Early Years Board of Directors Letter

To the Board of Directors,

We are writing to you as concerned parents of children enrolled at Early Years Preschool. During the 2008-09 school year, we have witnessed what we believe to be the overall regression of the school. This regression is a result of actions of the Board of Directors, as well as the Boards failure to act in instances that require positive direction. As a result, we have no confidence that the school can meet our expectations for providing the environment our children need to learn, develop, and thrive.

During this school year we have witnessed the arrival of a new Program Director, followed by her hasty departure after only a few months. This continues an unacceptable trend of instability in the schools administration, where the Board has proven unsuccessful at hiring and/or retaining a Program Director to lead the school. In the absence of a Program Director, Board members understandably have assumed a more active role in the day-to-day administration of the school. This more active role, however, has not had a positive effect on the school. In particular, the teachers, as a whole, feel they have not been shown an appropriate level of respect and professionalism by members of the Board or by some of the administrators hired by the Board in the past. As a result, we understand that a number of teachers have tendered their resignation.
This is particularly upsetting given that it is the teachers who have done such an excellent job of providing stability and continuity in the classroom for our children despite the increasing turmoil in the administration of the school. They are the most valuable resource and the most important part of our children's experience at Early Years.

As we look toward the beginning of a new school year in September, we find the level of instability with respect to our childrens teachers unacceptable. With the prospect of a number of teachers who we value leaving the school, and the absence of a Program Director to hire capable replacements, much less handle the other duties of running the school, many of us are apprehensive about committing to re-enroll our children in the school for the coming year.

In order to bring some level of stability to the Early Years community and ensure the schools ability to operate at a level that we find acceptable, we believe it is imperative that the four current members of the Board (not including the Church Representative) resign. Prior to resigning, we further request that the Board amend the bylaws to allow for the election of new Board members by the parents of enrolled students, as well as term limits (with staggered terms) for members of the Board. We believe that such an election can be administered by the Counsel to the Board. We welcome any of the current members of the Board of Directors who wish to have a continuing role in the administration of the school to run for election by the parent community. We believe that having an elected Board of Directors is the only way to ensure that the Board is both representative of and responsive to the concerns of the parent community.