To My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

As I mentioned in my last video, my family has now withdrawn completely from Regina Caeli Academy. My wife and I are grateful to God for showing us that our children can still thrive in their education with the resources He has provided our family.

However, I made a promise to forward the remaining questions that have been compiled, and I intend to keep that promise. It is with bittersweet sentiment that I announce that this message will be my final correspondence on this matter.  The petition will be left open for families to reference and continue to leave comments.

Before closing this chapter, I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has walked alongside us during this journey. The impact of this effort was least from me, but of the many RCA individuals who care deeply about transparency, accountability, and the future of our communities. Your courage and your prayers are what made this message meaningful.

In that spirit, the following questions are respectfully presented:

1. What is Chris Ice’s role as the President and CEO of RCA? Before April 2025, RCA never had this corporate style leadership position. If it includes more duties and more pay, why was it necessary for RCA to move in this direction, especially in light of the ongoing financial concerns? Why was Charlie McKinney replaced?
2. How was Chris Ice chosen for the role? There has never been a public nationwide search for an executive director/president of RCA. Both the announcements regarding Chris Ice and Charlie McKinney occurred without stakeholder knowledge that RCA was even looking for a new leader. Do either of them have pre-existing relationships with the current Board?
3. Now that Chris Ice is President and CEO, what role and responsibility does the current Board have? The Board appeared on Ice’s livestream to staff where Michelle Lopez announced the Board’s full support of Ice, and Michael Watkins, Chairman of the Board, co-signed the letter to families about the structural change to RCA. How are they ensuring their fiduciary duties are met when they and Ice are delegating the structural change committees to two National Leadership team members and a non-staff parent?
4. What criteria were used to determine which National Leadership positions would be eliminated, and how were those criteria applied consistently across departments?
5. Why has the make-up of the Board shifted away from having all seven members as experienced parents with enrolled students in 2022 to a five member board with only 2 members having enrolled RCA students in 2026? How are current board members selected?
6. Were alternative cost-reduction measures (e.g., adjustments to recently added leadership or nonessential roles, such as a secretary for the President) formally evaluated before eliminating critical curriculum and operations-related positions?
7. How does senior leadership ensure that national staffing decisions are based on organizational priorities rather than personal relationships? How did Ice select his three newest directors?
8. What transparency measures are available to families regarding executive compensation and outside affiliations?
9. What other financial recovery options that did not directly impact the quality of education and operations were considered prior to the recent workforce reductions? Why could these reductions not have occurred over a transitional time to align with the change to the affiliate model?
10. How were the task force leads (2 of whom are current national leadership team staff members) chosen from the alleged 400 nominations, and how will the Board and Ice ensure objectivity given their current employment status?
11. How will leadership demonstrate meaningful responsiveness to family input beyond advisory committees? Dozens of letters to Ice and the Board have never received a response and/or lack any substantive response to important questions that influence enrollment and employment decisions.
12. How can RCA staff (many whom are also parents in the organization) feel confident in signing new employment contracts given the uncertain RCA structure? The contracts include onerous legal language about non-competes and non-solicitation terms that seem misplaced in a Catholic organization that professes to value parents as the primary educators and support homeschooling families. If a staff member is dissatisfied with the results of the task forces and the board decisions on the affiliate models, will she be released from her contract and be free to seek alternative employment, including working or starting another hybrid? Prior to 2025, former RCA staff members have gone on to work at other academic institutions or founded their own schools without interference. Yet RCA is currently threatening legal action against at least two former staff parents, and additional former staff parents have had to seek legal counsel to navigate their rights as parents who desire to homeschool in a hybrid model due to RCA’s current threats. Note: RCA currently has active litigation with the Beckmans, leading to the question of what motivates RCA’s leadership to spend more resources on legal fees, particularly against homeschooling families?
13. Why was an announcement issued today stating that tutor rates will be reduced next year, particularly after a period in which numerous experienced staff and leadership members departed or were dismissed? What financial analysis and governance process led to this decision, and how does RCA plan to retain qualified tutors and maintain educational quality under reduced compensation?  Will members of the National Leadership Team also take reductions in compensation next year, and if so, what are the specific amounts or percentages of those reductions?

God bless you all, and may Our Lady continue to guide our families and communities in truth and charity.

God Bless,

Charles Baker

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis!