NAIS schools reinforce DEI priorities while “Alpha” schools compete on results

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) — the nonprofit representing 1,700 private K-12 schools — continues championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE) programs even as evidence mounts suggesting these initiatives may be producing unintended negative consequences. Nowhere is this clearer than at The Latin School of Chicago, where Head of School Dr. Thomas Hagerman just resigned his $647K per year position amid multiple Nazi music incidents, a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit, and an independent investigation by one of the country’s most powerful law firms, all while doubling down on DEI programming. For the privilege of a $47,000 tuition annually, Latin delivers students a case study in institutional failure.

Latin isn’t the first NAIS school to face antisemitism scandals while maintaining sprawling DEI bureaucracies. The Shipley School (another NAIS member) previously relieved its headmaster and DEI director following antisemitic controversies, according to published reports. Both schools share a common thread: Carney Sandoe & Associates, the executive search firm that’s become prominent in DEI recruiting for elite independent schools.

At Latin, the crisis has reached critical mass.

Nazi music, take two

In early January 2026, a teacher overheard two Latin middle school students discussing their practice of “Erika” — a 1938 German marching song that was the Wehrmacht’s most popular tune during World War II, according to historian Major General Michael Tillotson. The lyrics describe a soldier missing his sweetheart (innocuous enough), but the song’s inextricable association with Nazi Germany is hardly subtle.

This marked the second time in fourteen months that “Erika” appeared at Latin, according to school communications and media reports. A New York Post article reported that some middle school band members allegedly played the anthem in November 2024. Parents and documents reviewed by the New York Post claim that the school disregarded the incident.

Dr. Thomas Hagerman announced his resignation on Wednesday, January 14, less than two weeks after the second “Erika” incident surfaced. His departure letter cited “health concerns” and the need to “attend more intentionally to my health and overall sustainability.” Translation: He makes for a convenient scapegoat, though the school remains under severe pressure.

According to sources close to the school, “They’re putting his head on a spike so the board can absolve themselves,” one source told us. “They wouldn’t even let Hagerman write his own resignation letter — they wrote it for him.”

The Board’s message to the Latin community spoke of “considerable reflection” and self-care. The reality? Hagerman’s exit comes amid a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit (filed by the Bronstein family), an independent investigation by Boies Schiller Flexner (retained by Latin families to investigate potential fiduciary breaches), and allegations that Latin’s DEI apparatus systematically failed Jewish students.

How Latin hired someone who allegedly misled his previous employer about $1.7 million in IRS fines

Latin hired Hagerman in 2022 despite a spectacular scandal during his tenure as the Superintendent of the Scarsdale Union Free School District in New York. The facts are damning:

June 2021: The IRS notifies Scarsdale Schools of $1.7 million in fines and penalties for payroll tax errors during 2020-2021. According to published reports and Scarsdale Board documents, Hagerman (then earning $476,000 annually — the second-highest-paid public school administrator in New York at the time) allegedly concealed the fines and penalties from the Scarsdale Board for 10 months. During this period, he negotiated a contract extension.

March 25, 2022: The Board finally learns of the crisis. By then, the IRS had filed a $1.3 million federal tax lien against the district.

March 30, 2022: Emergency Board meeting approves an $843,558 payment to the IRS.

Hagerman had already announced his resignation (breaking his 12-month notice clause) to take the Latin job. As outrage mounted, he sent Latin a letter on April 20, 2022, attempting to explain the situation. The problem, according to Scarsdale news reports and Board documents: he allegedly misquoted Scarsdale Board President Karen Ceske, editing her statements to falsely suggest the Board was working with the IRS when they’d been kept entirely in the dark.

According to published reports, when confronted about fabricating quotes to his prospective employer, Hagerman issued a correction. The Scarsdale Board launched an independent investigation. May 6, 2022 — seven weeks early — Hagerman resigned a second time, citing the scandal as “a major distraction.”

The Boies Schiller letter documenting fiduciary breaches at Latin states bluntly: “The current head of the school, Thomas Hagerman, came to the school after a scandal at Scarsdale Public Schools, where he concealed $1.7 million in IRS fines. When his dishonesty at Latin was discovered, he allegedly coerced a worker whose children attend the school to accept responsibility for his false statements.”

Despite the public record of these events, Latin’s Board — led by then-Chair David Koo — maintained “full confidence” in Hagerman and proceeded with his July 1, 2022 start. Latin hired someone who, according to public documents, concealed a scandal, allegedly misled his board about it, admitted to fabricating quotes to cover his tracks, and broke his contract obligations, all to run a school that charges $47,000 per year.

The Nate Bronstein tragedy

At Latin’s crisis center sits the suicide of 15-year-old Nate Bronstein in January 2022. His parents’ lawsuit, other complaints and sources close to Latin allege relentless antisemitic bullying — “Run, Jew, run” taunts during track practice, whispers blaming Jews for COVID-19 — while school officials did nothing.

