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THE
SOUNDING BOARD
A Community Conversation
THIRD STREET MUSIC
SCHOOL SETTLEMENT
235 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-777-3240 |
      
New York City's Community Music School since 1894
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March 17, 2012: Dear Lee, When it comes to administrative salaries, some people believe that it is not your salary that is in question. It appears as if most community music school Executive Directors have a similar salary. What is most disturbing is the other administrative salaries, such as Director of Programs, Community Partnership, and the other six figure salaries that we see in the next tier of administrators. If you look on starquest [sic], http://www2.guidestar.org you can see that no other community music school has so many huge salaries after the Executive Director. Add to that, that the Director of Programs now has a fulltime and part time assistant, the Community Partnership now has a fulltime assistant and the Development staff has at least two or three assistants. In addition, from what I understand, Department Chairpeople are required to spend 20 or more extra hours in meetings without a comparable increase in salary.
Your question brings up several very important and recurring concerns that give me another opportunity to respond with some further comments, clarifications and corrections.
- Senior Administrative Salaries: Senior administrative salaries at Third Street are set according to the size and complexity of the School, for the responsibilities these positions hold and for the work experience each senior administrator brings to the School. To fully respond to this question, it is important to know the following:
Staffing Levels: According to the 2010 Benchmarking Data Report of the National Guild of Community Arts Education, the number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) administrative staff at Third Street is much lower than similarly sized community schools of the arts around the country. These staffing statistics are important because they tell us what is normal and customary for administrative staffing in most community schools of the arts around the country.
Here’s the data from the 2010 Benchmarking Data Report survey:
NUMBER OF FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF POSITIONS
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| Third Street Music School Settlement |
National Guild of Community Arts Education
Benchmarking Data Report (2010)
Category VI Schools (Budgets of $5M+)
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| 24.75 |
25th Percentile |
Median |
75th Percentile |
| 25.95 |
33.0 |
41.50 |
*Includes security and custodial staff.
Because Third Street’s staffing levels are below the norm, senior administrative staff members, in particular, carry much broader responsibilities and are required to do much more than they would at similarly-sized institutions.
The senior administrative staff’s areas of responsibilities can be seen in their titles, below, which show their multiple areas of responsibilities. When analyzing their salaries, a broader array of salary information is required beyond data based on just one area of responsibility. For example, the following positions oversee multiple areas within the School:
Director of School & Community Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives
Director of Development & Communications
Director of Finance & Administration
Director of Preschool & Early Childhood Programs
All of these positions are considered exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements which, among other things, means that their salaries are set and they receive no additional compensation for work performed beyond 40 hours each week. Often, these employees work in the range of 50 to 60 hours per week, year round.
Additionally, it is important to note that a few of Third Street’s senior administrative salaries are dictated by the broader local marketplace, which extends beyond community schools of the arts. This is especially true for those positions which require leadership, management or institutional operational experience rather than a music or arts education background. Take, for example, the Director of Finance position: Third Street must compete with all other non-profits and for-profits in the city who seek financial management expertise.
- About the Programs Department: Building and strengthening the School’s infrastructure has been one of our primary goals during the past several years. That means creating departments that are able to provide the level of support required of them by the School’s full constituency (students, faculty, board of directors, donors, community partners, friends, alumni, etc.) and that these departments can withstand the departure of experienced individuals, when that inevitably happens, whatever the reason. The effort to strengthen the School’s administrative infrastructure began in the Finance Department, then the Development & Communications Department. We are now working on the Programs Department, the Department that oversees the core activities of the School.
Prior to Shalisa’s arrival, the Director of Programs position was expanded to include oversight of artistic and educational programs for the entire school. This involves all main-school activities, including the preschool, as well as the School & Community Partnerships program, which includes off-site instruction, community concerts and developing and maintaining community relationships. These responsibilities are larger than those required by the previous chief programs job. The purpose of this job expansion is to better integrate all of the School’s instructional and performance activities in order to deepen educational quality and strengthen coordination between programs. This is an appropriate and required progression for a school of Third Street’s size and complexity and it is a big management job.
There has always been another full-time position in the Programs Department. In the past, this position was at an assistant level and was filled by a person with administrative assistant skills rather than a music background. The expanded level of oversight by the Director of Programs made it clear that the School needed a person with a music background and significant administrative experience to manage the day-to-day activities at the main school. This position is the new Assistant Director of Programs. This position now is a key operations job and an important part of the Director of Programs’ management team.
It is important to note that all current and future positions within the program department at the main school are in place to more fully support increased activity at the main school, including increased communications with parents and faculty.
The average number of FTE Programs administration staff for a school the size and complexity of Third Street is from 6 to 8. Third Street has 4 FTE staff positions, as you can see below:
| Name / Position |
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) |
| Shalisa Kline Ugaz / Director of Programs |
1 |
| Ivan Antonov / Assistant Director of Programs |
1 |
| Nancy Morgan / Director of School & Community Partnerships |
.5 |
Risa Young / Director of Preschool & Early Childhood Programs |
1 |
| Roshni Murali / Assistant |
.5 |
| Total |
4 |
- Development & Communications Departments: Under the leadership of the Director of Development & Communications, who spends 2/3 of her time on fund-raising and 1/3 on communications, there are three professional staff members (rather than assistants) managing institutional giving, individual giving and communications. The number of fund-raising staff is below the national average for a school of Third Street’s size and its annual contributed income goal of $1.4M, which is used to support need-based financial aid, merit-based scholarships and tuition-free or -reduced programs like the orchestras, bands, choirs, chamber music, small ensembles, music theory and composition courses as well as other programmatic and operational needs.
- School & Community Partnerships: Your statement that the Director of School & Community Partnerships has a full-time assistant needs to be corrected. The Director of School & Community Partnerships, who divides her time equally between School & Community Partnerships and her work on Strategic Initiatives, manages one Partnership Coordinator (not assistant) and two Managers. The Partnership Coordinator spends approximately 50% of her time on administrative duties and 50% on teaching within Third Street’s partner schools.
- Department Chairs and Extra Meeting Time: The Department Chairs have been compensated for all meetings which are in excess of their regularly scheduled meetings with the Director of Programs and their monthly, two-hour group meeting. Additionally, all Department Chairs received salary increases this year. All Department Chairs have had regularly scheduled meetings with their direct supervisor, which vary according to the number of students in the Department. For example, while the Chair of the Piano Department, the School’s largest department, may meet with the Director of Programs weekly, Chairs for smaller departments may meet just once a month.
In the past year, the Department Chairs have worked with the Director of Programs to develop a draft job description which better outlines their duties and responsibilities. Included in this new job description will be clearer meeting expectations, which will vary by program.
The history of this 20 hour increase is a little fuzzy. As we complete the job description development process issues and questions, such as a 20 hour extra meeting time issue will be completely clarified and consistent across the entire school.
March 17, 2012: I have to admit that I was very disturbed to hear one of the leaders of the faculty union organizing drive say that, when she was a department chair, she used to “starve out” teachers she didn’t want any longer by not assigning them students. Is that true? Did that really happen? Does it still happen? Does this person now know that was wrong?
Thank you for asking these questions. Let me answer them one by one:
- What was said: For those of you who missed the February all faculty/staff meeting, it is true that this, or a similar statement, was made by a former department chairperson. This statement was made in the midst of the Q & A portion of the meeting in which the topic of discussion was about the union organizing effort. This former department chair said this kind of behavior proves that a union at Third Street is needed to ensure fairness.
- Is it true? If this former department chairperson said she did it, it is probably true. This person’s tenure as department chairperson ended a number of years ago and was mostly before my time at Third Street. Her statement represents her own actions. These practices are prohibited by the School. The meeting was the first I had ever heard of such behavior by anyone at Third Street.
- Does it still happen? If we were to become aware of this behavior occurring at Third Street, it would be exposed and dealt with. What does happen is that Student Support Services, sometimes with input from the Department Chair, places students according to the student’s desired schedule and other factors. For instance, some faculty members have made it clear that they will only accept certain kinds of students (age, prior experience or “seriousness,” etc.). The Student Support Services Department staff members attempt to assign students based on these preferences as best as they can.
- Does this person now know that was wrong? I hope so. This is a perfect example of why transparency and openness are so important. If there are problems with the performance or behavior of a faculty or staff member at Third Street, it should be addressed openly with that individual. That’s exactly why we’ve spent the last several years working on job descriptions for faculty and staff so that all expectations and standards are clear, transparent and in print. The next step will be to develop an evaluation system so that faculty and staff can get timely and constructive feedback and professional development (training or coaching). This is the professional and respectful way to deal with performance issues, whether faculty or staff. I believe that all employees at Third Street expect and deserve this approach.
March 17, 2012: Some are a bit upset about the insurance issue. They’ve dipped down below their 20 hours and have gotten warnings from Shalisa and Steve. People feel as if they’re being punished for not having enough hours, when in fact they haven’t turned down any students all year. I know times are hard all over, individual instruction enrollment is most likely down, and student retention is a complicated thing, but teachers feel it’s the administration’s part of the deal to provide the space and get the students for the teachers to educate. In my 20 years of community music teaching, recruiting by instructors has never been a part of the equation, that I’ve witnessed.
A monitoring and support process was instituted which clarifies what is needed to maintain coverage and alerts faculty when they might be dipping below the 20-hour minimum. The goal is to focus everyone’s attention on helping the faculty member maintain this valuable benefit. As soon as a faculty member’s hours have dipped below the 20-hour minimum, Shalisa meets with the faculty member to, together, figure out how to increase his/her hours. Shalisa has been especially proactive and resourceful in this area.
Staying Above 20 Hours
During the past year, we have worked to improve the transparency and fairness of the School’s health insurance policies and processes. Part of this effort has been Steve Aronson (Director of Finance & Administration) and Shalisa Kline Ugaz (Director of Programs) being more proactive in scheduling meetings with faculty members to come up with ways to increase a faculty member’s hours when there is jeopardy of losing benefits. Additionally, efforts have been made to make it easier for faculty to become eligible for coverage for the first time. These new policies and processes (described below), have increased the number of faculty members who currently qualify for health insurance to an all-time high. All of these efforts are meant to be helpful.
A major part of what Steve and Shalisa are trying to do, in coordination with the staff in Student Support Services, is to bring this process out and into the open. All of us believe that talking about the 20-hour requirement and working constructively and positively with faculty members to achieve it will help alleviate the anxiety that has existed around this subject for far too long. We want every faculty member who desires these benefits to have them.
Space Issues
Often, the matter of increasing teaching hours and attaining eligibility is complicated by one of the other issues this question’s author brings up: space. Generally, the school is heavily booked during peak hours, so it is difficult to find time to add more days or hours if a teacher wants to. And, as we heard from the manager of Student Support Services at the faculty meeting in February, the most important determinant for where new individual lesson students get placed is the scheduling needs of the students and their families. Nearly all students,at whatever age, come to the School with a set idea of the day and time they want to have their lessons. So, if the student can only do Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and a teacher who is looking to add hours only has time available on Mondays, then the student will have to be placed with another teacher.
Enrollment Trends
Enrollment at Third Street has remained strong, though we have noticed changes that have been adversely affecting our faculty in retaining or achieving the 20-hour per week teaching level, including the following:
- More students are taking shorter lessons. This may be due to the economy.
- The School’s retention rate has dropped significantly in the last year or so. That, coupled with the larger number of students who leave each year to attend college, means many faculty members need more new students to fill openings each year. While there are probably several factors related to the drop in retention, we believe that the economy is the greatest factor.
That being said, it is everyone’s responsibility to retain students. Our experience shows that it is faculty members who have the most influence over the student’s or family’s intention to continue their studies in schools like Third Street.
As discussed in the faculty/staff meeting in February, one of the processes we are working on to make more transparent, easier and less painful for students (and teachers) is the process of changing studios. What we suspect is happening, in some cases, is that students leave Third Street to go to other schools or private studios or stop studying music altogether if they feel uncomfortable asking for a teacher change.
- There are fewer new students calling to enroll and waiting lists that once existed in some departments are gone.
Teachers as Recruiters
Every community music school is different – as is every community – so it’s difficult to say what role teachers might play in recruiting students. Parent and student word-of-mouth referrals have played a large part in Third Street’s student recruitment in the past, so the experiences that current students and their parents are having at Third Street certainly affects how they talk about the School to others. This underscores the importance of striving for an environment that is welcoming, inclusive, engaging, joyful, and musically and academically rigorous. This is what our students expect and deserve, and environments like this attract more people.
Expanded Marketing Efforts
We are also working on strengthening our marketing expertise and capacity, though it will take some time to realize the benefits of these efforts. Here are a few things the School has done in the past year to help maintain and, hopefully, increase enrollment:
- Engaged a marketing consultant to help develop community-based marketing strategies;
- Placed paid advertisements and advertorials in local neighborhood newspapers;
- Disseminate postcards at neighborhood hubs like cafes, libraries, deli’s and restaurants;
- Created flyers and coupons to distribute in the local schools;
- Currently, working to develop a relationship with Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village to increase the School’s presence in that community’s publications and activities (This community is one of Third Street’s largest single source of students);
- Send event releases to local print and online event listing services;
- Send regular press releases to over 50 sources to announce major concerts, recitals and other events.
February 16, 2012: You say Third Street salaries are comparable to other area music schools. How much money are you [Lee Koonce] scheduled to earn from Third Street in the 2011-12 year?
Third Street salaries are comparable to other area community music schools and non-profit organizations of similar budget size and tuition schedules.
- My salary from fiscal year 2011 is listed on the 2011 IRS 990, available on the School’s Web site in the “About Third Street section.” For fiscal year 2011, it was $170,187.
- My fiscal year 2012 salary will be listed on the 2012 IRS 990 when it is filed and becomes publicly available, around January/February 2013.
- My salary is set by the School’s board of directors and is based on a number of factors including salaries of chief executive officers of similarly situated music schools and other non-profit organizations. Further, it is based on my educational background, professional experience and skill sets. The board of directors’ formal process for setting the Executive Director’s salary appears in the IRS 990 and below:
PROCESS FOR DETERMINING COMPENSATION
Third Street Music School Settlement (“Third Street”) applies the following process to determine the compensation of the Organization’s chief employed executive and other officers or key employees (if any) as follows:
- Review and approval. The compensation of the person is reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of Third Street, provided that persons with conflicts of interest with respect to the compensation arrangement at issue are not involved in this review and approval.
- Use of data as to comparable compensation. The compensation of the person is reviewed and approved using data as to comparable compensation for similarly qualified persons in functionally comparable positions at similarly situated organizations.
- My salary and my position depend on my overall performance, including competent administration, leadership and the achievement of goals set by the board of directors. If I fail in the eyes of those who hired
me, they can replace me. The same should be true for our professional faculty. We owe this to the students we teach.
February 16, 2012: A board member was sent the following comment: “I was so happy to hear about this [the union organizing drive] when I was at the school on Saturday [February 12, 2012]. I felt sick to learn last year that our teacher had no health insurance and so was not going to the doctor when [she/he] needed to, and that the teacher’s hours were being kept just under the amount where [he/she] could get insurance. I like Lee’s letter. I hope this drive succeeds!”
The School works diligently to help those who want to achieve or maintain 20 hours of work and their health insurance coverage. In fact, this year, four teachers were in jeopardy of losing their health insurance coverage and the Director of Programs worked with each of them personally or through their respective Department Chairs to bring their hours up by adding students, when available, and in some cases, assigning them small ensembles to coach. Additionally, when teachers fall under the 20 hours, they are given three months to bring their hours up to the 20-hour minimum.
Faculty who are scheduled to work 20 hours or more during the 32-week school year receive full, individual, employer-paid health insurance for 52 weeks.
To help faculty maintain and achieve the 20-hour minimum, one or more of the following strategies may be employed:
- When available, more students are added to the teacher’s roster: Since the economic downturn, the waiting lists the School used to have for certain instruments are gone. Enrollment in some instruments (woodwinds and brass, for instance) has been historically low, but it is growing and a few teachers in those departments have built their studios to achieve 20 hours or more of instruction per week.
- Asked to provide more availability: To achieve the 20 hours, most teachers at the main school will need to work four afternoons a week or three afternoons and a Saturday. In addition, to accomplish this, space must be available in the building.
- Make hours more appropriate for younger children: Since the majority of Third Street’s students are school age, the prime hours for teaching are after school from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. If a teacher’s primary availability is outside of those times, it’s likely that their students may be older and there are fewer of those students.
- Ensure the broadest skill set: The broader a teacher’s skill set, the more students he/she can be assigned. Some teachers prefer only intermediate or advanced students, or students who are highly motivated or students whose parents are highly involved. Teachers with narrower skill sets may have fewer students.
