Parents, students at Fort Worth arts school demand answers

How often does someone who was raised in a former Soviet Union get a chance for a déjà vu deep in the heart of Texas? I just had one, at the town hall at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.

FWAFA has recently witnessed an alarming wave of resignations. Long-time teachers disappear in the middle of the academic year, often without saying a goodbye to their students. When a few weeks ago the high school principal suddenly left his post, teachers and students came to school wearing black in protest to what is perceived by many to be another forced resignation. To address these concerns, the CEO of Texas Center for Arts and Academics (TCAA), an organization operating FWAFA, Clint Riley, called for a town hall.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this meeting. Two weeks earlier, when a group of parents tried to draw public attention to the atmosphere of fear created by the teachers’ disappearances at TCAA’s fundraiser, they found themselves surrounded by security and being filmed on camera, very much like in my old country. While their children were performing to raise dollars for TCAA, funds were spent to ward off their parents’ peaceful protest.

The town hall promised to offer an opportunity for a dialogue, or so I thought. As the parents arrived at FWAFA, they were barred from entering. To their surprise, in order to participate in the town hall, they had to write their names and affiliation with the school on a card and hand it over to the attendant. The next revelation was that there would be no free discussion with the CEO and the members of the Board of Directors. Rather, there were question forms to be filled out. From these forms, several would be randomly chosen. Parents were told that neither anonymous questions nor those asked directly from the audience would be taken. On the stage, besides CEO Riley, were an attorney and several members of the Board of Directors. However, the parents were instructed not to address any questions to the Board. I marveled at the meticulous design of the town hall. Yet, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this masterfully circumvented “dialogue” reminded me of my Soviet youth, when fearful-of-criticism apparatchiks took similar measures to suppress our freedom.

The parents’ questions were thoughtful and searching. They wanted to know whether Mr. Riley forced teachers to leave and challenged his use of the school funds. One question stood out for me. A parent asked the CEO about his vision for FWAFA. As Mr. Riley elaborated on his plans for TCAA’s expansion, he compared the entire enterprise to a “strong” and “robust pipeline.” At that moment, all the pieces fell into place for me. I realized that Mr. Riley is building a “pipeline.” He expands his successful business by adding extension after extension, with two new campuses on the horizon. As often happens with pipelines, there is a serious collateral damage, while the options for public protest are limited. In a charter school like FWAFA, the CEO is employed by the Board of Directors. They are the only checks and balances for her/his executive power. However, neither the parents nor the teachers can vote for the Board. It elects its own members and the CEO has a major say in the process. Another striking déjà vu from my Communist past?

I hope that someone can remind Mr. Riley and the Board that the school they are entrusted with is not a financial enterprise. The “pipeline”-style management of FWAFA has already caused much damage and pain to teachers, students, and parents. Anyone can see that Mr. Riley’s “pipeline” is cracked and badly leaking. No easy fix will do! Unless there is a new leadership at TCAA, it will leak again.

Ariel Feldman is the parent of two children attending the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.

Students want explanation for major staff turnover

By Olivia Clark

Since 2015, we have lost many teachers and experienced many changes, including:

• Dr. Yeung

• Mr. Ibanez

• Mrs. Webber

• Mrs. Graham

• Ms. Mills

• Mr. Taylor

• Ms. Holt

• Mrs. Harris

• Mr. Priddy

• Mr. Whitney

• Mrs. Earl

• Mr. Whitney

• Mrs. Jacobson

• Mr. Shreckengast

• Abolishment of the orchestra program

• TBC removing Tenors and Basses

• A brand-new choir program and director

• The tech program having 4 teachers in one school year (Mr. Dean, Mr. Whitney, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Owens)

These 18 faculty and program changes have occurred in the last three years (and these are just the changes that I am aware of and that have affected high school students).

Our aim is to create awareness or the effect that these changes have had on the morale of our student body. Quite frankly, we are overwhelmed and frustrated. The lack of continuity in our environment brings about distrust and breaks down community in a school where we so heavily rely on the sense of community to feel safe enough to grow as artists, and every time changes are made, we must reestablish this sense of community and start over in a new atmosphere.

Our hope, at least, is that the timing of Mr. Shreckengast’s (Principal Craig Shreckengast) departure from our campus could be reconsidered because of its disruption to our current school year, and speaking for the senior class, we hope that he will still be welcomed on our senior trip this May and as a part of our graduation ceremony.

Olivia Clark is a senior at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts

Editor's note: We'll provide a response from leadership at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts when it is provided.

This story was originally published April 23, 2018 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Parents, students at Fort Worth arts school demand answers."