"We live in angry times and it is bleeding into our organizations and institutions.
Our people have few role models to emulate. Our ability to listen, to reflect, to challenge respectfully, and to learn from different points of view seems to have vanished."
Douglas E. Noll
Peacemaker
Our people have few role models to emulate. Our ability to listen, to reflect, to challenge respectfully, and to learn from different points of view seems to have vanished."
Douglas E. Noll
Peacemaker
Letter to the Community from Christine Lonergan (emailed 3/22/18)
Dear All,
35 years ago Morgan Graham and I dreamt of a better world for children. A place where no one felt left out and children’s voices would be heard. We had a vision for All Children Great and Small. Every step we took had to be reflective of the kind of school and community we wanted to build for children. The means had to be reflective of our vision and our dream. Our orientation embraced critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration among adults, children, and those in between. It is a direct antidote to the more traditional "rote" ways of problem solving with children and adults that utilizes punishment and simplified democratic principles such as “majority rule”.
For the past 40 years, I have studied human development academically and independently by focusing and honing my knowledge of early childhood. After years of interrogating my own praxis, listening, and collaborating with children and adults, I learned that true democracy is rooted in working toward consensus. This is a practice used with children. It’ is something theorists like Dewey and Locke have been saying for over 100 years.
ACGS is magic. The magic is made out of respect. It is a place that I hope and dream can continue to be a sanctuary for the children of our city. All children. I have stated publicly and privately my opposition to my abrupt and punitive termination. I have warned the current board of the impact an abrupt termination of a founding director can have on the school. There is no plan in place for how the school will be guided into the future. The vision is no longer central to governance. The understanding of the dream has been influenced by those who do not believe in it.
Sadly, you were prevented, by your own board of directors, from having a democratic meeting to address the changes at school. As the meeting started, board members immediately set in motion a planned, noisy, aggressive disruption consisting of shouting others down, finger-pointing, malicious attack, disparagement and public humiliation aimed at me. Majority rule was invoked and people with grievances (myself included) were not allowed to submit documentation. I have been enduring crushing meetings like this since last December. Teachers lashed out at myself, a parent, and even at our founder Morgan Graham who was attending this meeting with her daughter. Respect was not reflected in any of these actions.
All this has been documented in meeting minutes. They are publicly available. You have a right to request them.
This was a justified meeting called by membership as per ACGS by-laws. A nonprofit’s by-laws are a legal document that dictates how the organization must be governed. An elected board is accountable and answerable to the membership.
A board member present chose to lead a majority rule vote that the meeting would not follow its “presentation of facts” format as decided by the membership. A chaotic and un-moderated Q&A ensued and the question of “what had I done that was so awful that would cause such an abrupt termination” was asked. Another parent chimed in and asked if any children had been hurt. A board member responded that I had “not molested” anyone, nor had any children been “in danger.” As you can imagine, the fact that I had been put in a position where such questions could be raised about me was horrifying.
I am quite concerned that my reputation not be harmed, my 35 years of dedication to founding and taking care of this school not be disparaged, nor my legacy soiled by this board. I demand an end to maliciousness and disparaging statements from board members. From anyone. Blanket statements such as “You don’t know the whole story” suggest that there is something unspeakable that I have done. Enough. The inflammatory letter read aloud that attempted to shame and humiliate me, purportedly from the school bookkeeper I have worked with for 30 years, was over the line. I have yet to receive a copy of this letter for my records. In fact, on February 12th, I received an email from the same bookkeeper stating: “January looked great with a surplus of $6,000 for the month. We still have a ways to balance but at least the cash flow is very positive. Thanks for all your help in helping to achieving this.”
How did we get here?
I was sought out by the acting board president in early 2013. The school was experiencing severe financial problems. The board was concerned that the school would have to close its doors in the near future. The school had lost approximately $110,000 from the reserves between 2008-13. Prior to that, the amount in the reserve account had been closer to $170,000. A loss like this is a tremendous problem.
The financial crisis that I am being blamed for began in 2008. I cannot be the cause of what I was called in to help fix.
In 2014 I was hired by the board as a consultant to guide a self-study. As a consultant, I of course made no decisions about school issues, or budget. During this process, I was asked and offered the position of Executive Director beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year. The board’s intentions at the time were to have me work on program, progressive pedagogy, and board development. I hoped to spark fundraising back to an important place in our non-profit 501 3 (c) school’s culture as well. I accepted the job. A focused campaign of school improvement began. Our license was renewed to allow children to stay at our school until entry to first grade. Creation station was born. We opened the doors up to parents in the mornings and the afternoons.
I asked the teachers to reflect on their practice. We created the meeting room and the meeting song. We began to facilitate opening meetings to begin our day and closing meetings to reflect. The Inside-outside classroom was born. Milestones was born in collaboration with faculty and board members.
There were no secrets being kept from board members by me or anyone else about the state of the financials. For two years after the self-study and as Director, I worked closely and collaboratively with the board president and treasurer on budget while keeping the board privy to details. We went in search of different banks we thought might work better for us. We went in search of a line of credit that would act as a cash flow support in times of need so we wouldn’t have to keep going into reserves. We increased collection efforts. We served legal papers on people and went to small claims court when necessary.
And then we made a collective, collaborative mistake. We had made some satisfying progress and created an overly optimistic budget. The 2017 board approved the budget. The board approved a Director salary that was competitive with other schools like ours. We didn’t realize that some of the drastic cuts in school fees made prior to my hiring would deplete the reserves so quickly. Fundraising was not in there enough quantity to replace them.
We did this together. We made this mistake together. That’s how our progressive governance structure works. No one makes decisions in isolation. We don’t have a CEO to behead in these matters.
The following September we had no treasurer. I informed the new board that our accounts were almost completely depleted. I secured the line of credit established with the bank. On Dec 5, 2017 I saw that the budget was unsustainable and contacted our bookkeeper to slash my salary almost in two. I called a meeting of the budget committee where I shared some collections issues with them as well as what I had done to my salary and why.
The response of current board leadership to our financial crisis has been reactive and emotional, rather than objective and solution-oriented. Since December, I have implored the board to work with me in unity of purpose. This board has conducted email discussions between and among each other where motions are made, seconded, and votes are counted. They are virtual meetings that the membership, executive director, nor faculty are privy to. This is the opposite of the transparency this board professes to aspire to. It is also unacceptable practice in the state of California.
A serious confidentiality, ethical, and trust breach occurred when an unknown board member sent an anonymous email forwarding information meant only for the board. This revealed sensitive matters that were extremely misleading when taken out of context and endangered an important and sizable donation to our struggling school. It created needless upset to our valued teaching staff. It was sent through a paid German email washing service at https://hoi-polloi.org/policies.html . Diligent efforts have not been made to investigate this breach. In fact, two board members are on record saying they support the sending of anonymous emails. This is reprehensible, and the person that acted with such malice still sits on our board today.
This is the way the board has responded to the needs of our school: with disregard and dismissiveness. Additionally, disparagement and harassment of fellow board members has occurred at meetings and in email threads such that a long term member of our community and a person on our board for six years resigned because he could no longer endure the harassment of himself and others. The school has sadly lost a dedicated board member and some of our valuable institutional memory.
As a result of my termination, Morgan Graham has withdrawn support for the school completely. She will maintain her donation of approximately $15,000, but she has withdrawn the other half of the funds she had pledged. The school has lost both of its founders. I have informed the board that I cannot support the work they are doing. I will no longer be available as an advisor or mentor to the current board.
Lastly, I want to address the question of my responsibility in all of this. I have taken action and responsibility by first cutting and then zeroing out my salary. I felt it was important to keep the school doors open and the teachers paid. I raised $35,000 in donation pledges for the school. I worked with the fundraising committee by finding the venue for the 35th anniversary earlier in the year, by addressing envelopes, doing mass mailings, and running general support for the work. Most importantly, I have taken responsibility by continuously challenging the board to think critically and use collaborative problem solving skills that reflect our vision as opposed to traditional, rote, and punitive methods. I have stood, and still stand, for our dream. I believe people have the power and the desire to do good in the world.
On March 3rd, 2018, we had a successful and lovely fundraiser for the first time in a decade. We boosted morale and the visibility of our school. We connected with alumni new and old. We brought in somewhere around $30,000.
Three days later I was terminated. The termination letter was dated March 1st.
The hardest thing for me about this whole situation is saying goodbye to the children and explaining to Leo why All Children isn’t “Nana’s school” anymore. Even as a seasoned parent and educator, I don’t have a magical answer for him. It has been hard to come to school since the announcement of my termination, especially since the awful membership meeting. It no longer feels emotionally safe for me or for my grandson here. This is what I say to Leo and what I have said to all of the children:
“I am going away from school to have some new adventures. I am doing this for grownup reasons. Nothing any of you have ever done or thought in your mind could ever make me go away. I am your friend forever. This is a grownup thing.”
