Abuse of power
"I believe the root of all evil is abuse of power" - Patricia Cornwell
Dr. David-Paul Zimmerman ("DPZ") attempted to blackmail a then 12-year-old student of color and his family after the student wrote a public Google Review about Renton Prep.
DPZ emailed the student's mother and threatened to publicly respond to the post and describe the family as being ungrateful for the "literally tens of thousands of dollars of financial aid" they received from the Schools if the post was not taken down within 72 hours. DPZ wrote: “I will write a public response to [student's] post if it still remains, talking about ungratefulness. I will publically [sic.] respond to his post and let anyone who reads his post see how generous we truly were to your family.”
NOTE: Both the student’s and his older sister’s public Google Review have mysteriously disappeared from Renton Prep’s site. DPZ quotes the student’s Google Review within his letter attached hereto.
EXHIBIT A:
November 17, 2017 email from DPZ to the mother of a former Renton Prep student.
Prior to the student's post being removed from Google Reviews, a peculiar response appeared from a Renton Prep designee.
DPZ even had the audacity to appear at the former student’s new school to speak to one of the school’s Administrators about the student’s unfavorable public Google Review.
Thankfully, the Administrator at the new school graciously told the student that it was at his sole discretion to remove or maintain his honest post, and that whatever the student’s decision, he would NOT be in trouble.
EXHIBIT B:
Renton Prep / AGCS has 24/7 audio-video surveillance across the campuses, with the exception of the bathrooms. Prospective parents and teachers must agree to be monitored by the surveillance.
According to their policy, the Church Council has sole and final determination of who may review recordings, and is under no legal obligation to allow anyone to review recordings, unless so directed by a lawful court order.
The Zimmermans have unrestricted access to the Schools' audio-video surveillance and in our experience will only utilize and/or allow sections of the videos to be viewed which they 'deem important,' beneficial, and helpful to themselves or the Schools. This was evidenced throughout our two-year legal ordeal.
The policy enforced during the 2015-2016 school year, the tenth year that the Fernandez family had been at the Schools, limits the rights of parents, students, and staff, while granting complete authority to the Church Council/Zimmermans without much oversight.
Exhibit C:
During the Defamation lawsuit, Michelle initially denied that she said Rod threatened to “punch her dad in the face.” Later, during legal proceedings, Michelle testified under oath that she had not remembered using the word “punch” until viewing the School’s May 25, 2016 audio-video, which clearly depicted her saying “punch.”
Prior to trial, our family was made aware that the Zimmermans took aside a number of students, individually, and asked what they heard Michelle say to Renton Prep students in the 6th grade homeroom on Wednesday morning, May 25, 2016.
A number of students stated firmly that they heard Michelle use the word 'punch.'
several individuals who experienced it TOLD THE FERNANDEZ FAMILY THAT the Zimmermans attempted to manipulate students into believing they had heard wrong, or that they had taken Michelle's words out of context.
These individuals told the Fernandez family that DPZ specifically tried to get the students to agree that Michelle used the word ‘physical threat,’ and not 'punch.'
Exhibit D:
One former parent confided that she regularly struggled to pay tuition on time, but sacrificed a great deal to maintain her financial commitment.
Over a 8-year period at the Schools, DPZ suspended her child on multiple occasions due to late tuition payments. Each time attaching a $100 late fee.
During the 2015-2016 school year, the parent had decided to move her child to another, more affordable, Christian school. Her departure from the Schools coincided with the end of the Fernandez' tenure at Renton Prep.
The parent made her final decision to withdraw from the next school year's registration, after the May 15 deadline. Pursuant to Renton Prep's policy, after May 15 a parent incurs a $1,000 late withdrawal fee.
Over the summer of 2016, it became apparent that resolution between Michelle and the Fernandez family would not take place.
48 hours prior to the child starting at a new school, DPZ summoned the parent and child to the School to 'meet face to face' to determine whether or not he would release the parent's requested official transcripts, which DPZ stated were sitting on his desk.
The parent went to the meeting because the transcripts were a requirement for her child to begin school two days later.
At this meeting, DPZ,
1) told the parent that she had forfeited remarkable opportunities for her child by leaving the Renton Prep;
2) told the parent that he had planned to send her child to China, free of charge, on a school trip that year;
3) offered her child tuition coverage, almost entirely, if the child would return to the School the following school year;
4) stated that he would waive the $1,000 withdrawal fee;
5) stated that "the Fernandez situation is not true;"
6) stated that "the Fernandez are cancerous;"
7) STATED that "they're a cancer that happened;" and
8) stated that "[they're] a cancer that needed to be removed."
For the majority of the meeting, DPZ proceeded to interrogate the parent, seeking information about anything she knew in regards to the Fernandez family, or anyone associated with the family or extended family.
The parent and her child felt pressured and intimidated.
When it became apparent that this mother had no information to give DPZ about the Fernandezes, DPZ's tone changed and he asked her why she did not come talk to him about her financial struggles.
The parent replied, "'Cause I'm scared of you, Dr. Z."
(This parent has provided her expressed consent to the family to share her story.)
To read more about the Toxic Leadership of the Zimmerman's, visit the following pages: