IMPORTANT UPDATE 5/22/21:

We’ve just learned that unfortunately, petition signatures captured via Change.org are not considered legal. The good news is that this can be quickly remedied: 

We need every supporter to officially re-sign the petition by 11 p.m. MT, this Sunday, May 23rd!!! CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PETITION AND RE-SIGN

 

This is a petition to recall Peak to Peak board member Mr. Ari Axelrod, a step allowed by Peak to Peak bylaws (section 7.3).

STATUS UPDATE 5/14/21

Thank you to our community! Due to the significant amount of signatures we collected in the first 24 hours, we have officially submitted this petition to the Peak to Peak board of directors. We encourage new visitors to continue to sign the petition so that we can continue to gauge community support for this effort. 

Who can sign? P2P parents/guardians, faculty, staff and administration, and board members. (Students cannot sign. Spouses of staff that do not have students at the school cannot sign. Alumni cannot sign (unless they have children who attend the school).)

Peak to Peak Community Members Responsible for Petition: 

• Jaimee Miller, Former Board President
• Beth Custard, Former Hiring Team Chairperson
• Alison Griffin, Former Board Secretary
• Natale Wallis, Former Hiring Team Member

Replacement Candidate: The candidate who receives the fourth-highest vote count from the community in the Peak to Peak May 2021 board election.     

Reason for Recall: Mr. Axelrod has violated his contract with the school as set by the Board of Directors Handbook. Specifically, Mr. Axelrod does not meet the Behavior Expectations and Ethics criteria and the Conflict Management and Conflict of Interest guidelines established by the Handbook and therefore has breached his fiduciary duty to the Peak to Peak students, staff, board, and community. Specifics are established in the points below. 

We are fearful that the ongoing behavior of Mr. Axelrod, continued defamation of community members, and assault on the morale of our campus community will cause irreparable damage to Peak to Peak. To be frank, we are at risk of losing many of our long-serving and beloved staff due to the behavior of Mr. Axelrod. Our hope is that Mr. Axelrod will resign and not cause further stress to our staff and community.  

Please note that this petition does not take issue with Mr. Axelrod’s point of view, stated opinions, or board voting record. 

Peak to Peak is a character school that values learning, character development, its staff, and its community. Nurturing healthy relationships and the proper functioning of the organization is foundational to the school’s existence and success. We value healthy dialogue and thoughtful disagreements in our community. Ultimately, we expect our leaders to be the foremost models of respectful, ethical, and decent behavior.

The petitioners believe Mr. Axelrod has violated numerous Peak to Peak Board of Directors Handbook (the “Handbook”) behavior expectations and ethics:

1. Harassing behavior unsuitable for a Peak to Peak board member: Mr. Axelrod has personally harassed several Peak to Peak staff members. After the 5/5/21 meeting, he sent emails to staff who spoke at the meeting defending himself, which is contrary to the stated purpose of public input at board meetings (see here).

A website was recently created, p2pexposed.com, which disparages certain board members, administration, and community members by name. The website, while anonymous, includes screenshots directly from Mrs. Axelrod's emails. While the petitioners cannot prove Mr. Axelrod is the author, its content closely fits the ongoing comments, behaviors, and topics elevated by Mr. Axelrod. The screenshots therein appear to have been provided by his household and clearly defame and divide our community. If he is not the website owner nor website supporter, he should say so and condemn the personal attacks. This website’s articles are in direct conflict with the school’s communication pathways and the character curriculum taught to students regarding online behavior. 

2. Violating Conflict of Interest Policy: It is possible that Mr. Axelrod provided confidential student information to his spouse resulting in her CORA request for this confidential information from the school. (See the 4/30/21 board president email sent to all community members for context.) Although Mr. Axelrod recused himself from participation in the board special session on this topic due to the clear conflict of interest, he repeatedly tried to speak on the topic during the meeting. 

This legal episode, which originated from the Axelrod’s household (Mrs. Axelrod), caused time and money to be diverted from the school’s educational priorities. This reveals a concerning conflict of interest with Mr. Axelrod’s ethical and fiduciary duty to the school as set forth in the Conflict Management and Conflict of Interest section of the Handbook (p.4). Furthermore, in the 5/5/21 board meeting, Mr. Axelrod once again demonstrated a conflict of interest when he attempted to open a closed issue to defend his wife. This again is in clear violation of the board meeting guidelines set forth in the Handbook, specifically the line “Once a board decision is final, publicly respect the decision process” and “Make careful distinction between acting as a parent and acting as a board member” (Handbook, top of p. 4). 

Additionally, pursuant to the Conflict Management and Conflict of Interest section of the Handbook, “If and when members have a personal interest in a situation that comes before the board, they shall disclose the conflict to the rest of the board, recuse themselves from all "discussions" on the matter, and also refrain from voting on the matter except as needed for a quorum, and as explained in the policy document.” (emphasis added) (Handbook, p. 4).

Also during the 5/5/21 board meeting, Mr. Axelrod made a motion to amend the minutes from the 4/26/21 Special Meeting of the Board (the meeting during which he recused himself), to include a statement of protest. Board discussion ensued, highlighting that his statement of protest should not be included in the minutes as the statement impugns the character of an individual and therefore violates school policy. Five board members voted not to amend the minutes with the statement of protest, with one abstention - Mr. Axelrod. 

3. Sacrificing school success and reputation: Mr. Axelrod’s behavior violates the school Handbook board duties to bring people together, serve as the school’s ambassador, and promote school enrollment. The petitioners observe that his troubling behavior is escalating and becoming intolerable. While it is possible to repair the reputational damage created by Mr. Axelrod, the time, effort, and resources that will need to be dedicated to that effort will stymie and defray the ability of school leadership to focus on more strategic relationship-building efforts in the school and local community. 

His behavior is impacting the school and could cause: 

• A decrease in the number and diversity of families who annually express interest in the school, and ultimately enroll their students at Peak to Peak.
• A decrease in the school’s ability to maintain staff and hire the highest caliber candidates for our open positions.
• A weakened opportunity to build relationships with community organizations and businesses for the purpose of innovative student learning partnerships.
• A diminished reputation among colleges and universities and employers seeking to enroll and hire our graduates.
• A stressed relationship with donors, funders, and sponsors who contribute to the financial foundation of our school.

4. Disregard for student outcome: Peak to Peak’s established governance and educational system has resulted in delivering the best education for our students and giving them increased scholarship and higher educational opportunities. By ignoring the required and agreed upon board duties set forth in the Handbook, Mr. Axelrod has chosen to ignore this precedent and his behavior is antithetical to our school’s mission.

The recall petitioners do not believe that the behavioral issues outlined above lend themselves to repair through board governance training or other professional development support.

Ultimately, the question of this petition is: Will you allow a Peak to Peak board member to disregard board ethics and duties, cause staff to consider departure, jeopardize our school’s reputation, and harass and bully community members? If your answer is NO, please sign the petition to recall Mr. Ari Axelrod. 

Our goal is to receive 350 signatures by 3 p.m. May 11th! The final deadline for signature collection is May 14th.

Who can sign? P2P parents/guardians, faculty, staff and administration, and board members. (Students cannot sign. Spouses of staff that do not have students at the school cannot sign. Alumni cannot sign (unless they have children who attend the school).)

Note: If you are aligned with this position and wish to help promote the effort, please remain in full compliance with the specific guidelines set out in the bylaws section 7.3.2: “So as to prevent interference with the learning environment, such petitions may not be solicited on school grounds from one hour before until one hour after normal school hours.”