I have loved working with all of you and getting to know you and your children. I feel deep affection for all of you and wish you well.
With Respect and Affection,
Christine (the Bean)
35 years ago Morgan Graham and I dreamt of a better world for children. A place where no one felt left out and children’s voices would be heard. We had a vision for All Children Great and Small. Every step we took had to be reflective of the kind of school and community we wanted to build for children. The means had to be reflective of our vision and our dream. Our orientation embraced critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration among adults, children, and those in between. It is a direct antidote to the more traditional "rote" ways of problem solving with children and adults that utilizes punishment and simplified democratic principles such as “majority rule”.
For the past 40 years, I have studied human development academically and independently by focusing and honing my knowledge of early childhood. After years of interrogating my own praxis, listening, and collaborating with children and adults, I learned that true democracy is rooted in working toward consensus. This is a practice used with children. It’ is something theorists like Dewey and Locke have been saying for over 100 years.
ACGS is magic. The magic is made out of respect. It is a place that I hope and dream can continue to be a sanctuary for the children of our city. All children. I have stated publicly and privately my opposition to my abrupt and punitive termination. I have warned the current board of the impact an abrupt termination of a founding director can have on the school. There is no plan in place for how the school will be guided into the future. The vision is no longer central to governance. The understanding of the dream has been influenced by those who do not believe in it.
Sadly, you were prevented, by your own board of directors, from having a democratic meeting to address the changes at school. As the meeting started, board members immediately set in motion a planned, noisy, aggressive disruption consisting of shouting others down, finger-pointing, malicious attack, disparagement and public humiliation aimed at me. Majority rule was invoked and people with grievances (myself included) were not allowed to submit documentation. I have been enduring crushing meetings like this since last December. Teachers lashed out at myself, a parent, and even at our founder Morgan Graham who was attending this meeting with her daughter. Respect was not reflected in any of these actions.
All this has been documented in meeting minutes. They are publicly available. You have a right to request them.
This was a justified meeting called by membership as per ACGS by-laws. A nonprofit’s by-laws are a legal document that dictates how the organization must be governed. An elected board is accountable and answerable to the membership.
A board member present chose to lead a majority rule vote that the meeting would not follow its “presentation of facts” format as decided by the membership. A chaotic and un-moderated Q&A ensued and the question of “what had I done that was so awful that would cause such an abrupt termination” was asked. Another parent chimed in and asked if any children had been hurt. A board member responded that I had “not molested” anyone, nor had any children been “in danger.” As you can imagine, the fact that I had been put in a position where such questions could be raised about me was horrifying.
I am quite concerned that my reputation not be harmed, my 35 years of dedication to founding and taking care of this school not be disparaged, nor my legacy soiled by this board. I demand an end to maliciousness and disparaging statements from board members. From anyone. Blanket statements such as “You don’t know the whole story” suggest that there is something unspeakable that I have done. Enough. The inflammatory letter read aloud that attempted to shame and humiliate me, purportedly from the school bookkeeper I have worked with for 30 years, was over the line. I have yet to receive a copy of this letter for my records. In fact, on February 12th, I received an email from the same bookkeeper stating: “January looked great with a surplus of $6,000 for the month. We still have a ways to balance but at least the cash flow is very positive. Thanks for all your help in helping to achieving this.”
How did we get here?
I was sought out by the acting board president in early 2013. The school was experiencing severe financial problems. The board was concerned that the school would have to close its doors in the near future. The school had lost approximately $110,000 from the reserves between 2008-13. Prior to that, the amount in the reserve account had been closer to $170,000. A loss like this is a tremendous problem.
The financial crisis that I am being blamed for began in 2008. I cannot be the cause of what I was called in to help fix.
In 2014 I was hired by the board as a consultant to guide a self-study. As a consultant, I of course made no decisions about school issues, or budget. During this process, I was asked and offered the position of Executive Director beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year. The board’s intentions at the time were to have me work on program, progressive pedagogy, and board development. I hoped to spark fundraising back to an important place in our non-profit 501 3 (c) school’s culture as well. I accepted the job. A focused campaign of school improvement began. Our license was renewed to allow children to stay at our school until entry to first grade. Creation station was born. We opened the doors up to parents in the mornings and the afternoons.
I asked the teachers to reflect on their practice. We created the meeting room and the meeting song. We began to facilitate opening meetings to begin our day and closing meetings to reflect. The Inside-outside classroom was born. Milestones was born in collaboration with faculty and board members.