The Bronsteins’ amended complaint alleges that, despite “numerous complaints,” Latin’s administration, and particularly its DEI officials, failed to protect their son. The lawsuit suggests that within Latin’s DEI framework, Jewish students are classified as “white-adjacent” or “privileged” — placing them outside the protected categories that receive intervention.

Brandon Woods, Latin’s DEI Curriculum Coordinator, allegedly failed to intervene effectively when incidents were reported, according to the lawsuit. The complaint suggests this may be because in the oppression hierarchy undergirding contemporary DEI ideology, Jews occupy an uncomfortable space — successful enough to be deemed “privileged,” yet vulnerable to humanity’s oldest hatred.

The double standard is apparent: After the November 2024 “Erika” incident, parents and sources report that no meaningful consequences followed. Yet Jewish families report interrogation during admissions about their commitment to “white privilege” and DEI principles, with staff allegedly joining interviews specifically to vet the progressive sensibilities of Jewish applicants, according to sources familiar with the admissions process.

The DEI industrial complex at Latin

Since 2019, Latin has treated DEI not as one education component but as the school’s organizing principle. In 2020, the school formalized five institutional goals governing every aspect of operations:

1. Representation: Hiring and retaining “more faculty and staff of color”
2. Accountability: Creating “clear policies for reporting discrimination”
3. Inclusion: Fostering “belonging” through identity-based affinity groups
4. Professional Development: Mandatory implicit bias training for all faculty
5. Curriculum Integration: Embedding DEI throughout all subjects

Latin’s current DEI bureaucracy:

• Former Director of DEI: Eleanor Maajid (through 2025)
• DEI Curriculum Coordinator (JK-12): Brandon Woods
• Division Coordinators: Sheri Snopek (Lower School), Jayanthi Annadurai (Middle School), Kasey Taylor (Upper School)
• External Partnership: Pollyanna Inc. for “equity audits”

For 2025-26, Latin partnered with Pollyanna Inc. to conduct a comprehensive equity audit. The job posting for the incoming DEI Director (starting July 2026) explicitly requires candidates to “advance work in response to the currently underway equity audit.” The job is listed as paying between $145,000 and $155,000.

What “racial literacy” costs

Pollyanna Inc., founded in 2015 by former Dalton School trustee Casper Caldarola, operates a lucrative business model built on institutional anxiety. The consulting offering and pricing, according to sources include:

• Racial Literacy Integration: $1,750 per hour
• Anti-Racism Sessions (Half-Day): $6,000
• Curriculum Reviews: $21,000+ (and climbing)

What’s Latin buying? According to the curriculum materials, a program is teaching kindergarteners about race as a “social construct” and turning middle schoolers into “committed activists.” At Dalton (where Pollyanna maintains deep board connections), similar programs have reportedly led to Jewish students role-playing “racist cops,” according to published reports.

Pollyanna now services 77 elite clients across New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Despite research suggesting such training can increase bias and hostility, consultants deflect criticism by claiming the “value” is unmeasurable. They get paid regardless.

Moreover, there do not appear to be any associated performance metrics on Pollyanna services. For example, the training does not offer any data suggesting these students perform better academically in any subject or improve standardized test scores.

Mandatory ideology

Latin’s implementation appears comprehensive, according to sources:

Teacher Training: All faculty participate in “deep, spiraled, differentiated” professional development—implicit bias and anti-racism workshops where staff set personal DEI goals.

Hiring Overhaul: Search committees undergo mandatory implicit bias training before interviewing. The explicit focus is on recruiting “BIPOC” educators, with race and identity trumping pedagogical excellence.

Curriculum Takeover: Since 2017, Latin has used the “Social Justice Standards” from Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance). DEI coordinators “collaborate” with the Academic Council, ensuring every subject — junior kindergarten through 12th grade—filters through “identity, diversity, justice, and action.”

Affinity Groups: The school promotes exclusive groups for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC students and faculty. A recent student op-ed in The Forum questioned whether these “build community or deepen division,” noting, “In an extremely polarized era, is it smart to divide ourselves further?”

Conspicuously absent from Latin’s protected identities? Jewish students.

What kids are actually learning

The Social Justice Standards categorize children by group identity from age five:

• K-2: Identity framed through group “advantages and disadvantages”
• Grades 6-8: Students police classmates’ pronouns and view illegal immigration through prescribed political lens
• High School: Lessons focus on “white supremacy” and training for “collective action against bias.”

Merit, personal responsibility, and individual character get replaced by “privilege” and “power dynamics.” They label white students as belonging to the “dominant culture.” Non-white students are taught they face “systemic barriers” at every turn. Jewish students? Jewish students are considered too successful to be seen as victims, despite the fact that half of the global Jewish population was wiped out less than a century ago.

No parental consent is required for this ideological reshaping.

