Swimming Against the Current: Reflections (Part 12)
Categories: Léo’s Insights 2022-2023, Reflections
Once I determined to suspend our application for accreditation, I set out to find a third sponsor school. I had experience with the machinations of private “Christian” schools, so I offered a substantial amount of money to sponsor us for one year. I knew that would attract the attention of a number of schools, which it did, but it also got the attention of a bureaucrat with whom I had a sordid past.
Maria was in charge of private school accountability. She had developed a habit which placed her dislike of independence and faith on a collision course with the private Christian schools with which she was working. She soon developed a reputation for making increasingly more stringent demands. While nearly every private school is run by well-meaning and sincere individuals, most are largely ignorant of governance mandates, so Maria had them all in fear of violating some regulation which would result in financial clawbacks. She played this fabulously, eventually coming to interject her personal interpretation of the rules to afford her even more power. Maria exercised an ironclad rule over all, except for one experienced, well-informed individual who could not be manipulated, and that was me.
Maria and I had had several contests and show downs over a period of ten years and I am happy to say I won them all. In fact, in many cases she had advanced some conjured up demand that bordered on the absurd, which I felt was unnecessary overreach. I refused to give in to her expectations, choosing instead to follow the actual rules.
When we were fired by our initial school, she worked tirelessly to prevent us from finding another sponsor, succeeding until the last minute. With our second school, she went out of her way to unsuccessfully falsely accuse us of breaking rules. We will summarize all these previous contests as the Initial Maria Events.
Now searching for a third sponsor, Maria did everything she could to prevent us from finding one. Her unprofessional, unethical and immoral fear-mongering of every school board who showed interest in us was outstanding. We had a series of interested schools all change their minds once Maria showed up to “advise” or should I say, warn them. I believe her motivation had become personal. She had a vendetta and wanted me out of her way as the only constant roadblock to her self-proclaimed fiefdom. We will refer to this one as the Maria Event #2.
Frustrated, I called her boss to complain of her bad behaviour. This paid off, for she backed off long enough to allow a school, clearly motivated by the promised money, to step forward to “help”. However, she was not yet done.
The Lesson
Though I may have temporarily lost my faith, God remained faithful, even when a rogue bureaucrat did everything in her power to see us come to an end. I stood against a bully and won a battle, but the war was not over.
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