocent 11 year old child who had no idea who binary, non-binary, heterosexuals, homosexuals and other -sexuals are.
It was the Cedarwood School who introduced him and his classmates to the topic of sexual orientation and identity, and they did this on October 21, 2021.Therefore, it is not possible that he could "mutter homophobic comments to the student in the hall on a regular basis" for 3 years prior to him being introduced to the topic.
- I refuse to believe that [DWN], a mother of this non-binary person, would tolerate her child being harassed at the school for 4 years, especially knowing that [DWN] is a member of the Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of DEIJ Committee.
- I refuse to believe that a person who was brave enough to come out as non-binary at the age of 9 or 10 would tolerate and tell no one, including mother, about 4 year long continuous harassment from a boy who is 2 years younger.
- Anyone who knows my son will confirm that with his personality he is naturally incapable of harassing people, especially "on a regular basis" and doing it "for four years".
I don't know who created this lie — [SL], [DWN] or her daughter — but I know from my similar experience with [SL] in the past that she does not always find it necessary to verify the information before acting on it, not even when her actions harass minors and their parents.
As for the Winter Faire situation, I asked my son and he said that when he met [DWN]'s daughter at the Winter Faire (end of 2022) he was surprised to hear her voice being deeper than when they talked last time, and that he told her about that. She responded that this was because she was taking hormones. Out of natural curiosity he asked why she needed them. According to my son this was their entire interaction that day.
It takes a lot of creativity and sick imagination to recognize polite and respectful questions about clearly noticeable physical changes as they can only be associated with gender identity and that they can only be asked by a homophobic person with the intention to harass.
On March 10th, 2023 I responded to [SL]'s accusation and I am still waiting for her reply.
No recess for students
As far as I know, on March 10th the teacher kept the Sixth Grade students inside the school during recess time. The official explanation was that they needed to practice for the upcoming performance play. As far as I remember, nothing like this ever happened in our 7 years at the school. The only few times when kids were not allowed to spend time outside during recess were during heavy rain, but even then the recess was used to give students a rest, not practice some school activities.
Also, my son's former classmates invited him to see their performance play and he was planning to come (we planned to drive him and wait in the car), but [SL] asked him not to come because "At this time, [JG] and I believe it does not serve the class or [DF] himself for him to attend the play tomorrow".
Graduation Ceremony on June 8th, 2023
My son asked me to drive him to the school on June 8th, 2023 to see the Graduation Ceremony. Since the administration does not allow my family to visit the campus, he was not planning to attend it but simply observe it from the public sidewalk and hopefully chat with his former classmates afterward.
I informed him that according to the City of Portland he is allowed to use the north and south sidewalks, or view the ceremony from the Lair Hill public park. Before he left I asked if he wanted me to accompany him, but he requested that I stay in the car.
About 5 minutes later I received a phone call from my son. He said that he was stopped by [AC], the Interim Chief Administrative Officer and the highest-ranked official in the school at that moment. [AC] promised him that she would allow him to watch the ceremony from the sidewalk as long as he was accompanied by his parent. Therefore, she asked me to come.
I left the car and walked towards the school, passing the school front yard using the north sidewalk (public property). I found my son standing in tears on the corner of SW 2nd Avenue and SW Hooker St, 2 blocks away from the school. Next to him I found [AC] talking to someone on the phone and another woman whom I could not identify.
When [AC] got off the phone, her first words to me were that my son is not allowed to use the north sidewalk. This contradicted what she told my son. I informed her that according to the City of Portland, the north and south sidewalks are public property, and the school may not restrict access to it. [AC] responded saying that the school obtained a permit from the City to block sidewalks during the ceremony hours.
As I describe below [AC]'s claim turned out to be a lie, but at that moment I had no way to verify it, and to avoid any conflict, I told my son that he can go to the Lair Hill Park (public property) and observe the ceremony from there. [AC] overheard our conversation and said that he is not allowed to access the Lair Hill Park either, because it is "immediately adjacent to the school event".
At that moment, I became suspicious that [AC] was simply lying, so I decided to record our conversation on camera. Video below was taken on the north sidewalk between SW Potter St and SW Hooker St.
On the video, instead of answering my question about why she restricts my son's access to public property, [AC] thanked me for my website, claiming that it had contributed to increased enrollment and helped "define who we are". My intention was never to harm the school; I simply wanted to inform other parents like myself who may hold different values and perspectives from those currently promoted at CWS. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the school official's expression of gratitude.
