The student news site of Clayton High School.

The Globe

The student news site of Clayton High School.

The Globe

The student news site of Clayton High School.

The Globe

The Losos Legacy

Former Principal Louise Losos (center) playing percussion with the pep band at a CHS football game. (Caroline Stamp)

It would be impossible for us to judge Dr. Losos’s tenure as principal. Or, for that matter, to rate Sharmon Wilkinson’s decisions as superintendent. The actions of the principal, the superintendent and other administrators are rarely seen by the eye of the public. As students, it is largely impossible to know which administrator made which decision, which faculty member knew which secret and which boss to blame.

We may never know why members of the community expressed so much hatred towards Losos. We may never know if the administration was previously aware of the “inappropriate use of social media.” We can, however, remember the times when we experienced the graciousness of Dr. Losos.

Losos believed that, given the opportunity, students would make responsible choices. She was a proponent of allowing CHS to host events on behalf of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). With help from Losos, GSA hosted the counter-protest to the Westboro Baptist Church visit and the NOH8 campaign on school grounds. These events have brought national recognition to our school and GSA.

Losos, who has often spoken on behalf of freedom of the press in the high school setting, always responded to Globe interview requests. She even granted exclusive interviews to students, leading Globe stories to be quoted by other media.

Many schools have turned to cutting funding for speech and debate programs in times of financial trouble. Losos played an integral role in the decision to continue funding our forensics team, which, according to coach Justin Seiwell, had 84 participants this year.

It is all too easy to jump on the bandwagon of hatred and continue to ruin a once – esteemed principal’s name. As with all decisions, it is necessary to step back and assess the entire body of work before reaching a conclusion.

And students and parents simply don’t know enough to make a comprehensive judgement about the Losos legacy.

But we can remember the times when Losos reached out to us, and we should appreciate the respect she showed us as principal over the last six years. Losos was professional, dedicated and passionate about Clayton.

She will be missed.

View Comments (19)
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Comments (19)

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  • D

    Dan GutchewskySep 3, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    Honestly, I am just glad that I have become the principal.

    Reply
  • J

    JimmyAug 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    I don’t believe any of what Mr Hoffman writes. It’s so absurd and far fetched to believe any of it. This is exactly what it was made out to be from day one. A very disturbed women who thought she answered to no one. In the end it’s just good she is gone and this is over.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 21, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    David, I have stated at least 3 times that I have asked Sharmon. I have also stated that I asked numerous School Board Members. I also know many other parents who have had conversations with both Sharmon and the District. We are all repeadtly told the same thing. And that is that Chase Hasletts Facebook post alerted them to this page. The questioned Dr Losos and she confessed. They emphatically claim this was the first they had ever heard of the issue. They claim Dr Losos was fired for this and acted alone the entire time. This is obviously quite different than your ” unnamed secret sources”(aka Dr Losos). So you are correct. SOmeone is not telling the truth I guess we will never know. But there is one thing that I know that all of us parents want an answer to. That is, why did Dr Losos do this? Don’t tell me how other people knew about it, don’t tell me it’s parents fault or Coach Horells fault. Or that she was thrown under the bus. We just want to know why this supposedly intelligent women could do something so incredibly stupid that she would throw away a promising career. And then ask yourself if someone who could do something sneaky underhanded and devious is an appropriate leader for our children and our school. The answer clearly is no.

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 21, 2012 at 6:54 am

    One last comment and then I will end this dialogue. Everything I stated above I believe to be true. My sources are extremely reliable. I cannot reveal them because I’m afraid it would put more jobs in jeopardy. I can only ask that you take your questions to Sharmon and the Board. If they tell you that except for Dr. Losos, nobody knew about the facebook page, then someone is not telling the truth…and I have no reason to doubt my sources.

