This petition represents the collective voice of current YCQ parents, alumni, and families planning to send their children to YCQ in the future.

We stand together in asking our principal, Rabbi Landsman, to reconsider his decision to step down and in asking the YCQ Board to do everything possible to create a path for him to remain in his position.

YCQ is a diverse Jewish community made up of families from many backgrounds and traditions. As it continues to evolve, we believe it is essential that decisions affecting our children reflect a firsthand understanding of the students and families the school serves today. Our principal has developed  that understanding through years of daily  involvement, his close relationships with alumni, parents and students, and his ability to recognize and respond to the needs of YCQ’s significant and growing  Sephardic and Bukharian community while continuing to represent and unite families of all backgrounds. His leadership and connection to our community are  important reasons many of us have chosen YCQ.

Our concern extends beyond families currently enrolled at YCQ. Many alumni hope to send their own children to the school, current families have younger children they intend to enroll, and prospective families have planned for YCQ to be part of their children’s future. Rabbi Landsman’s anticipated departure has therefore created serious concern and disappointment not only among current parents, but among future YCQ families as well.

We respect Rabbi Landsman’s personal plans for the future and his desire to make Aliyah. At the same time, we believe he and the YCQ Board should understand the strength of the parent body’s position before his departure becomes a certainty. 

For many families, his continued leadership is directly connected to our decision to remain at YCQ. If he is no longer the principal, families are prepared to reconsider their children’s continued and future enrollment at the school.

This is not about one background or one segment of our community.It is about leadership that is present, connected to our families, understands the needs of the community it serves, and has earned the trust of its parents.

We respectfully ask Rabbi Landsman to reconsider his decision, and we ask the YCQ Board to work with him toward a path that allows him to continue leading our school.

If he stays, we stay.

Signed,

YCQ Families Standing Together