As one Latin student wrote in The Forum: “My friends and I — who are white, Chinese, Indian, Black, Jewish, and Mexican — hardly feel any differences between us aside from our physical appearance… Our entire lives, we have been taught to prioritize the content of our character rather than the color of our skin.”

Latin doubles down while others pull back

Even as corporations and nonprofits nationwide roll back DEI initiatives (Microsoft laid off its DEI team in July 2024, Boeing scrapped its department in October, and NASA terminated all DEI programs), NAIS continues promoting them. The organization canceled its 2025 People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference, yet its Diversity Leadership Institute continues, as do DEI webinars and workshops.

April 2025: Latin’s student newspaper reported the school was bucking the national trend against DEI. Head of School Thomas Hagerman: “Unlike many other institutions, Latin doesn’t face the prospect of losing significant federal funding. As a result, we are able to further the mission-aligned work we are doing to cultivate an inclusive learning environment.”

Nine months later, Hagerman resigned amid the school’s worst crisis in history.

DEI Curriculum Coordinator Brandon Woods defended the ideology: “I think there’s been an incorrect characterization of DEI as just based on either race or gender. To me, diversity is really about looking at the people in your company or organization and making sure they can bring their full selves to work.”

Jewish families tell a different story. “Many Jewish families do not feel welcome or cared about,” one parent told the New York Post. “The school does not seem concerned for the safety of our kids, which leaves us disappointed and feeling like outsiders in our school community.”

The Boies Schiller investigation

January 23, 2025: International law firm Boies Schiller Flexner sent a 14-page letter to Latin’s Board on behalf of numerous concerned families. The letter names 65 trustees and officials accused of breaching fiduciary duties and demands:

1. Proof of unconflicted board majority by February 13, 2025
2. Immediate independent investigation with full transparency
3. Anonymous surveys of the entire school community
4. Public release of all relevant information for two+ years

The letter and other sources close to Latin detail allegations beyond “Erika”:

• A student allegedly yelling “Run Jew run, there’s money at the end” at a Jewish peer during cross country—with reportedly no disciplinary consequences, according to the legal complaint
• Hallway maps where Israel was allegedly erased, according to witness accounts
• A “Survivors of Latin” Instagram account (2,700 followers) documenting alleged incidents, including “racial epithets, prejudice, sexual assaults, and accusations that Jewish students spread COVID-19.”
• Jewish families allegedly being “gatekept” during admissions with questions about “white privilege” views, according to sources familiar with the process

Under Illinois law, officers and directors of nonprofit educational institutions have fiduciary duties identical to those of for-profit corporate boards: care, loyalty, and obedience. When institutions fail to investigate breaches, “voting members” (at Latin: all parents with enrolled students) have derivative lawsuit rights.

The letter: a final warning before additional legal action.

As a result of the Boies Schiller allegations, sources tell the Chicago Contrarian that a sub-committee of Latin’s board hired Quinn Emanuel, a firm that describes itself as the “largest trial firm in the world,” to conduct its own investigation. It is not unreasonable that the costs of firms investigating the allegedly discriminatory behavior at Latin is running into the seven figures for the Latin board and community, detracting from funds that could be going to education.

“Quinn Emanuel does not get out of bed for anything but a million dollars,” a corporate litigation expert remarked. “And the meters continue to run for two of the most expensive global law firms from Latin’s shenanigans,” he suggests.

The Alpha school alternative

While NAIS schools double down on DEI ideology, a different model emerges, putting actual outcomes first.

Alpha School, founded in Austin in 2016, uses AI-powered adaptive learning to revolutionize education. The model: complete core academics in two focused morning hours and spend afternoons on real-world skills, field trips, and passion projects.

The results:

• 2.6x faster growth: Alpha students grow 2.6 times faster than peers on nationally normed MAP tests
• 99th percentile performance: Majority consistently outperform national averages
• Top performers: Best students achieve up to 6.5x growth rates

Alpha’s “2 Hour Learning” platform uses AI, providing personalized 1:1 instruction at each student’s pace, with “Guides” (not teachers) focusing on motivation, mentorship, and emotional support. Students progress through concept-based mastery without knowledge gaps.

The model is spreading rapidly. Alpha operates campuses in Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California (tuition is $40,000-$75,000 annually — comparable to elite private schools but with demonstrably superior outcomes). In 2025, Alpha graduated its first senior class: 11 of 12 graduates moved to four-year universities.

According to research by The Hunt Institute, mastery-based programs like Alpha show students perform up to 14% better during their freshman year versus traditional education graduates.

Alpha founder MacKenzie Price told The Cognitive Revolution podcast, “Students are achieving 2.3x faster learning rates than statistical models predict… We’re seeing kids accomplish twice as much because they’re not sitting in a one-size-fits-all classroom for six hours.”

The critical difference: Merit vs. identity

The contrast:

NAIS schools like Latin spend thousands per hour on consultants to teach the community that whites and Jews are implicitly racist, categorize five-year-olds by skin color, exclude Jews from victim hierarchies, and substitute activist training for academic excellence.