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 21, 2012 at 6:44 am

    I’m no longer employed by the Clayton School District. I retired this year. My statements here are unrelated to my work with the GSA. I, along with many other staff members, are disgusted with the way this whole thing took place. Regardless of what you think about Dr. Losos as an administrator, it doesn’t change the fact that Sharmon knew about the facebook accounts that both CHS and Wydown had for nearly a year before the parents found out, and it was only when they found out that anything was done concerning Dr. Losos. And it’s also true that Dr. Losos first told Sharmon that the parents knew. My info is reliable but I will not tell you where I got it. That’s not important. What is important is that Both CHS and Wydown had these pages and that MANY people, including Sharmon knew about it. When the news came out, the staff was told at a faculty meeting that Dr. Losos’s leave was for personal reasons. Administrators who knew the truth were directed not to discuss it with anyone. Dr. Losos was thrown under the bus as if she acted alone, but her boss knew about the whole thing.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm

    One more question as I re read your last comment. You claim “Dr Losos is the one who told Sharmon that the parents had found out about it”…. The media reported that it was Chase Haslett on Facebook that brought this to the district leaders attention. What are you talking about here?… How were parents involved in ” finding out about it”??….. Also, are you implying Dr Losos told you this?… If so then this is the first place anyone has publicly stated she admits to creating this fake Facebook account. That’s a pretty serious statement on your part. How do you know this to be true???

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 20, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    David we are just going to have to agree to disagree. I did not realize you were a CHS employee. I recognize that you and Dr Losos worked closely on the Gay-Straight alliance and it is quite understandable that you would come to the defense of your friend. I think though that the parents(and I am one) saw a very different Dr Losos than you did. I am not sure that continuing to debate this helps you or anyone else in any way. You have expressed some very strong opinions about your employers here and there is no need to jeopardize your job over something that neither of us can change. I can only say from a parents perspective that she was not the leader we wanted for our school. I am sorry your friend lost her job. But I just cannot accept, based on what I had been told that your belief that Sharmon and the board knew about this Facebook page is correct. If they did I do not see how they could have fired her or why she would not scream the truth from the top of her lungs. To slink away with the money equals wrongdoing in my mind. Good luck to you and the rest of the CHS staff this year. Time to move on….

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 20, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    By the way, I think the world of Dr. Dan Gutchewsky, this has nothing to do with him.

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 20, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    You are wrong about this. I have spoken to many reliable sources who say that it is true that Sharmon knew about the Facebook page for nearly a year. In fact, Dr. Losos was the one who told Sharmon that the parents found out about it. I agree it would be a mean thing were it not true to state this, but it is. She was not fired because they ‘found out about it.’ They already knew. In fact, they lied to the faculty about the reasons for Dr. Losos’s leave of absence. I was there when it happened. Sharmon told us it was for personal reasons. Turned out that was not the case as Chris Tennill later stated. You can believe what you want, sounds like your mind is made up, but I was in a position to know the truth and believe I am right about Sharmon, Marianne Goldberg, the SRO at Wydonw and others knowing about these Facebook pages for quite some time.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 20, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    I could care less about Coach Horrell or football at all for that matter. I am simply glad we are rid of Louise Losos. I have spoken to Sharmon and numerous board members. You keep stating people knew about the Facebook account. That is just plain not true. Not is it true that this ever happened at Wydown. Marianne Goldberg would never do that. She has far to much love and respect for her students. To accuse her of that is really a mean thing to do. This ” well they knew about it for a year” logic is only espoused by pro Losos apologists. She was fired because Sharmon and the board found out what she was doing and were appalled by it. As we’re most parents in the district. This has nothing to do with football. She was busted by a former student who happened to play football. Why do you continue to associate this with Horell?…. Again, the only people who have ever claimed this are Losos supporters(very few). There is not one shred of publicly known info that connects the 2. It’s conjecture and it’s unfair. As I said. Done with Losos and that’s a good thing. Now can we move on?…. Kids like this Dr Dan. Let start a new era with a Principal we can be proud of. Hopefully one that doesn’t feel the need to be in the newspaper every year like our previous one!