I was glad to see that the school now consists solely of parents who align with its ideology, and I was relieved to know that the school holds no hard feelings towards me or my family.
However, despite [AC]'s public acknowledgment that my review was beneficial to the school, she continued to harass my son. Her persistent behavior led me to suspect that she may have a personal grudge against him.
After our interaction with [AC], I walked my son to the Lair Hill Park. Throughout our time in the park, we were accompanied by a person wearing a polo shirt with "Security Supervisor" embroidery.
* * *
Another noteworthy incident occurred when my son informed me that someone was taking pictures of him while he was observing the ceremony from the park.
This person was [EC], the Director of Enrollment Management & Tuition Assistance. I don't know if she was instructed to photograph my son or if she simply likes to take pictures of other people's children, but I found myself forced to stay until the end of the ceremony and ask her to delete the photos of my son. Initially, she denied my request; however, once I started recording our interaction with my phone, she ultimately agreed to delete the images.
* * *
After I came home that day I did 2 things:-
I sent an email to [AC], copied it to members of the Board of Trustees and individuals involved on that day. In this email I described the accident in detail and I requested to stop harassing and bullying my son.
As of 07/22/23 I haven't received a response from [AC] or the Board.
-
I made a Public Record Request with the City of Portland, asking for information about the permit that [AC] claimed the school obtained to block sidewalks.
Due to a misunderstanding, I had to file a second request, and on July 10th, 2023, I received a response stating that:
PBOT does not currently have any additional information other than the current permit that was provided to you in your previous request. Currently the school is required to leave both sidewalks open to the public 24/7/365.
* * *
According to [AC]'s LinkedIn profile, she had a 20-year career with the City of Portland, with her last 2 years as a Division Manager in the Portland Bureau of Transportation. She described her responsibilities as Right of Way Management and Permitting, including right of way acquisition, compliance/enforcement, and community and commercial use permitting.
PBOT is the organization managing access to public properties, [AC] recently worked as a manager there, so she knows the rules and yet she knowingly made demands violating these rules.
[AC], a top official of the school, lied that the school obtained a permit to block north and south sidewalks. She used this lie to restrict my son's access to public property. She abused my son's trust in school authority, deceiving him and luring him away from public areas to continue harassing him away from any potential witnesses within the school.
Final Words
I have no interest in dealing with the school or hurting it, or affecting its enrollment in a positive or negative way. I shared my experience with the school so that people are aware. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the current and future parents will find it totally appropriate that the school embeds non-academic Social Justice agenda into their kids' education without these parents' knowledge. I am not judging these people, it's their life and their children. The above information is written for people like myself, who want to know as much information about their children's school as possible, specifically of the activities that are not listed in the announced curriculum.
As for my son's desire to see his former classmates, the school spent 7 years encouraging to build and nurture life-long relationships. They succeeded in this and now my son is missing his friends, but the school now betrays its former student. The only reason I go through the process of contacting the school and driving my son to Portland is to help him stay in touch with his friends, which is his desire, not mine.
I realize that some people in his former school are so obsessed with punishing me for sharing my experience with others, so they don't mind discriminating and hurting my 12 year old son. They don't even mind hurting his friends, the current students of the school by not allowing them to see their old friend and play outside during recess time when the school suspects that [DF] may be coming that day.
I will fight for my children for as long as it is needed, but what happened and is still happening between my son and the Cedarwood School is a painful, but powerful lesson to him to learn about people's integrity and ethics.
I can prove everything I wrote here with documents, and I am willing to go to court if the school decides to take legal actions, or to take a legal action myself if the school administration continues harassing the members of my family.
I am willing to remove parts or the entire review as soon as the information described there becomes irrelevant.
WokeInSchools.org@gmail.com
List of Updates
07/22/23 — Added a note to School Administration Bullies Former Student, updated Graduation Ceremony on June 8th, 2023.
06/18/23 — Added postscriptum to School Administration Bullies Former Student.
06/15/23 — Added chapters School Administration Bullies Former Student and Graduation Ceremony on June 8th, 2023.
05/03/23 — On April 19th, 2023 I received an email from CWS saying that the Head of School [SL] "has recently announced her retirement". Two days later my wife and I met with the Interim Chief Administrative Officer [AC] and Pedagogical Director [MC], who both demonstrated their intent to continue moving the school in the direction of DEI and Transgender Ideology. [AC], who is also a parent in our son's former class, demonstrated their intent to continue harassing and discriminating our 12 year old son using made up reasons.
05/02/23 — Added a paragraph to the Final Words section.