There were no secrets being kept from board members by me or anyone else about the state of the financials. For two years after the self-study and as Director, I worked closely and collaboratively with the board president and treasurer on budget while keeping the board privy to details. We went in search of different banks we thought might work better for us. We went in search of a line of credit that would act as a cash flow support in times of need so we wouldn’t have to keep going into reserves. We increased collection efforts. We served legal papers on people and went to small claims court when necessary.
And then we made a collective, collaborative mistake. We had made some satisfying progress and created an overly optimistic budget. The 2017 board approved the budget. The board approved a Director salary that was competitive with other schools like ours. We didn’t realize that some of the drastic cuts in school fees made prior to my hiring would deplete the reserves so quickly. Fundraising was not in there enough quantity to replace them.
We did this together. We made this mistake together. That’s how our progressive governance structure works. No one makes decisions in isolation. We don’t have a CEO to behead in these matters.
The following September we had no treasurer. I informed the new board that our accounts were almost completely depleted. I secured the line of credit established with the bank. On Dec 5, 2017 I saw that the budget was unsustainable and contacted our bookkeeper to slash my salary almost in two. I called a meeting of the budget committee where I shared some collections issues with them as well as what I had done to my salary and why.
The response of current board leadership to our financial crisis has been reactive and emotional, rather than objective and solution-oriented. Since December, I have implored the board to work with me in unity of purpose. This board has conducted email discussions between and among each other where motions are made, seconded, and votes are counted. They are virtual meetings that the membership, executive director, nor faculty are privy to. This is the opposite of the transparency this board professes to aspire to. It is also unacceptable practice in the state of California.
A serious confidentiality, ethical, and trust breach occurred when an unknown board member sent an anonymous email forwarding information meant only for the board. This revealed sensitive matters that were extremely misleading when taken out of context and endangered an important and sizable donation to our struggling school. It created needless upset to our valued teaching staff. It was sent through a paid German email washing service at https://hoi-polloi.org/policies.html . Diligent efforts have not been made to investigate this breach. In fact, two board members are on record saying they support the sending of anonymous emails. This is reprehensible, and the person that acted with such malice still sits on our board today.
This is the way the board has responded to the needs of our school: with disregard and dismissiveness. Additionally, disparagement and harassment of fellow board members has occurred at meetings and in email threads such that a long term member of our community and a person on our board for six years resigned because he could no longer endure the harassment of himself and others. The school has sadly lost a dedicated board member and some of our valuable institutional memory.
As a result of my termination, Morgan Graham has withdrawn support for the school completely. She will maintain her donation of approximately $15,000, but she has withdrawn the other half of the funds she had pledged. The school has lost both of its founders. I have informed the board that I cannot support the work they are doing. I will no longer be available as an advisor or mentor to the current board.
Lastly, I want to address the question of my responsibility in all of this. I have taken action and responsibility by first cutting and then zeroing out my salary. I felt it was important to keep the school doors open and the teachers paid. I raised $35,000 in donation pledges for the school. I worked with the fundraising committee by finding the venue for the 35th anniversary earlier in the year, by addressing envelopes, doing mass mailings, and running general support for the work. Most importantly, I have taken responsibility by continuously challenging the board to think critically and use collaborative problem solving skills that reflect our vision as opposed to traditional, rote, and punitive methods. I have stood, and still stand, for our dream. I believe people have the power and the desire to do good in the world.
On March 3rd, 2018, we had a successful and lovely fundraiser for the first time in a decade. We boosted morale and the visibility of our school. We connected with alumni new and old. We brought in somewhere around $30,000.
Three days later I was terminated. The termination letter was dated March 1st.
The hardest thing for me about this whole situation is saying goodbye to the children and explaining to Leo why All Children isn’t “Nana’s school” anymore. Even as a seasoned parent and educator, I don’t have a magical answer for him. It has been hard to come to school since the announcement of my termination, especially since the awful membership meeting. It no longer feels emotionally safe for me or for my grandson here. This is what I say to Leo and what I have said to all of the children:
“I am going away from school to have some new adventures. I am doing this for grownup reasons. Nothing any of you have ever done or thought in your mind could ever make me go away. I am your friend forever. This is a grownup thing.”
I have loved working with all of you and getting to know you and your children. I feel deep affection for all of you and wish you well.
With Respect and Affection,
Christine (the Bean)