Alpha Schools use AI-powered adaptive learning to accelerate mastery at each child’s pace, focusing on measurable outcomes and proving that technology + human mentorship beats ideology + bureaucracy.

At Alpha: No DEI directors, no equity audits, no affinity groups segregating students by race. At Alpha, only students are learning at unprecedented rates, while teachers are freed from administrative burdens to focus on helping kids thrive.

Latin spends tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars on “equity audits” and curriculum reviews, ensuring proper DEI integration. Alpha spends that on AI platforms, actually teaching math, reading, and science.

While Latin students practiced Nazi marching songs, Alpha students ran actual businesses, trained for 5Ks using “Atomic Habits” principles, and produced musicals — all while learning academics 2.6x faster than traditionally schooled peers.

The existential threat

A former Chicago private school parent told us, “The further I am from the Chicago educational scene, the more laughable it’s become. Chicago is a communist city… The left doesn’t know what to do with its Jewish problem. They can’t spin the bottle correctly that Jews are oppressors.”

The parent went on to say, “Ultimately, it’s insignificant. Data is pouring in on the ineffectiveness of colleges, and these college prep schools are about to hit the proverbial wall. AI is coming for them all, and Alpha Schools will eat their lunch.”

This statement is not hyperbole. Traditional elite schools face an existential crisis:

1. Demonstrably inferior outcomes: When Alpha students learn 2.6x faster while spending half the time on academics, how do traditional schools justify their model?
2. Ideological capture: When families pay $50,000/year to have children categorized by oppression hierarchies while Jewish students are bullied to death, market forces will eventually prevail.
3. The AI revolution: As AI-powered personalized learning scales, the one-size-fits-all classroom becomes obsolete—along with massive administrative bureaucracies that captured it.

The crisis at Latin and CPS (facing federal investigation for antisemitic discrimination) sparked efforts to launch a new Jewish high school in Chicago. The Forward reported, “The climate has gotten very scary for Jews and our kids.”

The proposed school follows Emet Classical Academy (opened in NYC in 2024), teaching Greek and Latin alongside Hebrew while “eschewing progressive educational values.”

Jewish families are voting with feet — and checkbooks.

In summary

Latin families have had enough. They hired Boies Schiller, demanding a full investigation into fiduciary breaches and discrimination.

Latin’s Board announced a national search for Hagerman’s replacement — someone who’ll “advance the work” and continue the Pollyanna partnership. You know, more of the same ideology that spent $1,750/hour telling teachers they’re racist while a Jewish student was bullied to death.

This only happens when excellence is traded for ideology, and measurable outcomes are replaced by unmeasurable “equity,” as students become a lab experiment in progressive education at the expense of academic excellence.

Meanwhile, Alpha Schools prove daily there’s a better way: Use AI to personalize learning, free teachers to mentor, focus relentlessly on outcomes, and let kids be kids — not oppressors or victims, just learners.

The choice facing elite independent schools: embrace genuine educational innovation and student safety, or continue doubling down on demonstrably failed ideology and watch enrollment hemorrhage to schools actually delivering results.

Dalton, Shipley and Chicago’s Latin School are the canary in the coal mine. The only question is will other NAIS schools learn from their tragedies or repeat them?

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The headmaster of Chicago’s tony Latin School will resign less than two weeks after it was revealed that students were rehearsing Nazi marching themes for the second year in a row.

Dr. Thomas Hagerman revealed his plans to leave his job in a Jan. 14 email to the Latin School community which cited health issues as the reason for his exit.

“This decision comes after a great deal of thoughtful deliberation. I have been repeatedly reminded about the importance of attending more intentionally to my health and overall sustainability,” Hagerman wrote, according to Latin School newspaper The Forum.

The surprise resignation comes two weeks after reports that middle schoolers at the $47,000 per year private school were busted by a teacher in early December as they planned to rehearse the German song “Erika,” which was used as a Nazi marching tune during WWII.

The same taboo tune was played by middle school students in November 2024, which was an insult to Jewish families who felt their kids’ well-being was threatened by Latin’s toxic environment.

The school said it investigated each incident.

Officials said the students involved were punished but did not detail the actions taken.

The song “Erika,” originally published in 1938, does not contain explicit references to Nazism, but was used by the Third Reich because of its rhythm.

Notable alumni at the Windy City school include Nancy Reagan and chewing gum heir William Wrigley Jr. II. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent his children to the elite institution.

Latin School of Chicago expressed well wishes for Hagerman and announced they would be conducting a “national search” for his replacement.

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The ritzy Latin School of Chicago is being plagued by another antisemitism controversy, this time involving middle schoolers learning a marching song synonymous with the Nazis, The Post has learned.

