Pleasant View School was built by dedicated educators, families, and community members who invested years of service, sacrifice, and commitment to give our children an Islamic education rooted in faith, character, and excellence. That legacy is now at risk.

Over the past year, families and teachers have repeatedly raised serious concerns about leadership decisions that have damaged trust, disrupted classrooms, and left students and parents without the support they were promised. These are not isolated complaints. They reflect a pattern.

Over the past months, multiple teachers have left Pleasant View. Some describe being pressured to resign. Others had their contracts discontinued, or their employment ended abruptly, with little to no explanation. Taken together, many in this community can no longer view this as a series of unrelated personnel decisions.

Most recently, Ms. Shirley, the Dean of Academics, terminated a teacher's employment on the spot, in the presence of Mr. Goodson, the Principal, without the decision coming from him. Nothing in the school's bylaws authorizes the Dean of Academics to take this kind of action unilaterally. The community is left asking a direct question: under what authority did this happen, and why was it allowed without further review?

Beyond this incident, many in this community, including people who have dealt with her directly, describe Ms. Shirley as harsh and unkind. Many feel she was not properly educated about the environment she was hired to lead, an Islamic school where mercy, compassion, understanding, and kindness in speech are not optional values, but the foundation of who we are. Without that grounding, the risk of ongoing clashes between her approach and this community's values and expectations is real and growing.

Pleasant View is the only Islamic school in Memphis. For many families, there is no alternative if this school's culture and mission are compromised. That is why this community is watching closely, and why silence or delay from leadership is not acceptable. Parents in particular are troubled that Ms. Shirley and other new hires do not seem to understand or value the experienced teachers who built this community's trust over many years. Some of these longtime teachers are also parents at this school. If educators who have devoted years to this community do not feel respected or safe, families are left asking a hard but necessary question: how can we trust her with the care, guidance, and future of our children?

Mr. Hamzah Goodson, Principal, has left some parents with the impression that raising concerns is unwelcome. Some parents describe being told, in essence, that if they are unhappy with the school, they are free to leave. This is how his approach has been experienced by families trying to advocate for their children, and it is not the response families raising legitimate concerns should expect from a school leader. A principal's role is to listen and build trust with families, not push them out the door.

The Pleasant View School Board bears direct responsibility here. The Board's own bylaws, adopted in 2005, assign it authority over human resource administration and employee contract decisions, while the Principal is responsible for recommending staff assignments to the Board. Families are asking a simple question: were these procedures followed, and did the Board fulfill its duty of oversight? So far, the Board has offered no answer.

These are not personal attacks. They are legitimate, documented concerns from families who want the transparency and accountability this school was founded to uphold.

An Islamic school is not defined only by its academic policies. It is defined by the values it lives out: mercy, justice, fairness, wisdom, and ihsan, excellence in character. Those values must show up not only in what we teach our children, but in how we treat the teachers, staff, and families who make this school possible.

We demand that the Pleasant View School Board:

1. Conduct an independent, transparent review of recent personnel decisions, including staff who were pressured to resign or whose contracts were discontinued, and disclose who authorized these decisions and under what process.
2. Remove Ms. Denetria Shirley from her position as Dean of Academics, and hold Mr. Hamzah Goodson accountable for his conduct and communication toward families.
3. Confirm publicly whether personnel decisions followed the school's governing bylaws, and disclose the outcome of that review.
4. Build a culture where experienced educators are respected, heard, and protected, not pushed out.
5. Ensure that new hires reflect and understand the Islamic identity and culture this school was built to serve.
6. Build a culture where families raising concerns are listened to, not told to leave.
7. Restore trust between the Board, administration, teachers, students, and families through real, visible action, not statements alone.

Pleasant View School belongs to the community that built it and sustains it. Our teachers deserve respect. Our children deserve leadership that puts their futures first. Sign and share this petition.