To Our Fellow Parents

Dear Parents;
We have received many positive responses (along with a small number of angry ones, which we expected) and wanted to thank you all for your encouraging words and sentiments. We have also had a number of questions that we would like to address at this time. The question that has been asked the most deals with the question of who are we. We can appreciate that our insistence on remaining anonymous has a number of you calling into question our intent and involvement with opponents of charter schools or non-union schools. We assure you, this is not the case. We are honestly just a group of parents who have joined forces in hopes of removing the cloud that currently hangs over our school. These include allegations of wrong-doing, unethical actions, and the schools inability or unwillingness to meet the needs of all students. We, like many of you, don’t take issue with school policies or academics but rather how the school is being operated and managed. Our intent is not to destroy the school but rather the exact opposite, to secure its future for the sake of our children.
For those of you who still take issue with our insistence at anonymity, we ask for your patience, consideration, and understanding for the sake of our children. It is an unfortunate fact that in the past a number of parents who have stood up for what they believed in and/or to secure the educational needs of their children were being met, have felt persecuted or victimized by the Administration. While we appreciate that you may not have personally experienced this or have personal knowledge of such instances, we have heard from numerous people who have. Please try to set aside your criticisms, anger and harsh words at our efforts for a moment and instead consider how the parents of our learning disabled, English Language Learners, or families who were next in line on the waitlist (only to find out that students have in fact been re-admitted ahead of 2198 other waitlisted students) have felt and continue to feel. We ask that rather than seeing this as a negative action against our school, you find compassion and empathy for your fellow parents who truly only want the best for their child. Please also remember, we aren’t doing this solely for our own children but rather for the sake of ALL of the students of our school. And yes, in many ways and for many children, MVRCS is the best education these parents have to offer their children. We ask that you consider how you would feel and what you would do if it were your child that had a learning disability and was failing because the school was unwilling to meet their educational needs as required by law.
We know many in our school have family ties, relationships, and connections to the Administration and Board. No one begrudges any one for that until you are unwilling to acknowledge the issues relating to the management of our school and their impact on the school. What we also take issue with is when all of our children are not treated equally, when questions concerning the financial management arise, conflicts of interests, and the school constantly losing the teachers that are there for the children but keeping the staff that is there as a result of their connections rather than their performance or contribution to the school. For those of you who are willing to turn a blind eye to these issues, your unwillingness to acknowledge these issues are not about preserving the school but rather for your own self-serving motives. Funds are tight in all of our schools and districts, to not have complete transparency and accountability should be unacceptable and cause for concern for all of us. It is no wonder that parents and citizens of our sending districts take issue with our school (and ultimately all charter schools) if we are not held to the same standards and accountability as others. We also feel that our Administration and Board of Trustees should be held to the same standards, expectations, and accountability that our sending schools are held to. That includes following the laws and regulations that govern their actions and behaviors. This is not a personal vendetta against Neil Kinnon or any other member of the Administration, this is about ensuring that the educational needs of all students are met and that we, as parents, feel free to voice our concerns and issues without fear of being subjected to repercussions. A component of the concept behind Charter Schools includes parents having a say in their child’s school, including leadership roles and collaboration. The idea was not for one small group of parents to control and/or manage the school as our school currently is.
In closing, many of you have questioned how we were able to obtain your email addresses. We can assure you, we did nothing illegal or questionable as your emails were all included within a mass email the school sent out last year (dated 11/9/09 and titled 'When to keep a child home'). We apologize to those of you who were upset or concerned by our email but felt it was the only way to determine if we were a lone group of parents or if others were equally as concerned about the issues we have raised. As the majority of you have approved of our efforts and attempts, we will continue to draw attention to these matters. As always, we welcome your comments and any suggestions that you may have. With our deepest apologies to those of you we upset, and our deepest thanks for the many accolades.
Sincerely, The Parents of Unofficial MVRCS