Chancellor Antwan Wilson resigned Tuesday in the wake of revelations that he violated DCPS policy by bypassing the competitive out-of-bounds lottery policy to gain his daughter a spot at Wilson High school. The abrupt end to Wilson’s year and nineteen days as chancellor will leave DCPS with its fourth chancellor in two years.

Chancellor Wilson’s oldest child was enrolled at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts at the start of the 2017-18 school year until Wilson approached Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles, who has also resigned, to look for transfer options. Based on the chancellor’s home address, his daughter should have attended Dunbar High School. However, with the help of Niles, the chancellor secured his daughter a spot at Wilson, which has a waiting list of over 600 students.

Prior to his resignation, Wilson apologized profusely in an email to DCPS students and community members. “While I understand that many of you will be angered and disappointed by my actions, I’m here today to apologize and ask for your forgiveness,” he wrote. Mayor Bowser was initially content with this response, but requested Wilson’s resignation Tuesday amidst growing pressure from DCPS families and City Council Members. “After listening to community members and DCPS families, it has become clear that Wilson will not be able to regain the community’s trust,” Bowser wrote in a statement.

Wilson will be replaced on Tuesday by interim chancellor Dr. Amanda Alexander, the current Chief of the Office of Elementary Schools. Alexander served as Deputy Chief of Schools under former chancellor Kaya Henderson. “She’s been through all the ranks. I suspect that she will be a person who is strong enough to lead us through the changes and transitions that will undoubtedly need to take place now,” said Principal Kimberley Martin of Alexander.

Principal Martin was aware that Wilson’s daughter attended Wilson, but says she was not aware that he had circumvented any rules in getting her there. Martin expressed concern for his daughter, who was removed from the school last Friday, as well as disappointment with the situation in general. “I’m sad for us, for the whole District. Sometimes we just need stability. Sometimes we just need to let people get their feet beneath them and get off the ground. The hardest thing about being a school leader in DC is that lack of stability,” said Martin.

The revelations serve as yet another addition to the scandal that has engulfed DCPS since December, when a WAMU-NPR investigation found that over half of 2017 graduating class at Ballou High School had more than 60 unexcused absences, making them ineligible to graduate. Since then, an external investigation revealed that one in three DCPS graduates were ineligible to graduate last year.

Just last school year, the school system was scrutinized for its special treatment of DC officials after a city investigation revealed that former Chancellor Kaya Henderson had helped seven DC officials subvert the lottery system to place their children in the city’s top schools, including Wilson Principal Kimberly Martin. •