Students at the Windy City private school — an elite institution where Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent his children and middle school families shell out over $47,000 in tuition — had been practicing the song “Erika,” a German marching song widely associated with Hitler’s Third Reich during WWII, a letter from the school to parents revealed.

A teacher overheard two students discussing practicing the taboo tune, leading the institution to launch an internal probe, the letter read.

The same song was shockingly belted out by members of the middle school band in November 2024, in a horrific blow to Jewish families who felt their kids’ well-being was threatened by Latin’s notoriously toxic environment. The punishment faced by those band members is unknown.

The lyrics of the song, originally published in 1938, do not explicitly reference Nazism, although it features a rhythm common to military marching common with Hitler which leant itself to use during WWII.

“Latin does not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate. In addition to undertaking disciplinary action, Latin has and will continue to offer support to any students affected by this incident,” the letter from Head of School Thomas Hagerman and Interim MS Division Director Kathleen Meade read.

“Although we are deeply disappointed by this incident, we hope that it serves as an important reminder of our shared responsibility to continue nurturing our School’s strong sense of inclusion and belonging, and to ensure that every member of our community feels safe, valued, and respected,” the statement read.

Whether punishment was doled out was not immediately clear.

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Families are demanding an independent investigation into the Latin School of Chicago. They say administrators and the board of trustees have ignored racism, anti-semitism and bullying for years. The family’s attorney says the school allowed middle schoolers to perform a Nazi anthem in band class. The attorney also says the school failed to address or discipline students who were widely circulating rumors that the school’s Jewish students were responsible for the spread of Covid.

In 2022, 15 year old Nathan Bronstein died by suicide after cyber bullying and anti-Semitic taunts.

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Matthew Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor who helped take down Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff, fired off a scathing 37-page letter demanding an independent investigation while threatening litigation. The demand letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, cites an alarming litany of incidents. It says one 15-year-old committed suicide after alleged cyberbullying from classmates, a member of the cross-country team yelled at a teammate: ‘Run, Jew, run, there’s money at the end’, and several middle schoolers performed a Nazi anthem in band class.

Schwartz accuses officials of failing to crack down on this behavior while keeping families and even some trustees in the dark. Officials ‘have persistently failed to discharge their fiduciary duties, resulting in serious physical and mental harm to students and causing possibly irreversible harm to the reputation and financial sustainability of this once highly-respected institution’, the letter states. A spokesperson for the parents described the board of trustees as part of the problem, acting as a ‘rubber stamp’ for the school, more interested in the prestige of serving at an elite institution than providing aggressive oversight. As an example, he highlighted the spectacle last spring of students performing Horst-Wessel-Lied,’ aka ‘Raise the Flag’, the now-banned anthem of Germany‘s Nazi party.

‘In the Nazi anthem case, the instigator who is the nephew of the director of admissions and former head of DEI, was not only not disciplined, but allowed to speak at the commencement of the 8th grade graduation ceremony,’ the spokesman told DailyMail.com. The school’s once stellar reputation, however, has deteriorated so badly that a 100-plus person text chain of mostly Jewish parents, called the Latin Jewish Affinity Group, formed to share their frustrations.  In May, group members expressed shock over the anthem incident and another where a hallway was left decorated with flags that included Palestine’s but omitted Israel’s. The spokesman said parents have been reluctant to speak out publicly, fearful their kids will be ostracized or miss out on prized recommendations for top-tier colleges.

‘There’s this hidden fear that you’re not only putting a target on your back, you’re also putting a target on your child’s back,’ the spokesman said. Speaking with DailyMail.com, one Latin School parent lamented that ‘the school has for over a century built an amazing reputation that is quickly heading downhill.’ The father, who’s supporting the legal action, described how one of his own children was viciously bullied by classmates, and said no disciplinary action was taken.

‘We’ve had multiple meetings where they use flowery language implying that they’re doing something, but they do jack all,’ he said.  ‘They don’t even want to use the term ‘bullying’ because I suppose that could get them in trouble. Instead, they use phrases like ‘dynamic friendship incident’ or ‘social media incident.’ ‘The problems metastasize year in, year out, but they won’t address them in any substantive way,’ he added. Parents were introduced to the lawyer by Michelle Parker, a national legal consultant from New York who specializes in disputes involving private schools. ‘Latin School of Chicago is the epitome of what’s gone wrong in independent private schools,’ Parker told DailyMail.com. ‘You have a failure to adhere to the law or even follow their own policies,’ she said. ‘You have a lack of oversight, accountability, and transparency. And you have a parent body that sees the wrongs, sees the harm, understands that the school and children are suffering, but they’re silenced.’

Schwartz, who served ten years prosecuting financial crimes for the Southern District of New York, has been researching the Latin School since early last summer.

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Chief Financial Officer Michael Szczepanek resigned from Latin this week after occupying the position since 2019. His last day will be today, January 31.

In an email to school faculty, Head of School Thomas Hagerman shared that Mr. Szczepanek “decided to leave Latin to pursue other opportunities.”

Aiming to ensure a smooth transition, Dr. Hagerman wrote, “Michael’s highly experienced and skillful direct reports, Marc Blettry, Chanel King, Katherine Pohlkamp, and Donna Prince, remain available to answer any questions or concerns that you may have for their respective areas.”

Mr. Szczepanek helped guide the school through a variety of challenging financial periods, most notably the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin’s endowment is 25% higher today than it was when he came to Latin, and the school’s budget has grown to more than $60 million. Admissions demand is strong, and while tuition continues to rise, Latin is able to offer more than $5 million in need-based financial aid.

“I greatly value my time at Latin as CFO,” Mr. Szczepanek told The Forum. “I have worked with some incredible people and depart with valuable experience and feeling of pride for the positive impact that I was able to provide the school and its community during my five-and-a-half years.”

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International law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP has been retained to conduct an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other misconduct by the officers and directors of the Latin School of Chicago (“Latin” or the “School”). The investigation is focused on the School’s handling of incidents of bullying, discrimination, and harassment, as well as its parental notification practices.

Under Illinois law, officers and directors (i.e., trustees) of non-profit educational institutions like Latin have fiduciary duties in the exact same way that officers and directors of for-profit public companies have to those institutions and their shareholders. These duties include the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience. If an officer or director violates his or her fiduciary duty, the institution itself is supposed to investigate and seek to remedy that violation.

When the institution fails to do so, under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986, “voting members” continue to enjoy the right to bring what is known as a derivative lawsuit. Under Latin’s bylaws, voting members include all “parents or guardians who have enrolled their child or children in the School or who have agreed in writing that their child (or children) shall matriculate at the School during the next succeeding school year.”

Boies Schiller Flexner was retained last year by a group of Latin families to investigate potential breaches of these duties by Latin’s trustees and officers, particularly in light of several highly-publicized incidents of bullying and discrimination. At the same time, those families noted an apparent loss in stature of Latin in the educational community, its reduced enrollment numbers, and the materially lower charitable giving to Latin—all of which may also be the result of breaches of trustees’ and officers’ duties.

If you are a Latin member who wants to know more about our investigation, or if you are a current or former Latin family or employee or otherwise have information about Latin that we should know about as part of our investigation, we can be contacted at Latin.Investigation@bsfllp.com.

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The Latin School of Chicago faced its latest challenge on January 23rd, when a meticulously crafted 14-page letter, which appeared more like an accusation than a warning, was sent to Trustees from a law firm on behalf of members of the school community. The letter alleges that the trustees breached their fiduciary duties.

Here’s why that matters. A secret about nonprofit boards that often gets overlooked is that there aren’t just two fiduciary duties.

There are three.

In most contexts, non-profit board members have three primary duties. First, a duty of care requires the board member to act responsibly and soundly. This duty appears straightforward.

The second is the duty of loyalty. This requires board members to make decisions on behalf of the nonprofit, in this case, the school, without conflicts of interest.

The last is the duty of obedience, which requires board members to honor the nonprofit’s mission, bylaws, policies, and applicable laws. This is often the point at which issues arise.

This third duty requires board members to uphold the nonprofit’s mission and steward its funds to maximize its impact. It’s not just about writing checks or attending meetings; it’s about ensuring every decision aligns with the organization’s core purpose.

When board members betray this duty, whether by pursuing personal agendas, prioritizing political trends over the stated mission, or mismanaging resources, they fail the nonprofit and undermine the trust of the community they serve.

Breaching these duties is not just negligence in a legal sense; it is a direct assault on the institution’s integrity.

Have Latin board members breached their fiduciary duties? 

In his letter to the Board of Trustees, obtained by Chicago Contrarian, lawyer Matthew L. Schwartz, chairman of powerhouse New York-based firm Boies Schiller, exposes an organization where accountability appears to be virtually non-existent. Legacy and privilege are protected at the expense of Latin students, including the Jewish community, which appears targeted for discrimination.

The letter foreshadows what may be the most damaging litigation in Latin’s expanding legal woes to date, including the Bronstein case, in which 15-year-old Nate Bronstein committed suicide in 2022 because of what court documents refer to as “relentless cyberbullying” that the school allegedly knew about but failed to disclose to his parents. This is just one example of the institutional failure pattern it methodically documents.

The letter names the 65 trustees and officials accused of breaching their fiduciary responsibilities. It also demands that the Latin School of Chicago prove that its Board has an unconflicted majority by February 13, 2025, and requests an immediate independent investigation.

Trustees and administrators put on legal notice for breach of fiduciary duties

The latest legal attack on Latin includes trustees and officers who allegedly violated their fiduciary duties. These include Randall Dunn, who served as Head of School from 2011 to 2022, and Thomas Hagerman, who took on the role in 2022. The list also includes Shelley Greenwood, the long-serving Assistant Head of School, who held her position from 1993 to 2023 and was succeeded by Ryan Allen, who assumed the role in 2023.

