To Deacons of Greenforest:
Although the 2009-10 school year has ended, as we promised you from our January 2010 correspondence regarding the update of the Academic Center, know that we are still marching around the wall with the hope that some of you will finally be able to see the “handwriting that’s still on the wall.” Your constant refusal to respond to our concerns and choosing to remain silent is just another indication that ALL of you are still AFRAID to take a stand to do what is right.
To refresh your memory, below is a summary of the update which we provided to you regarding what was happening in the Academic Center during the 1st semester:
Veteran teachers terminated and replaced by inexperienced teachers; Administrators - Fritz, Speede, (both unethically terminated); abrupt resignation of elementary school principal, Mr. Carter, due to stress deriving from unethical employment practices; abrupt resignation of Mrs. Blatch due to unknown job reassignment; Long time experienced assistant principal, Mrs. Gude, resigned due to the insensitive announcement (unbeknownst to her) of Mrs. Prince, former bookstore & field trip coordinator, being named assistant principal during an assembly, despite the fact that Mrs. Prince had no prior experience of ever being in a classroom; Enrollment declined to an all-time low record; The exodus of many faithful parents due to unethical practices & lack of communication from pastor and new administration; The insensitivity & lack of compassion being displayed toward employees; The decline of ministry; The loss of the professional image of school; Unprofessional dress code of both staff or students; Transcripts being altered by unauthorized consultants; An overall low morale and lack of enthusiasm displayed among parents, staff and students; The hiring and paying of a marketing person (Cheryl Ward) to supposedly write grants and raise funds for the school at the expense of mandatory furloughs and pay-cuts of staff.
Sadly, during the 2nd semester, things continued to worsen:
Long time veteran and faithful academic center employee for over 20 years, Ann Gilner, somehow felt it necessary to abruptly resign. Despite the false rumors from the top that her resignation was due to the inability to adapt to change, God knows and HE sees! The recent and abrupt resignation of new teacher, Ms. Swilley, who recognized the unprofessionalism of the administration and could no longer tolerate the incompetence! A lingering low morale among the staff and the continued lack of school spirit—other than a “dead” spirit that’s surfacing the campus.
Veteran & experienced teachers’ jobs were sacrificed to hire inexperienced teachers for “cheaper” pay. The communication was that these teachers were supposed to be so much better-- What made these teachers better?
There is still a lack of communication, and more often miscommunication on the campus from the administration. And it seems these days that the business office is rarely opened because most of the times when there are concerns, you can hardly get anyone to answer the phones, and when they finally manage to answer, they are just as confused as the parents whom they supposedly serve because of the failure of the administration to communicate pertinent information to the staff.
Still no dress code that was being followed by students nor enforced by teachers and/or administrators! IT WAS REALLY EMBARRASSING! Students had been walking around the campus ALL YEAR LONG wearing any and everything – No school blazers (supposedly required) were being worn by many students; rather, all types of outer jackets were being worn (some even with inappropriate writing on the front), females were wearing all types of mini-skirts, 2 & 3 inch heels, and tennis shoes with socks - So much for a dress code or the Chapel uniform! And let’s not forget the Assistant Principal—when did wearing Capri pants become appropriate or considered professional dress for an administrator? As pointed out before, how could you hold students accountable to professional standards when there were no exemplary standards being displayed from the administration in this regard? Really, what could have been said to the students? No wonder the teachers never felt comfortable enforcing the dress code!
If it wasn’t bad enough for transcripts to be tampered with by unauthorized volunteer/consultants during the 1st semester, during both semesters, teachers were coheres by the administration to change and/or alter grades on students’ report cards to reflect honor roll and to pass students who were otherwise failing. How unethical! Let’s not mention the IOWA Test of Basic Skills where the allotted time was altered for students thus resulting in the violation of the test guidelines. You should be advised that this was common knowledge to the parents, staff and students because it is constantly being discussed around the school. Your teachers are not happy about this! Is everyone on the administration clueless? Does anyone realize that all it takes is a phone call to the accrediting agencies or the media to report these actions?
Cheryl Ward is STILL being paid (of course without being furloughed), and has yet to show where she has actually raised money for the school—and the sad thing about this is that ALL of you deacons are aware of the above, yet you continue to close your eyes. There were some real sacrifices made to get this lady with the hope that she would actually raise funds for our school. However, it seems that the only thing that she has been capable of is collecting her paycheck. ARE YOU STILL NOT BEING GOOD STEWARDS? Certainly this shows what good stewards you all really are! Let’s keep it real, considering the financial status of the school, does it really make sense to keep this lady? Ask yourselves why is she still on the payroll?
Out of curiosity, do any of you find it rather strange that Greenforest McCalep Christian Academic Center-- A Supposedly Black African-American Top-Notch School-- has been in existence now for 21 years, yet despite the existence of a marketing person (Cheryl Ward) being employed and paid by the school, the pastor and his new administration did not feel the necessity to have some type of recognition or celebration in honor of this great “milestone” before the school year ended. This is sad! What a perfect opportunity this would have been to market the school, and in the process boost the enrollment! So so sad! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out— maybe someone really does not want the school to exist after all!
And finally, let’s not mention the common knowledge of…. The Lawsuits, the Lawsuits and more Lawsuits! God certainly is not pleased!
Now as far as Greenforest being voted the “best private school in east metro”… Laugh out loud (LOL) it’s a joke! Everyone on campus knows that Greenforest has a long time relationship with the Crossroads newspaper. And besides, who actually called in the votes anyway? Certainly not the people in the community! Therefore, parents as well as the public are being misled into believing that Greenforest is still “All that.” But you know “in desperate times, people do desperate things.”
In good faith, those of us who remained at Greenforest this year really wanted to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt that things were going to be better, but so far, most of what we have been witnessing is the unnecessary changing of things that the new administration were trying to fix that were never broken. It is evident that things have actually gotten worse, and unfortunately Greenforest is continuously heading toward a downward spiral. Have any of you actually thought about how unchristian like things were done right from the very beginning—as a result many wounds were created thus causing parents who sacrificed and invested many, many years into Greenforest to leave because the school has lost its credibility. Your acceptance of things by choosing to remain silent caused not only wounds to parents, students and staff, but it also caused the ministry of the both the school and the Church to suffer. In efforts to boost the enrollment and to keep students, the administration has now resulted in the use of worldly tactics where the weapons of God (truth, righteousness, compassion) have been replaced with the weapons of deceit, lying, and trickery. Let’s face it! Maybe it would help if someone would be willing to take a stand and just simply admit that things did not have to be done as they were, then perhaps wounds will begin to heal and God will begin Restoration. Until then, many of us will not continuing in supporting the school for the upcoming school year, and sadly the demise of the school will continue to be on your hands. Each of you should ask yourselves one question, “where is my spiritual backbone”?
Finally, lest you should forget, we are still awaiting your response. Considering that the school year has now ended, we certainly would like you to point out to us how things have been made better since the termination of key employees, the implementation of a new administration, and all of the above unnecessary changes. Realizing that we cannot go back to how things once were, it is our desire to move toward closure in this matter; therefore, we pray that you will provide us with your timely response.