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 20, 2012 at 9:20 am

    How do you know Sharmon did not know about the Facebook account. Have you asked her? I doubt it. I have no agenda except for the truth. The reason Dr. Losos went away quietly is that the District paid her $140,000 dollars to do so and as a part of the agreement said that she could not take the District to court. Doesn’t that sound suspicious to you? Obviously you’re still bitter about the firing of Coach Horrell for violation MHSAA rules. His firing, too, was a decision supported by Sharmon. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself. As for public opinion on Huffinton Post, what does that prove. It’s my understanding that the public didn’t have all the information because those involved were directed not to talk about it. I’m not arguing that it was OK to have a false identitily on Facebook, I’m just saying that Sharmon knew about it, and it was also, may still be, happening at Wydown.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 20, 2012 at 7:15 am

    I have asked, numerous times in fact. Your claim that Sharmon knew about the Facebook account is quite simply not true. In addition your claim that Dr Losos was physically threatened is also false. You quite obviously have an agenda here. Dr Losos is gone and the school and district are a much better place to be as a result. I commend Chase Haslett and whomever else helped make this happen. If anything you claim is true there is no way a women like her goes away quietly without making any statements in her defense. Public opinion has been quite clear on what she did. For proof of this claim you may want to spend some time reading the 300 plus comments on the Huffington Post article about this. One thing I find interesting is that you have not once stated your opinion on what she did. Do you believe it is ok for a principal to assume a false identity on Facebook to deceive students ?

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanAug 18, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    I’m not Dr. Losos. I haven’t hidden my name at all. Actually the District has not, in my opinion, been clear at all concerning its position. I have seen nor heard anything about ‘unethical’ behavior as you put it. They did state that they have ‘fundaental differences’ concerning the use of social media. Ethics was not mentioned as far as I know as a reason for her dismissal. Where were the fundamental differences over a year ago when Dr. Wilkinson already knew that the facebook account existed? Have you asked the board or the superintendent about the Wydown Facebook account? Have you asked if they knew about the Facebook account Dr. Losos had? I have not been vague at all. They did know. There’s nothing vague about stating that. Neither are my allegations without what I consider documentation. There are e-mails supporting them. There are also people involved at high levels in the District who have confirmed what I am saying. Again, if you do not believe me and want to get at the truth, perhaps you should direct your questions to Dr. Wilkinson and the Board.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 17, 2012 at 11:28 am

    I believe the district has been quite clear about their position on Dr Losos and her Unethical behavior. people don’t lose their job for no reason. The board and the superintendent believe she did something wrong. your vague, undocumented allegations about some type of conspiracy lead one to believe you probably are Dr Losos!

    Reply
  • D

    DavidAug 15, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    I believe My information is correct. Perhaps you should be asking these questions of the superintendent.

    Reply
  • B

    BillAug 7, 2012 at 9:55 am

    If the administration was so accepting of the fake Facebook account why is Dr Losos no longer the Principal? I have to believe your information is incorrect. And for what reason would the Superintendant and the School Board ignore threats of physical violence made against the School Principal? That does not sound believable either.

    Reply
  • D

    David HoffmanJul 16, 2012 at 8:28 am

    Actually, from what I understand and evidence I saw, there were threats being made that I consider physical in nature. This evidence was taken to higher administration and no help was given. The threats were not regarding ‘exposing’ the Facebook account. Why would there be a threat of exposing the Facebook account when the District’s administration already knew about it for nearly a year prior. And in addition, it’s my understanding that Wydown has, or had, a similar account.

    Reply
  • B

    BillJul 7, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    What do you mean ” threatened” her?… Did these parents physically threaten her or did they ” threaten” to expose what she was doing”?…. One is criminal, the other is exactly what a parent should do.

    Reply
  • D

    David HffmanJun 9, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    It is my understanding that not only did the superintendent know about the Facebook page for nearly a year, but that someone is doing the same thing at Wydown Middle School. In addition, some are saying that the CHS administration asked the superintendent’s office for help when they felt they were being threatened by parents upset with coaching staff changes, but that the superintendent and the Board’s attorney refused to help. If I have misunderstood or been misinformed, please correct me.

    Reply
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The Losos Legacy