‍A complete list of all named directors in the demand letter can be found at the end of this essay.  

Randall Dunn “destroyed the soul of that school”

The letter notes that despite a vote of no confidence in 2016, former school head Randall Dunn held onto his job for an additional six years, receiving bonuses and raises as the institution’s financial and other KPIs continued to trend downward.

Given the recorded pattern of stifling reports of significant incidents, such as the reported termination of an administrator who advised reporting a student’s sexual assault, one former staff member’s opinion that Dunn “destroyed the soul of that school” appears almost kind.

In addition, other staff members have also been serially implicated. The court, in the Bronstein case, rejected Current Dean of Students Bridget Hennessy’s application to have the allegations of “purposeful and wanton breach of duty” dismissed. The new letter accuses her of having “crude sexual conversations with minor Latin students” while on a school excursion.

The current head of the school, Thomas Hagerman, came to the school after a scandal at Scarsdale Public Schools, where he concealed $1.7 million in IRS fines. When his dishonesty at Latin was discovered, he allegedly coerced a worker whose children attend the school to accept responsibility for his false statements. Such exemplary leadership undoubtedly provides engaging ethical teachings.

The term of former Board Chair David Koo is a prime example of the corrupt relationships that characterize Latin’s leadership. According to the letter, Koo took a vacation with the families of the alleged bullies as families begged for assistance with bullying, never disclosing these conflicts of interest, or abstaining from decisions relating to them.

The letter details social media where current and former students have posted their experiences regarding the Latin School of Chicago. The “Survivors of Latin” Instagram account, with 2,700 followers, covers the personal cost of this institutional failure. The account documents a continuous stream of incidents involving racial epithets, prejudice against students, sexual assaults, accusations that Jewish students spread COVID-19, etc.

Digging into the letter

According to the letter to board members and administrators, the school has a limited time to appoint an investigator to conduct an independent study into these matters.  Otherwise, legal action will be initiated against them. Such a study would require unprecedented transparency, including anonymous surveys of the whole school community, a thorough examination of the governance framework, and a minimum of two years of public release of all relevant information.

However, complying with this request could potentially put the board or specific members in a difficult situation. In an organization that does not disclose to the general trustees “anything you wouldn’t want printed in the newspaper,” this kind of publicity might expose additional evidence against certain board members and administrators or potentially expose the entire board to additional litigation.

Curiously, as the demand letter notes, Latin’s financial performance is inversely correlated with the number of lawsuits it faces. While expenses have climbed by 55 percent since 2013, revenue has only increased by 20 percent. $5 million in annual surpluses as recently as 2015 has turned into $1.6 million in deficits. Inflation-adjusted philanthropic funding has fallen 72 percent.

In other words, Latin’s balance sheet appears to be following the same downtrend as ethics and morals at the governance level.

Testimonies from the community make Latin’s decline into disorder abundantly evident. One alumnus describes how they were called racist epithets during lunch and got away with it. According to a parent, their daughter was bullied starting in first grade, but their concerns were disregarded because the bullies’ parents were wealthy contributors.

Other parents threatened Jewish families during the pandemic, and their kids experienced anti-Semitic bullying at school. In May 2024, students played the Nazi hymn during band rehearsal, highlighting the administration’s persistently weak response to anti-Semitic acts.

Most recently, one of the students involved in the Nazi anthem episode was asked to speak at graduation rather than being disciplined. It appears as though the administration is more concerned about protecting its elite children than showing empathy and kindness to a Jewish community that has already suffered an unprecedented number of anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, including in Chicago.

A final warning? 

With this letter, The Latin School of Chicago appears to have received one more final warning before additional lawsuits are filed. By hiring an independent entity to review the board’s governance and leadership with an honest assessment of the administrative commitment to student safety, the school can “own up” to its failings and perhaps craft a strategy and a turnaround to save itself — as well as expose those responsible for the malfeasance, such as selected members of the board and administrators, rather than the collective board governance spanning all members.

Latin’s objective is to “embrace [the] diversity of people, cultures, and ideas.” The school proudly promotes itself as a leader in ethical leadership and educational excellence. But ironically, according to the facts in the demand letter, these embraces only last until they endanger donor relationships or call for real accountability.

If history is any indicator, Latin’s approach to this most recent situation will probably be the same as it has always been: Postpone, refuse, and hope that pricey attorneys can solve the issue. These strategies might be effective in certain situations, but given the extent of this most recent challenge, the time for reckoning may finally be drawing near.

Latin has succeeded in imparting the main lesson to a school that charges high tuition to Chicago’s elite: If you have enough money and connections, the repercussions are for other people, not you.

As the deadline draws near for responding to this demand letter, the question is not if Latin will add another lawsuit to its expanding collection but rather how many more will be necessary before the significant change occurs or the school is forced to tap what remains of its balance sheet, including selling assets to continue as a going concern and/or to fund legal settlements.