- Encourage teachers to retain their students year after year: Barring high school graduation, the teachers whose students stay in their studios, returning year after year, are most likely to achieve the 20-hour minimum. It is important to note that teachers whose students participate in the full spectrum of activities at the school, e.g., ensembles, chamber music, theory, frequent Music Hour performances, are more likely to retain their students from year to year.
February 16, 2012: Are the teachers seeking tenure privileges in their unionization efforts?
The only requests we are aware of are those that were presented in the letter from the union organizers on Saturday, February 12, 2012.
February 13, 2012: A response to the letter distributed to Third Street families on Saturday, February 11, 2012, regarding the faculty’s union organizing efforts:
WE ARE A FAMILY, WHATEVER HAPPENS
The community we aspire to be is one that works together in mutual respect, transparency, honesty and trust. Our mutual goal is for the School to achieve its mission and serve its community in the best way we can. Our goal during this union organization effort is to maintain a family approach where even the most heated issues can be discussed openly, in a spirit of resolution rather than an “us-versus-them” environment that often accompanies these situations. In this way, every stakeholder can make up his/her own mind, express his/her opinions, if he/she wants to, and let the process run its course.
In response to the letter some faculty members distributed to parents on Saturday, February 11, 2012 (click here to read a copy of the letter), we would like to provide you with the following information:
- A statement about the union organizing effort from the Sounding Board, when first launched in November 2011; and
- Corrections, clarifications and comments to help you to better understand the letter.
I. FROM THE SOUNDING BOARD LAST FALL
The Sounding Board included the following statement about the union-organizing effort, when it was launched last Fall (2011), and it continues to ring true:
“Forming a union is a decision that is solely up to the employees who are considering it. Since many of Third Street faculty members already belong to unions, they are in the best position to judge whether or not the practices of labor unions need to be extended to Third Street. Management favors any action or suggestion that will provide a more solid, rigorous, meaningful and inspirational experience for Third Street students.
Whatever questions anyone has - about the School, its administrators, operations or anything else at Third Street - can be addressed here, in person, in writing or at meetings and forums. If the questions are made sufficiently public, they can be answered promptly, publicly, openly and on the record.
Third Street's board and administration have been aware for some time that there are petitions and lists of allegations and complaints circulating in private communication channels, including at least one Web site. Our recommendation is, if you have a question, complaint or concern, to get it on the table now. If it's difficult to bring it to Lee Koonce or another administrator, bring it to another staff member or your supervisor. It will be presented, discussed and hopefully remedied. On top of that, all questions, concerns, views and issues will be publicly posted on Third Street's Web site and answered in the open for everyone to see and judge. Your identity will be protected if you wish to be anonymous.
Openness, accessibility, exposure, disclosure and prompt constructive response to questions and ideas is the goal.”
II. CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS
Below, along with additional information, are corrections, clarifications, and comments to the issues raised in the union organizing letter distributed on Saturday, February 11, 2012:
Equitable and transparent compensation program for faculty: The School’s administration fully supports an equitable and transparent compensation program for faculty that is based on length of service, education levels attained and merit. Our work on this matter began several years ago as we began to correct individual discrepancies and raise the minimum hourly compensation. We expect to give a preview of this work, first to the faculty department chairs, before the spring.
Equitable and transparent evaluation program for faculty: The School’s administration fully supports an equitable and transparent evaluation program for faculty that is based on observable and objective behavior and performance. The first step in this process was the creation of a draft faculty job description last year which can be found on The Sounding Board in the “Speeches, Meeting Notes, Strategic Planning, Financials & Other Documents” section.
Comparable compensation: Third Street compares its compensation to that of other community-based schools of the arts in major metropolitan areas with similar tuition, fees, need-based financial-aid programs and open enrollment policies. A per-hour-salary analysis for regular individual-lesson instructors* at Third Street appears below. Third Street’s faculty salaries are within the range for community schools of the arts located in major metropolitan areas with budgets similar to Third Street. That being said, we are working to continue to raise faculty salary levels at Third Street.
Third Street Music School Settlement
2011-2012 Individual Lesson Per Hour Salary
| Average: |
$42.54 |
| Maximum: |
$53.50 |
| Median: |
$41.50 |
| Minimun: |
$38.00 |
*Occasionally, schools hire “artist faculty,” those with renowned performance and teaching careers and, frequently, large followings, at higher rates than appear in this chart.
Health benefits: Third Street faculty are eligible to receive 12-month, employer-paid health insurance when they work 20 or more regularly-scheduled hours per week during the 32-week school year. Approximately 25 faculty members are eligible to receive this benefit and the annual cost to the School is approximately $6,000 per employee.
403b employee retirement savings plan: All Third Street faculty are eligible to participate in the School’s 403b (the non-profit equivalent of a for-profit’s 401k) plan at any time and become eligible for a possible employer-paid match when they work 20 or more regularly-scheduled hours per week during the 32-week school year.
Administrative staff salaries are within the range of comparable schools: Third Street’s administrative staff salaries are within the range of salaries for community schools of the arts with budget sizes similar to Third Street and located in major metropolitan areas. Administrative staff salaries are based on 52-weeks per year of service and, in the case of exempt employees, 50 or more hours per week of work. The compensation of officers and key employees, as defined by the IRS, can be found on the School’s IRS Form 990, located in the “About Third Street” section of the School’s Web site.
Equal coverage: Faculty and administrative staff working 20 or more hours per week receive identical health and 403b retirement plan benefits.
Stability: During the worst economic time in recent memory, which caused many similar institutions to have lay-offs, salary freezes, salary reductions and more, Third Street has:
- Retained all faculty and administrative staff positions
- Achieved its fund-raising goals
- Maintained overall enrollment levels
- Increased average faculty salaries annually by 3.3% in last six years
- Increased average administrative staff salaries annually by 2.8% in last six years
History of regular salary increases: Below is the average salary increase history for faculty and staff over the last six years. Faculty increases have always been larger or equal to those of administrative staff and the salary freeze in 2009-2010 was imposed on both faculty and administrative staff at every level.
FACULTY & ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF AVERAGE SALARY INCREASES
School Year |
2006-2007 |
2007-2008 |
2008-2009 |
2009-2010 |
2010-2011 |
2011-2012 |
| Faculty |
4.5% |
4.5% |
5.0% |
0% |
3% |
4% |
| Administrative Staff |
4.0% |
3.5% |
3.5% |
0% |
3% |
3% |
MORE INFORMATION ON THE WAY
We are hopeful that the information presented here is helpful in providing a clearer picture of the issues surrounding the February 11, 2012 letter. We will continue to keep you apprised of all developments. If you have additional questions or want to request additional information, you have several options:
- Please feel free to contact me directly or any member of the board of directors.
- Submit questions through the “Dear Lee, Here’s My Question for You” box to the right of each page on The Sounding Board. All questions, comments and responses, even anonymous ones, written in accordance with the stated guidelines, will be posted on The Sounding Board.
We look forward to hearing from you and continuing an open conversation that will strengthen Third Street’s community and make the School an even more vibrant place in which to study, teach and explore music and dance.
An anonymous question to The Sounding Board Received January 21, 2012:
“My Question: If there was a list of grievances, did that list ever get to Lee or the Board in an appropriate way? If so, were the concerns addressed in a satisfactory way to the faculty who were involved?”
Yes, a list of grievances was shown to several board members by a few parents and read to the Executive Director by a few faculty members during the 2010–2011 school year. When those with the list were asked to provide it to the board directly or through a board member, the request was refused.
By gathering recollections of the list from board members and the Executive Director, most of the issues appear to have been related to the new Director of Programs. Specific concerns included her interactions with certain faculty and parents and a request for increased faculty involvement in decisions about program changes at Third Street.
These grievances have been actively addressed on many levels, including through The Sounding Board. The Sounding Board is a place to openly confront and help resolve conflicts - and to accept responsibility for any failures to do so. Other efforts we have undertaken to address the issues we were made aware of include: The Director of Programs’ address to the faculty in fall 2011, increased inclusion of faculty in decision making and the Executive Director’s letter of commitment to resolve these concerns at the start of the school year.
If this list of grievances, complaints or opinions were provided to the Board or to the Executive Director, today, these immediate actions would occur:
- It would be published in The Sounding Board for everyone to see.
- Every question and concern would be promptly and publicly addressed.
- Public meetings would be scheduled to openly discuss, debate, explore and remedy whatever grievances had been raised.
If this or other grievance lists still exist, please get them to The Sounding Board so that they can be brought to everyone’s attention.
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Dear Lee,
Here’s My Question
for You
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