Despite the ongoing litigation, the Latin School of Chicago will continue to stand as a symbol of institutional failure and a reflection of the current governance in Chicago and Cook County. Indeed, the one constant policy appears to be defending the status quo and the inner privileged circle at all costs.

The Board’s response deadline of February 13th will usher in a new chapter in the extensive narrative of Latin’s tragedy. But considering the school’s history, expectations for real reform should be as low as its historic administrative accountability standards.

Of course, the invisible hand, in the form of parents and potential parent checkbooks, may also play a role in Latin’s future as more discover the true colors of the institution in which they are vesting their children’s education and character development and decide to look elsewhere.

Named Directors in the Demand Letter

Appendix 1

Trustees and Officers Who Violated Their Fiduciary Duties to the School

1. Abigail Johnson-Reid Phelps – trustee from 2023 to present.

2. Alejandro Longoria – trustee from 2022 to present.

3. Alexander Abell – trustee from 2023 to present.

4. Andres Mendoza Pena – trustee from 2023 to present.

5. Beth Goldberg-Heller – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

6. Bliss Tobin – Lower School Director from 2021 to present.

7. Bridget Coughlin – trustee from 2020 to 2024.

8. Bridget Hennessy – current 9th and 10th Grade Dean of Students.

9. Carrie Parr – trustee from 2022 to present, current Vice Chair.

10. Charlie Tribbett – trustee from 2022 to present.

11. Christopher Keogh – trustee from 2022 to present.

12. Colleen Batcheler – trustee from 2019 to present.

13. Daione Mitchell – trustee from 2022 to 2024.

14. Dara Milner – trustee from 2019 to present, current Chair, former Vice Chair.

15. Darren Snyder – trustee from 2020 to present, current Treasurer.

16. David Koo – trustee from 2019 to 2022, former Chair.

17. David Williams – trustee from 2019 to 2023, former Secretary.

18. Deb Sampey – Middle School Director from 1995 to 2023.

19. Denise Fogus Gibson – trustee from 2019 to 2024.

20. Diane Saltoun – trustee from 2016 to present.

21. Donald Lassere – trustee from 2023 to present.

22. Dontrey Britt-Hart – trustee from 2020 to 2023.

23. Edward Benford – trustee from 2016 to present.

24. Elizabeth Betten – trustee from 2020 to 2022.

25. Elizabeth Mihas – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

26. Erin Amico Wegscheider – trustee from 2023 to present.

27. Georgy Ann Peluchiwski – trustee from 2016 to 2019, former Chair.

28. Gurpreet Singh – trustee from 2022 to present.

29. Jeff Sharp – trustee from 2022 to present.

30. Jennifer Cizner – trustee from 2019 to present.

31. Jennifer Peeples – trustee from 2022 to present.

32. Jennifer Prewitt – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

33. Jonathan Berger – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

34. Jyoti Patel – trustee from 2019 to present.

35. Kristine Von Ogden – Upper School Director from 2021 to 2023.

36. Lina Wei – trustee from 2022 to present.

37. Maury Tognarelli – trustee from 2016 to present.

38. Meredith Bluhm-Wolf – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

39. Michael Szczepanek – Chief Financial Officer from 2019 to present.

40. Nancy Dwyer – trustee from 2020 to 2022.

41. Nick Baer – Upper School Director from 2023 to present.

42. Nicole Mann – trustee from 2019 to 2024.

43. Nils Larsen – trustee from 2023 to present.

44. Olumide Ajiginni – trustee from 2022 to present.

45. Paul Furlow – trustee from 2019 to 2023.

46. Peter Jackson – trustee from 2020 to present.

47. Rafael Santana – trustee from 2022 to 2024.

48. Randall Dunn – Head of School from 2011 to 2022.

49. Robert Chapman – trustee from 2019 to present.

50. Ronald Seymore – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

51. Ryan Allen – Assistant Head of School from 2023 to present.

52. Ryan Harris – trustee from 2023 to present.

53. Sarah Norris – trustee from 2019 to 2024.

54. Scott Kaniewski – trustee from 2019 to 2023.

55. Shelley Greenwood – Assistant Head of School from 1993 to 2023.

56. Susan Bolon – Director of Human Resources from 2018 to present.

57. Tanya Polsky – trustee from 2020 to present.

58. Thomas Hagerman – Head of School from 2022 to present.

59. Tim Cronister – Director of Student Life from 1998 to present.

60. Timothy Hurd – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

61. Traveres “Tray” White – Middle School Division Director from 2023 to present.

62. Val Vlahos – trustee from 2019 to 2024.

63. Valerie Wiley – trustee from 2019 to 2021.

64. Vince Cozzi – trustee from 2022 to present; former Chair.

65. Walter Pryor – trustee from 2019 to 2022.

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